How The Best Leaders Inspire And Engage Their Teams

It’s known that managers are tasked with leading a team of people toward a common goal. Everyone within the team plays a different role, but that end result stems from their collective efforts. It’s the manager’s duty to make sure every person’s performance is in perfect harmony to achieve that outcome, but someone has to inspire performance. The key to this inspiration lies in a different role entirely — the role of a leader.

Let’s be frank — not all managers are leaders. There’s a fine line between the two, but in my experience, the ability to inspire team members stems from having the mettle to better yourself for the good of the group. Only then will employees be truly excited enough about the work they’re doing.

Inspiring Engagement In Your Team

Your team’s engagement starts at the top of the company hierarchy and trickles down to those who devote themselves to their work. While the captain might be at the helm of the ship, it’s important to remember that it’s the sailors who keep it afloat.

Every individual has their own leadership style, but a method I’ve crafted over the years has proven very successful in inspiring my teams. It revolves around three actions from the leader, or as I’ve come to call them, the three Ls of leadership: love, listen and laugh.

1. Love Encourages Loyalty

To guide your team with love, show empathy in difficult situations. Don’t be afraid to dish out tough love every now and then, and never withhold positive emotions or miss opportunities to showcase a team member’s accomplishments. As in personal relationships, it’s important to consider individual styles and preferences when communicating with your team.

My team members all receive the same message from me, but I convey the message differently to certain people based on my intimate knowledge of their communication styles. Some of my managers respond better to hearing a “great job on that sale,” and others value one-on-one meetings above just my vocal praises. I care enough about my team to take the time to understand how they communicate, and the result has been loyal employees committed to the mission of the team and organization.

2. Listening Builds Respect

Being a manager doesn’t automatically warrant total respect from employees — an inspirational leader knows respect is built over time. This process starts by facilitating an open dialogue among your peers. Actively listening to their thoughts helps create those conversations. I can say with total sincerity that by listening to others, my team has been able to form and implement successful strategies with impressive results.

There’s a great phrase the managers of my sales teams use during meetings: “Feel free to challenge me, but …” I genuinely enjoy hearing this statement from them because it means they are unafraid to speak their minds while allowing for candid discussion, further fostering a culture of engagement. Besides, the best information I receive doesn’t always come from a spreadsheet — it comes from what my team tells me. I can make better decisions with the help and support of my team.

3. Laughter Creates Equality

There’s one element of business management many people tend to forget: the human aspect. Teams are made up of individuals who have emotions and personalities — no one person is like the other. Laughter humanizes leaders and flattens the workplace hierarchy, it sets the pace of the environment you build. If your team members aren’t laughing and enjoying themselves at work, something’s wrong in your office.