Read any book on management, or take a leadership training program and you’ll learn that a managers’ E.Q. is much more relevant than his or her I.Q. And the reason is simple: employees don’t care how smart their managers are –they only care about the quality of the relationship they have with them.
As a manager’s job is to see to it that things get done, he needs to know how to search for, screen and hire the right people and put them in the right seats. Most importantly, he needs to have the skills to motivate his employees to give their best each and every day and work well together with other team members.
And the best way to accomplish this goal is to adopt the following five leadership practices:
1. Take a genuine interest in your employees, and strive to build a personal connection with them. Your employees want to know that you have more interest in them than their ability to churn work. Taking a genuine interest in who they are personally will go a long way to building rapport, building trust and making it easy for them to share with you the challenges they face and even their mistakes. This is so important because as a manager, you can’t be the last person to know what’s going on – you need to be the first.
2. Inspire your employees. There’s an old saying that someone will always be looking to you as an example of how to act, and to not let them down. Consider enrolling in a strong leadership training program to improve your communications skills, Active Listening skills as well as conflict resolution and other skills that will help you become even a better leader.
3. Place your trust in your employees. Quickly. You wouldn’t hire someone you think is shady, slippery or full of fertilizer; so don’t treat them as such. Establish quality control protocol, give feedback, and trust that your employees will do what they were hired to do as well as watch your back.
4. Provide a path for your employees to succeed and grow. Good employees will want to know they have a future with your organization, and that they will have opportunities to grow personally and professionally. Your employees will appreciate feedback and direction. This will require that you take an interest in them personally (see #1 above) so that you understand their strengths and talents.
5. Keep your employees in the know. Employees don’t want to be treated like mushrooms – you know, feed them a lot of (you know what) and keep them in the dark. Not only do they want to know how they are doing in their role, they want to know how their duties contribute to the success of the organization.
Do you have others to share? Please do. Employees who have mutually respectful relationships with their leaders are more loyal, are more likely to give a little more and most importantly, are the ones who brag about the company they work for. It’s E.Q. management with an I.Q. approach.