Engage Your Team As A Great Leader, Not Just a Manager
A good manager makes you feel that they are important. A good leader makes you feel like you are important.
It's worth mentioning, as it is so important to remember that ego has no room in good leadership.
If you're not confident enough to elevate those around you, then maybe leadership is not for you.
Good leaders are those who help others reach their potential and they focus on making people better, not getting others to recognize how great they are…
Here are a couple of easy things to do if you are looking to engage a team and lead them to success:
Make people feel needed.
It's all pretty simple. Nothing feels worse than not being needed, and feeling that you are not valuable. Knowing that your thoughts and insights are taken seriously— feels good and gives you motivation to bring more initiatives to the table.
Of course, a big part of making someone feel needed is communication-- Listen to your team members' ideas, implement them when relevant, and when not, communicate that the idea was seriously considered but ultimately not implemented because it didn't fit the current strategy. Give people credit for their work and ideas and make them feel needed.
Listen more than you talk.
Too many managers think it is their job to always be talking, instructing, and guiding, and not enough understand the value of listening. As a great leader, make it their business to ask questions, raise issues, and listen to what their team has to say.
When leading a team, put yourself in the shoes of your team members, and act toward them as you would like others to act toward you.