The #1 Skill A Great Leader Needs To Master

Being a great leader today is tough. You need to be smart, agile, open-minded; the list goes on and on. However, the most critical skill any leader (executive, supervisor, teacher, coach, or parent) needs to master and execute to help others obtain their highest potential is the ability to “Encourage”.

Encourage = In-Courage

The word encourage comes from the Old French word encoragier, meaning, “make strong.” Have you ever actually thought about the word “encourage” before? En-Courage = In-Courage. To encourage is to put courage in another person. When you encourage, you are filling another up with courage.

I know for me personally, the only reason why I accomplished certain things earlier in my life was because I didn’t have the heart to let down people who believed in me. Remember those who gave you a second (and third and fourth) chance, allowed you to screw up, and gave you the opportunity to make it right. Are you that person, that when people talk about their success, will talk about the belief you had in them, long before anyone else? Your faith and constant encouragement wouldn’t allow them to fail.

*Related – 4 Most Powerful Words You Can Say

Employees do not quit companies—they quit managers

Is your team willing to walk through a fire for you? Have you demonstrated that you would walk through a fire for them? Are you their biggest cheerleader? Studies have shown that the reasons people leave their jobs are directly related to how connected they feel at work. The Family and Work Institute has found that compensation and benefits have only a 2 percent impact on job satisfaction, while quality and workplace support have a combined 70 percent impact. Retaining employees is not a function of the human resources department. Employees are most engaged when they feel as though their work is important, they are appreciated, they learn and grow, and they feel a part of a great team.

In fact, the single most important determinant of an individual’s performance and commitment to stay with an organization is the relationship that an individual has with his or her immediate manager. People leave their manager far more often than they leave the organization.

*Related – Are You An Energy Giver Or Energy Sucker?

Caught You Doing Something Right

Do you have a system that reminds and inspires you to encourage others on a consistent basis? In my companies, one of the most effective tools in boosting morale is our “Caught You Doing Something Right” card, which acknowledges some specific positive action or behavior a team member has executed. We keep stacks of these cards in the employee break room, call center, and any other room a team member enters. We started using them as a management tool, and now everyone has access to them. An employee may open his drawer and find a “Caught You Doing Something Right” card thanking him for helping someone through a mini-crisis the day before. Most employees collect and save these cards.

Our management team is required to catch people doing something right on a regular basis. This is so embedded in our culture that we now have a spreadsheet with every employee’s name down one side and each manager’s name across the top. The manager fills in the date he or she last sent that employee a “Caught You Doing Something Right” card. This way we can spot when someone hasn’t been recognized in a while and immediately “catch” him or her.

We have even held “Caught You Doing Something Right” contests, and the employee who gives the most cards wins a gift certificate to a nice restaurant. The entire team really gets into it. One shy employee went home one night and wrote out 111 personalized cards to everyone on our staff.

I Don’t Want Your Best

Watch this 90-second video to see why the term “I gave my best” is an unacceptable crutch that I don’t want to hear.

Advance Financial Top-Rated Workplaces In US

Advance Financial, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee ranked #8 in best companies to work for, just behind brand giants FedEx & Costco and ahead of Apple & Starbucks. Advance Financial has been a consulting client of The DiJulius Group since 2013 and we couldn’t be more proud. In keeping with its vision of a world-class customer experience, Advance Financial is delivering instant lending decisions and brick-and-mortar money services 24/7/365. The company maintains an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and was named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country for the sixth year in a row.