Expert Panelists are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within the areas of Business, Mindset, Leadership, Lifestyle, and Sustainability. Members of The Brainz Magazine community of experts will share their best tips, advice, ideas, and hacks on different topics.
Expert Panelists
1. Define their significance
Goals, roles, processes, and relationships! People often come to me complaining about team dynamics. But that is the last thing I look at. First, ensure that the goals and purpose are clear, understood, and agreed upon. Next up, roles. Does everyone know what the others do and what they need from each other to be successful? Finally processes. Agree on decision making, communication, etc. Once all those are ironed out, address relationships.
2. Prepare them to embrace change
Invite resistance! Know that resistance to change means something valuable is about to transpire. Resisting change is part of being human. It’s a beautiful tool meant to grow you, not crush you. Use its energy – if you didn’t feel the desire to resist change, you wouldn’t be able to celebrate that growth is about to happen.
3. Define great leadership
My leadership philosophy has been that people are at the beginning, middle, and end of all processes and decisions. Once you invest in people, they will go above and beyond for the mission. People don’t set out to be great leaders; they set out to make a difference.
It’s never about the role or the title but about influencing others, helping, supporting, and including them. I believe that people move organizations, and inclusive leaders mean a commitment to ensure that all people feel a sense of belonging and the value and support they need to achieve their full potential. Once people feel valued, they make the real change that leads to greatness.
4. Develop self-discipline
Make sure your employees know exactly what is expected of them. Condition them to give their best at work and build ownership of tasks. When they become owners of certain tasks, they have more freedom when making decisions, which, in turn, improves self-discipline. Encourage them to visualise the effects their efforts will have on the team and the organisation. This will help them see past the small details and have something worth striving for.
5. Appreciate your employees
Learning what makes your employees tick, how they function at their peak, what their strengths are, and what benefits are most important to them will go a long way in helping employees feel appreciated, that they are contributing and growing in their development while enjoying the flexibility they need. When your employees are happier, their productivity increases, which leads to greater growth for the company. Be sure there is a common vision and mission that is embraced by each member of the team.
As the leader, proactively demonstrate support for the team so they can accomplish their goals. Providing well-defined roles helps each team member know without a doubt exactly what each person is responsible for accomplishing. These things will help your team be highly productive and focused, which in turn helps everyone and the company score big.
6. Lead the change – Create success stories as a team
With the latest trends in the work environment, where remote and hybrid work models are getting increasingly popular, keeping a team productive and focused is a challenge for many leaders. There are simple solutions to keep the engagement of team members on high levels. Clear communication, authenticity, and well defined shared vision around business goals are really important.
Care about wellbeing, confidence, and professional growth and realization of the team players, attention to the hidden gifts of each and everyone, help enable synergy effect within the team and shine it through the company in the form of exponential results. Alignment around the roadmap, as well as agile processes, are also among the key factors. And one more, critical success factor: as a leader, don’t forget to put humans front and center, appreciate them, celebrate their efforts – and they will stay with you through the toughest battles, and timely deliver the best solutions to grow and thrive together.
