Effective leadership is at the heart of every organization; it sets its tone and dictates its trajectory. With this in mind, business owners should strive to acquire the requisite leadership skills to successfully navigate the rollercoaster of running a company. If you lack leadership skills, it could have far-reaching consequences on your business, including low employee engagement, low productivity, and a high turnover rate. In today’s podcast, Michael Kole from Kole Performance Group and Stephen Halasnik from Financing Solutions discuss leadership development and team building to improve leadership.
Leadership Development and Team Building to Improve Leadership
The importance of leadership in business management cannot be overemphasized. Innovative business owners know that the long-term success of their companies largely depends on pragmatic and visionary leadership. For a company to build and secure a competitive edge, the owner must be an effective influencer who brings out the best in their team members to contribute to corporate success on a higher level through leadership development and team building.
Leaders can make or mar their team. However, good leaders take special interest in developing their employees to achieve their best by tapping into the individuals’ motivations for the overall development and progress of their businesses.
Read on as we walk you through the concept of leadership development and team building and how you can leverage it to build a thriving business.
What Is Leadership Development and Team Building?
As a business owner, you’re investing in many things, including product services, for the effective operation of your company. For example, you invest in computers, furniture, advertising, and more. However, if you don’t invest in team building and leadership development, you risk having a business that’s not sustainable.
That said, leadership development is the activities that improve one’s leadership skills and abilities, making them confident and influential leaders. Business owners that crave success engage in different leadership programs to fine-tune their management skills through coaching and mentoring to become more effective in piloting the affairs of their companies.
On the other hand, team building is the process of fostering a strong sense of teamwork within your employees. Team building fosters a highly productive team that communicates, cooperates, and innovates in a workplace with mutual trust and respect. Good leaders understand the importance of team building and strive to ensure the various teams within their organizations work together and remain focused on the company’s goals.
What Are the Tips for Effective Leadership and Team Building?
Whether you have been in business for a long time or just starting, leadership development and team building are critical aspects of a successful company you can never neglect. Below are the essential ingredients to hone your leadership ability and have a high-performing team.
Self-assessment
Find out what you know and what you don’t know. Self-assessment allows you to perform a self-appraisal to identify the area of your life you need to exploit or improve to achieve your goals.
Self-evaluation is essential because it allows you to look critically at your attitude, skills, perspective, personal relationships, and more and know how you can closely align them with your team members.
Communication
To be successful in leadership, you must have a mastery of communication skills. Communication skills help you pass on your business goals to your team members without misinterpretation and also help foster mutual relationships and rapport between you and your employees, leading to enhanced productivity and efficiency.
In other words, talk to people the way they want to be communicated and always use the right words when conveying critical information.
Build Relationships
Every successful business leader knows how to develop a lasting relationship with their employees. Relationship building is essential as your team members feel more connected to your business and have a high sense of belonging. You should factor in your team’s feelings and contributions when making decisions.
When employees are happy working with you, they’ll give their best, increasing productivity and revenue. You can consider scheduling an occasional coffee meeting with your team members to create a robust connection with them.
Further, always praise people when they perform their tasks well. People need to be appreciated as it helps boost their morale and motivates them to do more. On the other hand, when a team member is performing below par, you should deliver constructive criticism and correct the person with love.
Emotional Intelligence
Another critical aspect of leadership development that promotes team building is emotional intelligence. As a business leader, you must have a high emotional intelligence level to succeed. You must understand and know how to manage your emotions and recognize and influence your team members’ emotions.
Emotional intelligence allows you to stay calm under pressure, resolve conflict effectively, and respond to your employees with empathy.
Have Processes and Procedures
You should have a system in place to run your business smoothly. Some key processes and procedures help keep you on track and save you from making haphazard decisions that can negatively affect your business.
Moreover, an action plan will help your team members to stick to your business goals even when you’re not there to direct them. Plus, it lets everyone know what to do at any time. In addition, you should have your key performance indicators (KPIs) where you measure outcomes against expectations.
Empowerment
Experience has shown that high-performing business leaders empower their teams and avoid micromanaging. Find creative ways to develop your team members by leveraging their strengths and talents. And delegate tasks that best suit their skills and give them authority over specific projects. Doing this will reduce your workload and give your employees the opportunity to showcase their skills.
Further, focus on coaching and mentoring your teams and helping them achieve their personal goals while they work towards reaching your company’s objectives. And finally, provide them with the necessary tools to develop and succeed. Doing all these will help facilitate leadership development and team building, improving leadership in your business.
Learn About Our Guest
Mike Kole is an Executive Coach who partners with CEOs, Entrepreneurs, and Executives to develop leadership skills and team building. Mike utilizes certifications from the John Maxwell and Zig Ziglar organizations, along with over 30 years of experience from the home office to the board room. At his company, the Kole Performance Group, they employ tools such as; Goal Setting, DISC, Working Genius, and Mastermind Groups to coach and mentor their clients.
Learn About Financing Solutions
Financing Solutions provides an easy-to-setup unsecured small business line of credit to small businesses. The small business financing product is a great cash backup plan that costs nothing to set up, nothing until used, and is inexpensive when needed. Financing Solutions is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and 5 stars by the BBB/Google Reviews.
Unlike a traditional business bank loan, our business credit line requires no collateral or personal guarantee (except in fraud cases), making it an excellent alternative business financing option. Small businesses often use their line of credit for short-term expenses, working capital, to make payroll, or for business investment, especially when business cash flow is temporarily down.
Get a free, no-obligation business line of credit quote by filling out our simple 2- minute business line of credit application here.
Remember: The time to set up a credit line is when you don’t need it.
