How can leaders get the best out of their team?

Getting the best out of your team is a one of the most important parts of leadership and it can be quite an art. Of course, not everyone will be at their best all the time but leadership isn’t about relentless positivity, it’s about making the best of every situation and helping your team to grow and learn through every experience so that they can deliver great results. So, how exactly can you get the best out of your team? We’ve put together a few practical ways to approaching the task:

Be open-minded and accepting

It’s an unfortunate reality that not all ideas are going to be viable – whether they can’t be implemented right away or if they’ll never be possible for your organisation, there are always ideas that will need to be shelved. The great news is that it shouldn’t matter. The ideation process should always be split into two distinct sections – a time when all ideas are welcome and another time when every idea is analysed according to viability.

Of course, not every idea will pass the viability test, but shooting down ideas before they’re even fully-formed means that team members are less likely to bring their big, change-the-world ideas to the table in the future. You’ll never know what big ideas your team has if they don’t feel confident to share them.

Connect the right people

Sadly, not everyone gets along as well as we would like them to. Even people who have no hard feelings towards each other can find themselves struggling to really connect together. A leader’s job is to find the people who will work well together and put them together.

A team full of people who don’t get along or don’t like to interact with each other too much can be extremely detrimental to the whole team and will only result in communication breakdowns over time. This all starts within the recruiting process – hiring for skills is still important but also, hiring for values is the approach that will ensure your team is made up of people who really ‘click’ together.

Don’t forget to delegate

Have you ever found yourself thinking “This would all be so much easier I just did it myself”? You’re not alone but it’s a thought that many leaders need to get rid of, quickly. Your team can’t do their best if you don’t give them the opportunity to do so and never giving them a chance to develop their skills will only be a setback for your team in the long run.

If you really want to bring out the best in your team, you need to let them struggle a little bit. Always be ready to help out and to provide insight but letting your team navigate issues and problem solve on their own is one of the best ways to help them grow and learn. When your team is constantly learning, you’ve got a group of people who are on their way to being the best they can be.

Always expect the best of them

Do you expect great things of your team? If you don’t, you can be sure that your lack of confidence in their skills and knowledge is showing. You may never verbalise it but your body language can be extremely telling. If your team gets a whiff of the fact that you don’t really expect them to be delivering great results, they simply won’t deliver at all.

Set ambitious but realistic goals, support them so they can go the extra mile and always expect the best from them. There will be mistakes along the way and problems are inevitable – it’s not the avoidance of these things that will show you how great your team is, it’s how they navigate their way through. As their leader, they’re waiting for you to set the bar and lead by example.

If you’re ready to start getting the best out of your team, People Make the Difference can help. To find out more, visit www.pmtd.com.au or call us on 0412 333 415. Our online leadership training videos start from $99 for a year’s access, with new video training added each quarter. Great value if you’re committed to growing your leadership potential.