Great leadership teams are the cornerstone of any successful startup. Leadership is more than just your executives and founders, it includes your managers and supervisors.
Anyone that’s dealing with your employees every day should have some essential people management qualities. Leadership skills, like active listening and team building, will become the foundation your employees build their career on at your company.
So, how do you make sure your leaders have the qualities that matter? Here are three essential skills successful leadership teams focus on.
They encourage creativity
Putting strict guidelines around the roles and responsibilities of your team can stifle creativity. When you allow individuals the opportunity to think outside the box, it can help them accomplish more.
Not only that, but it can position your team for future success. With the flexibility to explore and experiment without the fear of failure, your employees will likely find more satisfaction in their roles.
When they feel boxed in or stuck doing the same tasks day in and day out, that’s when the urge to make a change will come.
As a leadership team, let go of control and give your employees the space to get the job done. After all, you should be hiring people you trust and believe in. Let them show you why you hired them in the first place.
They actively listen
Employees that feel heard are more likely to trust their leadership team than those that don’t. It’s more than just listening, it’s about understanding what you’re being told at the same time.
That doesn’t mean you need to take every suggestion and run with it. A good leader knows that their employees are in the field every day, listening to customers and hearing feedback. If you want to know what is and isn’t working, your employees are a great place to start.
“Your team are inevitably closer to customers, delivery, billing, in fact pretty much any aspect of the businesses. Unless you’re properly open to listening to what they are reporting to you, both directly and indirectly, you will struggle to help them effectively navigate the business,” Adam Bird, CEO of Cronofy, recently told Medium.com.
They Believe in Teamwork
Setting individual goals can be helpful, but the brunt of any success or failure should be a team effort.
When individuals are working for themselves, it’s easy for your overarching business goals or mission to get lost in the hustle. When that happens, employees are more likely to develop animosity. They can even become unwilling to help each other out.
Set team goals and allow your employees to work together to decide on responsibilities. That way, the entire team succeeds alongside one another.
When it comes to your employees, fostering a sense of community, teamwork, and flexibility will encourage a culture of transparency and trust. Those key traits are what make people want to stick around.
When it comes time to hire your next leadership role, pay attention to their thoughts on setting goals, their active listening skills, and their thirst for creativity.
