We all want to be the best leaders possible! If you’re trying to step up your leadership game in 2023, it may be time to make some resolutions. Here are a few ideas to consider as we enter the New Year.
Schedule 1-1 Meetings (One on One)
People want to know that they are seen, heard, and valued. Regular 1-1 meetings help you get to know your employees, skills, education, background, including their hopes and dreams. Help each worker craft goals and a plan to achieve them, and then use your 1-1 time to keep them moving forward. 1-1 meetings work very well.
Boost Your Support
There are always new ways to better support your employees. Do they need new technical solutions? Are your processes bogging them down? Do they feel like they are drowning in paperwork? Constantly gather feedback from your front-line workers, and then brainstorm solutions to make their jobs easier. For the most part, brainstorming with your team allows everyone to provide input, recommendations and suggestions. Not only will this bring out the best ideas, it will also foster stewardship, ownership, and advocacy.
Also, spread the love. Make sure you give credit where credit is due, and show appreciation for the work, effort, and results of your team and staff.
Create Mentorships
Newer workers, especially those who are younger or less experienced, can strongly benefit from a mentorship program. You can mentor them yourself if you have the time and skills, or develop peer mentorships that pair new employees with old hands. Either way, you’ll be helping to shape the next generation of company leaders.
Develop a Psychological Safe Space
It’s a tough world out there, and your employees deserve to feel both physically and emotionally safe at work. Zero-tolerance policies for bullying and harassment are just the beginning. You’ll also need to foster an overall culture of acceptance, diversity, and inclusion, which means not shying away from the tough conversations. Your employees need to know that you have their backs, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Show Up Every Day
No one expects their leaders to be perfect. In fact, the more you are comfortable showing your human side, the more your employees will feel free to be themselves. But the one trait that all great leaders have is that they keep showing up and keep trying. If you’re sick, by all means, model good behavior by staying home. But when you’re stressed out and overwhelmed, just be present in the moment. Your employees will respect your commitment to them, even if you don’t know exactly what to say or do.
Communicate
Of all the areas of improvement we recognize by leaders, managers and executives is communications.
Use multiple channels of communication – email, TEAMS, meetings, conference calls, and social posts to get your message across.
Repeat the message. People are busy and have their own jobs, responsibilities, and high-priority work. Catching the same message at different times increases the chance it will be heard (think car advertisements on TV).
Be succinct. Most people will not read an email that starts with a 10 sentence, 5 line paragraph. Communicate your message (in summary) in the first sentence with maybe a couple of bullets. Expand on the communication as you continue with the message. Use sub headers that summarize the who, what, when… and especially why. When employees and staff understand the “why”, you’ll find they become and advocate; or if the appose the decision or policy, you will at least receive well-informed discussion.
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