Five Top Tips for Leading Team Members to Success

Okay, so you’ve completed an exhaustive search for key team members, and you’re ready to take on the big boys in your industry. You’ve got top players in their area of expertise. Don’t get ahead of yourself though, now the hard work begins. It’s not enough to just hire the right players; you need to have a solid plan for leading them (and ultimately your organization) to success.

Leading Team Members to Success

Here are five top tips to minimize internal strife and conflict, and build a rock star team ready to go to the mat for you and the organization’s mission.

1. Listen to Team Members. Take the time to gather feedback from your team members to determine how they feel about their jobs, roles, and responsibilities. You can do this through informal chats, confidential work climate surveys, formal information gathering meetings, etc.  To solicit quality feedback, keep meetings nonthreatening, and encourage team members to speak freely. Whenever possible, implement changes they suggest to show you value their opinions, and to encourage future dialogue.

2. Discover Their Goals. A significant part of the listening process involves asking team members about their long-term goals and ambitions. This not only demonstrates that you’re interested in the professional development of your team, but gives you the opportunity to uncover some hidden talent or skill that could benefit the organization. Help team members develop an action plan to reach their goals.

3. Make Corrections Quickly and Privately. If you notice a team member doing something incorrectly or behaving in an unacceptable manner, don’t let the situation escalate.  Without delay, talk to the team member in private. View this as an opportunity to teach, instead of to reprimand. If you wait until you become angry over repeated occurrences, you’re more likely to become confrontational in your approach, which can alienate you from the team member.

4. Praise Good Work Publicly. Catch them doing something right!  During a busy workday, it’s easy to overlook the accomplishments of the team members and mention only their mistakes. An occasional handwritten note acknowledging achievements to let them know you appreciate their daily effort goes a long way toward providing motivation and building morale.

5. Set An Example. Show team members how they should go about their work by setting an example. If you expect teammates to follow through on promises to customers, set a positive example by fulfilling your promises. If you spend a lot of time gossiping at the water cooler and badmouthing clients, you send the message to that it’s acceptable for them to do the same.

Have you witnessed any of these tips in action? Do you have other tips that might help lead team members towards success? I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments below.