Every business relies on various people to keep things running smoothly. From customer-facing employees who handle the day-to-day operations to the C suite of executives, everyone has their role to play. As a business owner, so do you. It’s your job as the leader of the business to make sure you show up and offer strong leadership as appropriate.
Learn to Listen
There are a lot of things that go into being a successful leader. One of them is learning how to listen, whether to customers or those working under you. A lot of the time the most valuable feedback you can come by comes from those two groups. If you want to build brand loyalty in your customers and employees, helping them understand that you’re listening to what they have to say can go a long way. Practice listening to understand, rather than to respond, so you can benefit from the perspectives that are offered to you.
Get Involved in Employee Progress
The more involved you are with your employees, the more confident they’ll feel in looking to you as their leader. For career-minded employees, part of working for you is the opportunity to progress their careers. Asking questions about how their work is going, their goals, and the progress they’re making will help them feel like you’re invested in their successes. To that end, try taking a Gemba walk from time to time. One of the main purposes of a Gemba walk is to ask questions. This gives you a chance to see things from your employee’s perspective. They have a special perspective of the things that are working, the ones that just plain don’t work, and the ones that are okay but could be improved.
Own Your Responsibilities
Ultimately, as the business owner, the buck stops with you. As such, you need to own up to your responsibilities. One of the things that the best leaders do is to give credit to those under them when things go well and to take responsibility for them when they go wrong. This can be tough to do, but if you want to build employee loyalty, it’s a really good move to make. It means the world to employees when you have their back.
There’s no doubt that showing strong leadership in the workplace takes work. You need to learn how to listen, be involved in the progress of your employees, and own up to your responsibilities. As you work to develop your leadership skills, your team will benefit from your guidance, and your business will be in a better position to find greater success.
Read this next: Why Communicating With Customers is Crucial to Your Success