Attitude

Morale impacts all aspects of your team—work quality, productivity, retention, client satisfaction, team dynamics, etc.

As leaders, we have the ability to make a difference.

Make sure your people are motivated. Figure out what motivates each person and give them positive feedback that resonates for them. It’s usually some version of success achieving goals, getting things right, and/or being helpful to people.

That understanding of personal motivation can be applied to channel each of your team members into tasks and goals that are fulfilling to them. Some people want to be empowered to do things individually—they prefer the autonomy and self-reliance. Some people prefer to work collaboratively. Some prefer “big picture” work, while others like to get “down in the weeds.” Some like interacting with clients or the public, and others are a better fit for the “back office.”

Help each person on your team see a path to the success and fulfillment they want. Ideally, you have found a way to dovetail their professional path with the needs of the company. Don’t try to force or coerce someone into a career path they don’t want to follow; eventually they will realize that they are on the wrong path, and then you might lose them from the company entirely.

Accommodate individual preferences when it is possible—some people really are more productive working remotely or working at “off” hours, either in the early morning or late at night. Fairly assign workloads, so that you are not “rewarding your top performers with more work.”

Come in with a positive attitude yourself, and be a role model. Even when things are not going well, you can still see a positive side, e.g., “I know this is a tough situation, but this team can handle it, and we are going to get through this together.”

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