12 SIMPLE THINGS A LEADER CAN DO TO BUILD A PHENOMENAL TEAM
12 SIMPLE
THINGS A LEADER CAN DO TO BUILD A PHENOMENAL TEAM
Whether you sure just starting to hire or
expanding your existing team, attracting and encouraging top talent can be
difficult. You want to find the best of the best – and find ways to help them thrive
in your establishment.
In general, the following advice helps in
ensuring that your employees are happy and successful – and that you are, too.
1.
Don’t Settle
for Mediocre: It is not fun to fire people, so employers often settle for the
first set of people they hire. However, this practice can lead to weaknesses
within a team. Once you realize a member of the team is performing at a
mediocre level, call him out, but more importantly, support him to do better.
If there is no improvement, it’s time to find a rock star for your team.
2.
Be a Thought
Leader:
Top talent is too good to work for middling companies with weak brands. The
more you can position yourself as an authority in your industry, the more
talent will naturally be attracted to your establishment.
3. Trust is Crucial: A team member can
be highly intelligent and a hard worker, but if you can’t trust that person,
it’s time to let him go. If you keep that person on, you’ll have a bigger
problem to deal with when disaster strikes. Your daily operations could take a
big hit if you retain employees you can’t trust.
4.
Forget
the Money… at First: Hire a person whose main motivation is to build a team, or
someone who has a passion for your business in general. Money is extremely
important, but when it’s the main thing on someone’s mind, it can be a
distraction. It’s important for your employees to care about the success of
your business, and if all they see are dollar signs, their hearts may not be in
it.
5.
Personal
Lives are Important: Recognize that your team members have personal lives. It’s easy
to take small steps to celebrate birthdays, weddings, or other significant
moments in their lives. If you see an opportunity to help a team member outside
of work, it pays to take it. It helps build loyalty with your employees, and
they tend to pay it forward with other team members.
6.
Maintain
Systematic Processes: Once you’ve achieved success in a certain area, create a process
that mimics that success over and over. A great read on this topic is “The
Checklist Manifesto.” In it, a hospital created checklists to create a
systematic process for maintaining good health in the building, and they
decreased infections by 66%. Checklists increase the effectiveness – and
success – of a team.
7.
Diversity
Brings Innovation: There’s a reason diversity is a common topic among employers. To
build a great team, you need diverse thinkers. A variety of races, ages, and
sexes can help a team think outside the box and hit problems from many
different angles. Plus, it makes your office a more interesting place to work.
8.
It’s
Okay to Be Friends: In most offices, you’ll spend more time with your coworkers than
you do with your family. Being friends and getting along not only increases
performance, it also leads to a great work environment. As long as you keep a
goal-oriented focus and hold people accountable, you shouldn’t be scared of a
team that’s made up of your friends.
9.
Play
to People’s Strengths: Find out what your employees are great at, but don’t forget
about their weaknesses. Each team member should be spending time doing what he
or she does best, but you should recognize weaknesses and help your employees
improve. Don’t miss out on creating an all-around rock star employee just
because he really “kills it” at one thing.
10.
Great
Teams Read Together: Leaders are readers,
so if you’re going to create leaders within the team, they should consistently
read. We’re always sharing articles and books among our team. It keeps us on
top of recent trends and helps stimulate strategic thoughts.
11.
Invest
in Your First Five Hires: The more time you invest in training your first five
hires, the less time you have to spend training the ones who join the company
later. Make it a point to set aside time with each member to support him or her
so everyone is prepared to show that same support to new employees as your
company grows.
12.
Give
Recognition:
Recognize people when they do something extraordinary. It not only gives people
a sense of accomplishment, it inspires others to make efforts to go above and
beyond their normal duties as well. We give a Championship Belt to a team
member each week to recognize that person for doing something incredible. Even
small efforts can make your employees feel appreciated and inspire them to do
even more.
Culled from forbes, as written by
John Hall.
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