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There are a number of inconvenient truths in today’s business world, particularly around leadership. One truth is that if team members are depressed, unfocused and/or underperforming, it is often due to their leadership. By facing this truth directly you have taken the first step towards improving your team’s work environment, morale and productivity. What is True Leadership? Studies have shown that many team members feel their leaders have a distorted sense of what true leadership is. Many times those in leadership will mistakenly fill the role of manager over that of a leader. This is most evident in the authoritative way they treat their team members. A true leader should be a role model of behavior, serve as a mentor, and be the first to provide motivation and constructive feedback for performance improvement. What Qualities Do Team Members Desire in a Leader? There are certain qualities that team members respect and admire from a leader. When they see and recognize these traits, they are more likely to follow the lead and tend to be happier in their work life, which in turn makes them more productive. Some of the most important qualities for leaders to consistently demonstrate are: Integrity and fairness Honest and trustworthy Open-mindedness Vision, wisdom and rational thinking Decision Making Creativity Leaders who remain conscious of these qualities and constantly strive to display them will find it easier to maintain a positive and productive team. How Do You Inspect Yourself? If you are in a leadership role I encourage you to consistently seek feedback to ensure that you are contributing positively to your teams’ morale and productivity. There are a few ways that you can accomplish this: Written evaluation: Request 360 feedback from your team members to evaluate your ability to consistently demonstrate important leadership qualities. Compliance evaluation: Some companies will bring in an outside party or have a department designated to ensure that leaders are properly fulfilling their roles. Self evaluation: Take some time to research different leadership tactics and establish a plan of action to implement. Set aside time to reflect on how well you have executed on your plan utilizing performance results and employee morale as your gauge. Whatever approach you take, it is important that you remain open to assess your progress and remain open to change. Remember there is always room to grow, and a great leader is critical to creating and leading a great team. Facing the inconvenient truth is not always easy; however, it is necessary for growth. Today’s leader must be capable of establishing positive morale and building high performing teams. By recognizing areas for improvement, implementing necessary leadership tactics and evaluating your effectiveness along the way, you can create necessary change and become the exception to the inconvenient truth!

There is a huge difference between attracting leaders and followers. The ability to attract leaders who can take over your role is indispensable. How many times have you encountered someone who was strong in their role, but had no one to back fill their position? It happens more often than not when someone attracts followers VS attracting other leaders. Your true leadership is not only measured by your performance and the value you bring to the company through innovation, productivity and profitability, but also by the successors you leave behind. Ask yourself, will they emulate your leadership style and continue to grow the company through their future successors or will they pack their desks and follow you? Every organization needs followers, and they have a specific role they play in achieving the organizations goals. However, in the end the leaders you attract and develop will be the ones who continue to carry your and the company’s vision forward. Take a moment to breakdown and evaluate your leadership style. Is it conducive to attracting and creating leaders or followers? Traits of Leaders who attract followers: They focus only on the opportunities of othersWhen you realize that you are focusing primarily on the opportunities of those you work with it is an indication that you will most likely attract followers. Leaders want to work with leaders willing to build up and encourage performance through coaching and developing strengths, as well as, areas of opportunity. They want recognition for themselves VS their team If you are only focused on your success you will overlook the efforts of others and fail to value their input. While your team may enjoy the success and recognition that comes they will do so by following your lead rather than being willing to take the lead. Long term this is not a recipe for success. The team cannot perform without you present Without you the team cannot perform. They are in constant need of direction VS being willing to make decisions, share ideas and grow beyond that direction. Thus your successes are limited. Without you the team cannot move forward and a result many times nor can you. Traits of Leaders who attract leaders: Focus on the strengthsWhen you focus on the strengths of others, it means that you believe in their potential and want to see them succeed and reach their personal and professional goals. Leaders will draw to you because they know that you will take a vested interest in their growth. Invest your time in othersInvesting your time in others strengthens the foundation of your organization. By developing talent, looking for best practices and nourishing other’s passion you breed success. It is those successors that will ultimately build from the foundation to create new experiences through fresh ideas, innovation and successors of their own. You deposit in them your beliefs, vision and strategies. Like any investment, in due time, the outcome will be amazing. They experience success through and with othersRemember it is not about you, but about the team you create around you. Recognizing the success of a team is showing others the type of leader they can be to deliver those same types of results. The ripple effect increases the level of success when everyone is able to share in that success together. So are you an attractor of leaders or followers? There is a clear difference, and you have the control of choosing who you want to attract. In the long run the more leaders you attract the more followers you invest in as those leaders will bring their followers with them. As a result you create an environment of succession and growth and who wouldn’t want to work with a leader like that! Enjoy!

