Sometimes we do not communicate the things we think we do. If I asked your team to tell me five ways you empower and support them, what would they tell me? They may not be able to come up with the same list you would have. But often it's because we are communicating negative messages and don't even realize it.

Most communication is non-verbal, so you must consider your communication pattern to your team as much more than what you say to them. Did you know that only 10% of communication is words? 45% is tone of voice and 45% is body language. Wow - most of what we must consider is not even words, but how we deliver our message.

So consider these things not to "say" to your team (verbal or otherwise):
 

1. Use of sarcasm. Sarcasm has no place in leadership. Even when it is couched as 'teasing,' it can be harmful to the individual person and the team as a whole. Just make a commitment not to be sarcastic as a leader.
2. Slang or corporate phrases. These can seem harmless, but especially when overused can create the team's image of you as having 'empty talk." Phrases such as "there is no I in team" or "don't bring me problems, bring me solutions," are intended to help the team member become more independent with problem-solving, while becoming more cooperative as a team member. But when these and other corporate phrases are overused, they become meaningless and belittling.
3. I can't tell you about that. Are there things you can't share with your team? Absolutely. But don't point it out. Tell them the things you can tell them, and share with them when you think you can tell them more. And make sure your body language does not convey that you "know something they don't know."
4. I will tell you what to do. Does your team need your guidance? Yes. But people generally rebel at just being told what to do. Help the team define the problem, then help them discover the solution, and determine who will play which role in that solution. You will get a lot more mileage out of your team than just telling them what to do.
5. You're not working if you're having fun. Extraordinary bosses see work as something that should be inherently enjoyable-and believe therefore that the most important job of team leader is, as far as possible, to put people in jobs that can and will make them truly happy.

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