Building that positive energy

Charge everyone's batteries

Leadership is so much more than being at the top of part of the org-chart.

If you are the “Team Leader” or “Division Leader” or “Project Manager,” then people will do what you tell them to do on the team’s projects, because that’s how employment works. But positional leadership is limited—people will not go above-and-beyond for you. People will care how you feel about them and their work only to the extent that they don’t want to be punished or fired by you.

If you authentically invest in your people—care about making their professional lives better, more successful, more fulfilling—then their respect and appreciation for you as a leader will grow.

• Give people opportunities to grow—empower them, give them training opportunities, coach and mentor them.

• Build their confidence—praise good work, and give corrective feedback when there is a problem, so that your people are motivated to do things even better next time.

• Show them that you respect them and value them, as well as respecting and valuing their work—the people and the work are not one-in-the-same.

Treating your people this way gives your workplace high morale, high retention, and high productivity. They can do more for you, for the team, for the company, and for your clients.