7 Steps to Creating Your Dream Leadership Team

Hi, this is Gary Furr. Welcome to my podcast channel, Turning Complexity into Simplicity.

Everything within an organization rises or falls based on leadership. When good things happen in a business it’s because of good leadership. And when things go south in a business it is usually due to poor leadership. It all comes down to effective leadership. So how do you go about becoming a more effective leader? How do you develop that dream leadership team within your organization? I have outlined 7 steps to effective leadership based on my 40 plus years of C-level business experience and interacting with hundreds of business owners.

Step1: We must create a compelling vision. As a leader it is your responsibility to create a dynamic and compelling vision for your organization. A vision that lets everyone in the organization know where the company is headed in the future.

A compelling vision is one in which your employees want to be part of and are inspired by and it gives them something to look forward to that is bigger than themselves, because people want to be a part of something that is bigger than them. They want to know that the organization is headed somewhere, and as a leader we need to be able to envision the future vision state of our business, and then articulate that vision to the members of our company in such a way that they want to be part of it and contribute to the direction we are going. So, the foundation of your organization starts with a clear vision. Where are you going? Where do you want to be a year from now? And if you can create that and develop that vision with your company, your employees will be inspired to be a part of that.

Step-2 is all about communication: As leaders we must get better at communicating and that has come to light even more so during the pandemic we are currently experiencing. Often, I have found that CEO’s and owners of companies may have a vision of where the company is going but they have failed to communicate it clearly to the members of their organization. And it requires more than communicating it just once or framing it and placing it on the wall of the office lunchroom and then expecting everyone to buy into it. That’s not sufficient for your employees who want to be part of that vision.

As leaders we need to be communicating more often, in order to get buy in from our employees. We can’t just create a vision and then frame it, put it on our office walls and expect everyone to buy in. We have to be communicating more often with our employees to help them understand what it is the company wants to accomplish in the future.

Step-3 is to listen: People want to know that they have been heard and this requires us as leaders to be better listeners. We must learn to listen with the intent to understand and not reply. You see, most people listen with the intent to reply, so they really are not listening, but they are thinking of the response to what the other person is trying to say. Your employees want to be heard and that requires developing your listening skills to really try and turn off your mind and focus on what the other person is trying to say. Listen with the intent to understand, not to reply. This is a skillset that takes time to learn and to develop, and if we can practice it and get good at it our employees will appreciate and feel that they’ve been heard.

The 4th step is empathy: As part of our effort to listen, and as we become better at it, we start to show empathy or understanding of the problems facing the individuals within our organization and our teams. By showing empathy we are showing that we care. It has been said that 64% of people quit their jobs because they dislike their boss or employer. Why is that? It’s because they don’t feel that their boss or employer cares about them. Developing your listening and empathy skills can reverse that trend. So, if we take the time to really listen and show empathy, we’ll see our employees want to become a greater part of our organization and our attrition rate will fall.

The 5th step is to be more transparent: The members of your organization, your employees, want to know what is going on within your organization. So, you see, chances are they already know what is happening and when leadership doesn’t discuss what is going on the trust level diminishes significantly. Your staff and employees want to be part of the solution, but they need to know what’s really going on and if we’re not communicating that with them, then chances are they are figuring that out on their own.

If leadership isn’t discussing honestly what is happening and being transparent there will be alternative agendas as to what’s going on and people will start heading in different directions. More often than not, when your employees are figuring out what’s going on, it’s actually worse than what is actually happening.

Step-6, we must give credit where credit is due: Not giving credit to those who deserve it and taking credit yourself creates a toxic environment of resentment within your organization. When leaders take credit for what others have done it will develop a culture of animosity and secrecy, which employees will no longer share ideas that could benefit the organization and make it better. Eventually these employees will go elsewhere where their ideas are appreciated and where leaders will give them credit that they are due. The more as a leader that you can give praise and credit for good ideas, the more ideas that will be generated and you’ll create an atmosphere of trust within your organization.

Step-7 is be a coach: We manage things and we lead people. Our goal should be to help others achieve success. Good leaders coach their employees to help them meet the expectations we have set for them. Good leaders are engaged in helping their employees to be successful. As a leader, it is our responsibility to evaluate progress of the individual in our charge, the progress of the various teams and the progress of the organization and then coach these individuals to greater success, no different than sports teams do. It is our responsibility to encourage others and cheer them on when they succeed and face challenges and to help them win the game of business.

There are a few other steps to be a more effective leader and develop your dream team. Stay tuned for the other steps or reach out to me and let’s together create your dream team or elevate your dream team to a higher level.

You’ve been listening to turning Complexity into Simplicity with me, Gary Furr. For more information visit my website garyfurrconsulting.com. Thank you for listening.