Paul Riddle
Contributing Writer
Success Group International
Take a few minutes and look in the mirror. Sure, you know what YOU are going to see, but what do your employees see? How do your team members look at you? Do they see a true leader? Do they see someone they respect and want to work hard for? Or do they see you as a dictator? Think about it seriously—and be honest with yourself.
As the leader of your company, you can’t always be a friend to your employees. No, your first objective is to train, nurture, and guide them, so that they can be successful and your company can be successful. That said, have you ever considered your leadership approach? You can be a lot more effective and successful as a leader if they respect and even like you.
Assistant Professor of Communication at Florida State College of Jacksonville, Bakari Akil, explained in his Psychology Today article “What’s Your Hook Value” that to connect with people—to hook them to you—you need to develop character traits or qualities that they consider valuable. You want people to “crave” working for you. But how do you do that?
First, before outlining the steps, realize that your employees vividly remember everything you do and say. Once you recognize that fact, you will understand the importance of being mindful of how you communicate with and behave around your people. It shapes their perception and belief of who you are!
Here are the 5 Steps to Becoming a More Respected & Effective Leader:
Humanize
You have a life outside of work. Open it up to your employees! Talk to your people about what your children are doing. Share with them your personal interests and hobby. Let them see that you’re not just a person handing them a paycheck. By being more open about yourself, they’ll be more open to you. By knowing each other’s personal lives, it helps create a bond beyond the employer and employee relationship.
Visible
If the only time your people see you is during a training session or team meeting, it’s not enough. They only see you as “the boss.” Take 15 minutes each day to chat with your technicians as they load up their trucks for the day. Take 15 minutes to walk around the office and converse with your team members answering the phones and crunching the numbers. Ask them how they’re doing, and see what you can do to help them be more successful. Go out of your way to be visible and connect with your team.
Interact
Take visibility a step further. Strive for, at least once a quarter, to host some type of companywide outing. It doesn’t have to be mandatory—the goal isn’t that your people feel pressured. And it doesn’t have to be on a weekend—people have busy lives. Maybe, on a Thursday night, you take everyone bowling? Maybe you shut down at 5 p.m. and have a barbecue at the office or your home? The key is for you to get a chance to interact with your employee’s families and them with yours.
Cultivate
Communications and technical training are vitally important in what you do. But when’s the last time you held a meeting or had a training session about personal growth? You can have Scoreboards and contests, but people are far more motivated by what’s burning deep inside them. Make a commitment to personal development. Show weekly videos or have weekly discussions about topics that get your team to think beyond just selling or repairing. Your employees will see that you trying to help cultivate them into being better people, not just better workers.
Kindness
Every single month, make it your mission to perform at least one act of kindness for your people. It doesn’t have to be much or expensive. Bring in breakfast for the entire office team. Run lunch out to your technicians in the field. Maybe write a personal, hand-written thank you note to an employee who really has been working hard and going above and beyond—and write a thank you note to the spouse at home whose been supporting that employee. Know that an employee’s child has a big game or play, surprise them by attending it! It’s the little things that stick with people the most.
Hooking people to you, creating a stickiness, whatever you want to call it isn’t difficult. It’s just remembering to do it—and taking the time to do it. But the return is infinite. When people see and know that you actually care, they will develop a level of respect for you that is immeasurable. And when people respect you, and are willing to go above and beyond for you, you’ll be a far more effective leader.
About the Author: Paul Riddle, Vice President, Success Group International
Paul Riddle has over 25 years of hands‐on experience as GM, COO, CEO, and owner of service companies specifically in the mechanical and restoration segments. Throughout his career, he has personally trained the owners and employees of hundreds of businesses, including several turnaround situations. His hands‐on training for owners and their employees has been in the areas of business planning, sales & marketing, and company culture. Paul enjoys applying his knowledge and experience working directly with business owners and their employees to increase profits, improve the company’s present value, and unlock the intrinsic value of the business when sold. Paul joined SGI in 2009 as the VP of Operations.