Matthew Bellows, the Founder and CEO of Yesware, recently posted this on his blog: “The threat of firing is not as powerful as the human desire to unlock potential.” Anyone who has worked under people with great leadership skills can attest to the truth and strength found in that statement. When people are placed under great leaders, their potential can be lit from within and turn into a raging fire that cannot be quenched by anything but success. Additionally, a leader’s well-placed faith can foster growth in areas that some people may have never previously considered before. Unfortunately, some managers use fear as their main tool instead. In some cases, people are forced into job positions that they do not want, simply out of fear of losing their jobs completely. This is a common tactic among managers to lazily fill positions they need filled, or even to punish those under their “command.” All too many individuals have tried to turn down a dubious position that they do not want only to hear the words “I could force you, but you won’t make me, will you?” Using a person’s job as leverage to get them to comply with your wishes is a clear example of a lack of true leadership skills. Avoid Bully Bosses Why do so many bosses choose to manipulate, coerce and even bully their workers when the opposite approach is such a clearly superior method? Sadly, bullying is simply an easier tactic. Too many bosses understand that real leadership takes a ton of work. However, with the work comes benefits that true leaders are not likely to forget, such as increased strength in political, personal and professional areas. In the alternative, the strong-arm boss only needs to apply brute force with the smallest amount of tact. According to Chuck Gumbert, founder of the Tomcat Group, if you want to know how harmonious a company really is, you simply need to ask the shop floor workers. Their answers will give a clear indication of whether or not your organization is dysfunctional. Alternatively, if workers don’t mention a single issue, they may be under the watchful eye of an intimidating boss who has made transparency and honesty impossible. This also indicates a dysfunctional organization. Put Employees First The company leader is ultimately the one responsible for functional or dysfunctional employee conditions. Leaders set the tone for how others within an organization act. If fairness is the rule, favoritism is not possible. Devote Time to Listening In some cases, serious dysfunction can go ignored simply because top dogs refuse to listen. To avoid this, real leaders employ the following tactics: They take the time to listen to what their charges tell them instead of simply reacting to it. They value worker feedback They use fearless leadership instead of the threat of fear. When you have created an environment of fearless leadership where workers know their opinions matter, they are more likely to lock onto and believe in the company’s vision. Ed Oakley and Doug Krug effectively showed in their book Enlightened Leadership that a great leader gathers all the best ideas in the room, regardless of who came up with them. That is how dysfunctional companies effectively turn themselves around. This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.

Life’s lessons are often taught to us in very unexpected ways. In some cases, this means that those lessons are also taught by unexpected individuals. While we may believe traits such as leadership and generosity are learned over years of hard work and discipline, there is living proof that is not necessarily always the case. Consider the story of a young woman we shall call Sarah: Sarah is, simply put, an incredible girl. At just 17 she has exhibited many of the qualities and traits that some people work their entire lives to achieve, and in many cases still fall short. She took a job at the mall working in a retail position. These often thankless, brutal jobs have allowed her and countless others the opportunity to be exposed to everything human behavior has to offer. Anyone who has worked retail understands that this often involves a large amount of bad with a spattering of good. Sarah recently shared a conversation she had with a friend. A fellow coworker at the mall had experienced more bad than good and was commiserating with Sarah about how terrible her day had been. It was filled with an angry manager, rude customers and missed sales goals. Her coworker felt anxious and defeated at the end of the day. Although Sarah had no power to make customers choose kinder words, calm the angry manager’s temper, or increase her friend’s low sales numbers, she was not completely powerless in the situation. Sara knew that she could listen. She also knew that after she had listened, she could more fully examine the situation to determine just how she could help her friend get through her difficult day. This intentional, service minded attitude gave Sarah both the opportunity and the ability to assist her friend when she needed it most. In this case, the simple, kind act of treating her friend to a smoothie and chatting made Sarah the perfect example of generosity and leadership. According to Hilary Davidson and Christian Smith, the authors of The Paradox of Generosity, when people engage in generous acts, it actually results in an improvement of the generous individual’s well-being. While Sarah’s friend was certainly cheered by their encounter and Sarah’s kind, understanding words, Sarah also received something for her unselfish act. When asked about her experience, Sarah stated with a bit of surprise that she felt a strong sense of contentment when she thought about what she had done. As a leader in business, you are given the chance each and every day to make a difference in the lives of those around you. One of the clearest ways that superior leaders can show they value their coworkers is by holding regular one-on-one meetings. This is a great time to give direct reports, listen closely, and offer the direction, support, and praise that most workers crave from their leaders. It not only shows that you care about their role within the company, but that you care how they fare as a person. This type of interaction usually results in stronger working relationships, increased job performance, and an overall greater morale in the workplace. Like Sarah, leaders may also come away from the meetings with a great feeling knowing they have done something worthwhile. Making a positive difference in your workplace is as simple as being generous with your time. It’s beneficial for all involved. This blog was written by Dilip Barot, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Etech Global Services, and founder of Creative Choice Group, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Etech employs 2,700 team members across the US, India and Jamaica. If you would like to learn more about Etech, please contact us at info@etechgs.com for more information.