Leadership- what does that even mean?

We have come to a point in society where consumers trust what a real person has to say about a product and service more than any shiny advertisement.  Trust is a key factor in the customers’/clients’ decision making process.  Reputation and credibility of a company can be improved by emphasizing ethical decisions, behaviors, boundaries and ideas. Using leadership skills to demonstrate appropriate business ethics can help build a teams’ culture within a business. In addition, it provides measurable benchmarks for employees to follow as they make independent decisions in their daily duties.

Traits of Leadership

Both managers and employees set the stage in regards to ethics and the way they conduct themselves. The self-respect, pride and dignity that employees feel about their position and the company as a whole, will help strengthen the ethics of the company; you can help instill this ethical pride by conducting yourself above reproach in the ethics arena. Happy employees spread positive experiences with their network of friends and family.

Ethics in Leadership

Developing leadership in a business can start with designing an ethics policy and having every employee read and sign it. The policy should outline the company’s ethical standards in all areas of business, including personal use of computers, personal phone calls, customer service, how discounting is handled, discussion of company business outside of the office and any type of harassment.

Leading by example

Providing clear-cut expectations and then leading by example will raise the standard and create a company-wide sense of pride when it comes to business ethics and what they mean.

Motivate Employees

Does paying an employee more money really motivate them to do better work?

We have scoured the internet for ways to motivate employees to ensure a better workplace as well as better-quality product/service produced.

Ask your employees what they want.

• Conduct a company survey.
• Listen to them. Hold weekly meetings for each department and monthly meetings for the whole team.

 Show them a future.

• Outline employees’ career paths with your company. Provide for internal growth as well as future change. Promote from within and, if possible, offer alternate opportunities to help employees find the right fit.

 Reward them.

• Let them know their value. Take employees out for breakfast, or visit them in the field and treat them to lunch.
• Go above and beyond. Think up contests that can make work more interesting and fun. Sponsor company get-away trips, cookouts, etc.

 Thank them.

• A small “thank you” goes a long way! Simply knowing they are appreciated will make them continue to work at high standards.
• Visit with employees in their offices or on job sites to find out how things are going.

Empower them.

• Don’t make them be perfect. If you want employees to try new things, there are going to be failures as well as successes. Don’t forget that both bring growth.

Are you the leader you want to be?  How are you motivating and empowering your team?