Be a better team leader

A badly led team produces poor results. As a team leader, you need your team to do well - so business goes well and you make money. When striving for excellence in business, teamwork is vital. But how do you, as a team leader, ensure your team's success?

With the three leadership tips unpacked in this blog, you will come to understand that better teamwork and better leadership start with you.

Begin leadership from within

It is vital to know how you work and clearly communicate your leadership style with your team members. Start with developing a system tailored to your leadership style. Detailing your set of expectations, as well as the company's policies. Give this to new employees in written form so they may have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities.

Entrepreneur Nic Haralambous recommends distributing a ‘How you work with me’ document to all new hires. This should detail handy tips on everything from the work culture to email etiquette.

Let your team be self-sufficient

Next, be prudent and reinforce the strengths and mitigate the weaknesses of your team as a whole. As a leader, you may feel like your role is to be very hands-on or even micromanage. This is not the best choice.

Your actual job as a leader is to ensure that your team is doing its best by giving them the tools, information, and space to excel. Your team needs to run self-sufficiently as a testament to your leadership skills.

People want to feel like they are doing well in their job and that they are a valuable part of the team.

A true leader is a coach, driving performance and motivation in the workplace. Don’t play the game - keep the score.

Communicate properly with your people

Team satisfaction is a large part of successful leadership. People thrive off direct and immediate communication. Nurture this by not giving vague information, loose instructions, or inspiring a sense of impending doom. This means, do not send your team member an unclear message about a potentially urgent task. This creates undue stress and fatigue, as their imagination frantically tries to fill the gaps in information. We’ve all been on the other side of leadership, so ask yourself what is the best way to communicate with my team?

Uphold this culture of direct and clear communication by maintaining a two-way street between a leader and team member. Regularly provide a space to listen to the feedback of your team members. Achieve this through one-on-one sessions, where both parties can express their perspectives and receive guidance on how to improve.

In conclusion, leading or managing a team within a business, be it your own or someone else's, requires a skilled hand. A leader must start from within and teach their team how to adapt to their workflow. Expectations must be clearly set and tasks directly communicated.

Motivate your team by giving them the right tools to succeed, and give them the space to excel.