Do you like your team?

Too many leaders are focused on catching people making mistakes. The way they sometimes talk about others can make you wonder if they even like the people they work with. Whether you hired your team or inherited them, it’s your team to lead—so lead!

Advice: Meet people where they are—not where you are.

It’s easy to get bent out of shape when someone else doesn’t meet our expectations, or doesn’t operate the way we do. It’s common to wish others were different, just like it’s normal to wish that you, yourself, were different.

Effective leaders catch their team doing something right—and then reinforce it!

One of the easiest ways a leader can improve productivity (and morale) is to notice and emphasize the good things people are doing. Why? So they repeat it.

How do you feel when someone criticizes your work? How do you feel when someone compliments you, or highlights an aspect of your work that you are particularly proud of? Now, reflect on the recent engagements with your team and imagine how they feel.

It doesn’t matter if you have a catchy slogan, wallpaper the office with motivational posters, or create fancy marketing materials touting your brand promise. If you treat your team like they’re irresponsible, untrustworthy, and have to be micromanaged, they’ll treat others the same way.

Teams model their leader.

Your job is to create a positive ripple effect.

Your job is to role model the behavior you want to see in others.

When you catch your team doing something right, you reinforce the values that are important to your business.

Here’s an overview of a ritual I’ve used for years, it’s called the VALUE BUCK Award:

• Give each employee five VALUE BUCKS to recognize those situations where a teammate goes above and beyond the call of duty in demonstrating one of your core values.
• When someone awards a co-worker a VALUE BUCK, they announce the employee’s achievement and the award is displayed in the recipient’s office.
• At the end of the quarter, all earned VALUE BUCKS are entered into a drawing for a prize.
• Just imagine how innovative you can get with this.

Looking for some new creative ideas? Schedule an introductory call with an LXU coach. We’d love to share more with you.

In the meantime, do me a favor: Catch your team doing something right. Make a new habit of looking for positive habits and behavior. I’ll bet that you’ll find someone doing something right! Email me your results, I’d love to hear them.