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5 Effective Ways Leaders Can Engage and Lead Teams

by | Thu, Oct 17 2019

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Managing people is a complex task. Each employee is unique, with their own skills and talents. How then as Christian business leaders do we manage people in a way that facilitates their own personal growth while also helping them to be energized and work towards the same goals of the business?

Geoff Snowden is Founder and Principal of People Motion, an organisation that works with small and medium business owners to navigate the minefield of human resource issues. Here Geoff will share from his experience, five healthy ways to engage and lead teams so you retain your best staff and improve your business profitability.

We’re bombarded with “7 points to powerful leadership”, “15 ways to grow your business”, “Fool proof marketing to accelerate your growth” and so many “fix it by Friday” blogs that you can be overwhelmed by the exhaustive depths of information available as quickly as you can google “How to be a leader.”

Often the issues come about due to unexpressed needs, unmet expectations, miscommunication, or interpersonal conflicts. The issues may seem to be due to employees holding a bad attitude, however when working with CEOs and senior leaders, I often find the performance issues, the people problems, are caused by small issues that grow out of control. 

Leading people is hard. As a certified HR coach, here are five ways I’ve learned through consulting to small to medium sized businesses that you can significantly improve your approach to leadership and get the best out of your people.

1. Be a Servant

Whose feet are you washing?

For 21st century Christian leaders, we have probably heard of the term ‘servant leadership.’ But for the early disciples, this concept would have been revolutionary when first shared by Jesus. Living in the Roman Empire, the disciples had grown up with an authoritarian leadership style, where rule and authority was exercised through fear and control. It was clearly visible to all, who was in charge.

So when a quarrel broke out regarding who would sit on either side of Jesus in His Kingdom, Christ radically turned upside down the traditional leadership model when he said:

The business world offers various leadership styles but like the disciples, we are used to an authoritarian leadership style where a leader has a clear chain of command and oversight over people. Rather than a collaborative approach to leading, employees are to follow strict rules and procedures with little deviation even though this may be counterproductive, hindering employee creativity and growth. 

We are called by Jesus himself to not flaunt our authority, but to serve others rather than being served ourselves. How does this play out with our people, and how do we “do” servant leadership? It can be as simple as making time to meet with your key people and keep the focus on what they need to do their job, removing any unnecessary blockages. Good people won’t stay if they feel stifled. It can be as little as a 30 minute catch up on a Monday morning. Ask how can you help? What obstacles are they facing that need your help to break down? Encourage your key people to do the same with their key people. 

When you make time for your people, you are telling them they are important to you and to your business. We all have a need to belong, and this opportunity to have a voice is critical in business, for our people to have a sense of ownership and accountability.

Man encouraging co-worker

2. Encourage Often

Whose trumpet are you blowing? 

Are you attentive to your employees by recognising their achievements? In a hectic and hyper-distracted world, we need to constantly take time out to engage and re-engage employees by positively affirming their contributions to the business. 

An acrostic for the ABC of leadership is Always Be Complimenting! Just like the Apostle Paul exhorts the church to keep encouraging each other, a Christian business owner should foster working relationships where employees feel noticed and appreciated. 

How can we practically speak into teams and the broader organisation so individuals feel energised? Depending on the size of your organisation, you may need to create several levels of engagement. It starts by creating a habit of speaking encouragement into employees on a daily basis. It’s the hundreds of daily interactions we have with managers and colleagues that create a healthy workplace culture of encouragement and edification. Research shows when you seek out opportunities to edify others you become attuned to the positive behaviours of your people.

Don’t become a leader who takes all the credit or the leader who overshadows their people’s performance with a story to outdo their accomplishments. God knows your achievements, you don’t need to brag to your team about them. Also be careful to provide positive feedback for its own sake.  Encouragement without a genuine reason will be received as inauthentic and can be like clashing cymbals! 

3. Set Clear Expectations

What goals have you set? 

You can’t manage what you don’t measure! I’ve seen it often (in ministry and business) when a leader says “That’s not what I wanted” and yet they had never actually expressed what it was they did want. The most genuine, heartfelt encouragement from the top will amount to nothing if you are not clear with what you want. You’ll have your team running around being so busy they never have time to get done the work that is actually needed!

Avoid emotional discomfort. A high performance business is one that ensures their people are working day to day on the tasks that are aligned to the direction of the business. You can implement something as simple as a monthly “to do list” that specifies the 5 key things to achieve. Alternatively, you can implement a comprehensive performance management program setting the strategic targets for the quarter.

Manager instructing employee

4. Correct with Respect

Are you speaking the truth with love? 

What you allow in your employees you approve. How many times have I heard “No one has ever told me I was doing something wrong!” I’ve witnessed many businesses with “problem” employees. In around 90% of cases, it’s due to the employee never being corrected for doing the wrong thing. The problem here is that when you don’t address the issue, you are actually approving the bad behaviour and it will become increasingly difficult to realign their performance the longer you put off a hard conversation.

Being respectful with correction is firstly asking the employee some questions to

understand what they have been doing and clarifying what has been approved. You are then in a position to identify what the correct behaviour is, reduce any confusion and realign expectations.

This approach improves performance. Why? Well firstly you identify the correct behaviour by setting the right expectations. You can also convey the consequences of what will happen it the correct behaviour is not followed. This approach helps to work through personnel problems promptly or lessen the impact of an out of control issue. 

5. Show Grace

Are you keeping short accounts? 

We all make mistakes, have personal issues, problems we don’t want to talk about, and things that impact our ability to work. Showing grace in the workplace is not about there being no consequences for bad behaviour. It’s about loving your people at their worst, supporting them through difficult times and celebrating them at their best.

If you learn to be a servant, encourage often, set clear expectations, correct with respect and show grace, you will set your people up for success. The reality is that there will be some who will continue to test your perseverance, resilience and patience. But when Jesus is your role model, who demonstrates what extreme forgiveness looks like by going to the Cross for our mistakes, we can do our small part in extending kindness and forgiveness to others.

At People Motion, Geoff Snowden works with small-to-medium sized businesses with high growth potential to advance performance. Geoff has found that great results come from providing people with the right tools to become great performers. People Motion is supported by a national network of experts, to offer businesses the best advice and assistance possible.

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