It’s a tough role being a leader, yet so critical to the performance of your team. I have said a number of times, great leaders are hard to find. That’s why I was fascinated to read a recent article from Gallup that identified the 7 people management skills, leaders to focus on this year. Here they are:
1) Build relationships – the goal is to create partnerships, build trust, share ideas to improve the way the entire team works.
2) Develop people – a focus for all team members who want to improve is development. They need clear expectations and training and coaching to meet those expectations.
3) Lead change – change needs to be embraced and goals set or reset to align with the vision. Leaders need to spend time finding out if the team needs more help or support to be successful.
4) Inspire others – encourage team members through positivity, vision, confidence and recognition. This also comes through recognising how each team member contributes to the overall goal.
5) Think critically – gather and evaluate information that leads to smart decisions. Leaders need to not be afraid to asking the tough questions of their superiors as well as being open to scrutiny from their team.
6) Communicate clearly – share information regularly and concisely. This requires regular catch ups with their teams as has to be a two-way process.
7) Create accountability – hold yourself and your team responsible for performance. Simply put, this means how engaged is the team and how much ownership do they take for their performance?
Knowing that we probably have to work on all of these, it’s critical to focus on one or two that will make the biggest impact.
Roger Simpson – CEO, The Retail Solution and Author of “The Ultimate Retail Sales Experience” With over 35 years’ industry experience, Roger Simpson is recognized as Australia’s #1 Authority on customer ROI in the retail industry and as a global expert on staff coaching, customer service, and selling skills.
