A team is a reflection of the leader. And having a high-performing team in your business is only possible if you have the right leadership skills.
Jenny (not her real name) is a business owner who wanted to fire her employee, Susie (also not her real name). That’s because, according to Jenny, Susie was very slow with her work.
I secretly didn’t think that was the case, but I agreed that Jenny needed to get into the Well-Oiled Operations™ program. And I suggested that Susie should go with her.
At first, Jenny was hesitant. She said she didn’t want to spend more money on someone she wanted to fire.
But in the end, they both joined.
And Susie blew my mind with her performance as the Well-Oiled Operations™ went on. Jenny even said that Susie went from being fired too being on fire.
What happened?
The problem wasn’t that Susie was bad at her job.
As it turned out, it was Jenny who lacked the right leadership skills to bring out the best in her team. But when Jenny started giving Susie better instructions and targets, the latter was able to deliver.
The story of Jenny and Susie is one that I’ve heard and seen many times. You see, a lot of business owners are quick to fire their team, not knowing that the problem was them all along.
So, if you want a high-performing team, you should look at how you are as a leader first.
Keep reading to discover the role of leadership skills in getting a high-performing team in your business.
The Effects of Great Leadership Skills
Let’s say you have someone in your team who’s seemingly slow and unable to perform according to your expectations.
If you’re like most business owners, your immediate reaction will be to fire that person. Especially if you already gave them a warning and still see no improvement.
But if you recall the story of Jenny and Susie, you’ll realize that effective leaders create a high-performing team. And ineffective leaders lead to subpar teams.
That means firing an erring employee isn’t always the best solution.
Sometimes, you have to give your team better leadership. And being an effective leader means you have to provide them with two key things so they can perform better:
1 – Clear Instructions
One reason why your team may not be performing is that you didn’t give them clear instructions.
Here’s how it likely happens:
You get this idea in your mind. So, you form the goal and the tasks that need to be completed to reach it. You complete all the details… but it’s all in your head.
So, when you delegate this task to your team, you fail to give all the details they need. What you thought seemed to be simple and easy to do ended up being confusing for your team.
That’s how mistakes happen.
Make sure that when you give instructions, you’ve already gotten all the details in your head and documented them. You can use our tool, Same Pager™ to document this.
That way, there’s no room for miscommunication, misinterpretation, and mistakes.
2 – Prioritization
Leaders are visionaries.
That means we get a lot of ideas. And sometimes, we get so excited about these ideas that we just dump them on to our team and expect them to complete them for us.
That’s not the best way to lead your team.
You have to remember that your team is already doing tasks that you’ve assigned to them before. If you keep dumping your new ideas on them, they’ll soon feel overwhelmed. And they’ll start to lose control over some of the tasks they’re doing.
To be an effective leader, you have to learn to prioritize the tasks you’ll give to your team. Always be considerate of what they already have on their plate. If something really needs to be put first, make sure the person you’ll give it to has enough time to work on it.
2 Must-Have Tools to Be a Better Leader
Being a better leader isn’t just about having the right skills. It’s also about having the right tools to help you and your team perform better.
Here are two tools that you can use so you can give clear instructions and set the right priorities for your team.
Tool 1: Project Management Software
A project management system is a tool that can help you delegate tasks properly.
Basically, it tracks all the projects and scheduled meetings being done by your team. It allows you to check how each project is progressing, who’s in charge of it, and other details that are relevant to its completion.
This tool is beneficial for many reasons.
First, it shows accountability because you’ll know who’s responsible for completing the project.
Second, it gives you an idea of what each team member is currently working on.
Through this tool, you can ensure that the right projects are being prioritized. You see, some team members prefer to finish all the smaller tasks before going for the bigger ones.
You can use a project management system to set the right priorities so the bigger tasks are being done first.
Tool 2: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPIs are great for showing your team what it means to win. It gives your team the metrics that they need to reach in order to perform well.
In our team, everyone reports on 3-5 KPIs each week. I recommend that you have the same amount of KPIs per person. This will encourage your team to be more productive because you’ll be pushing everybody to get more done each week.
Again, make sure the KPIs are clearly explained and documented. You have to give specific targets to avoid mistakes and issues among your team.
A High-Performing Team Starts with the Leader
If you want to have a high-performing team or a more profitable business, you have to develop better leadership skills. After all, you’re responsible for how your team will work to make your business succeed.
But that doesn’t mean you have to be physically present all the time just so you can guide your team. As long as you use the right tools and put the right systems in place, you can lead your team even if you’re not always there.
So, are you ready to work on your leadership skills?
Book a free strategy session with one of our scale specialists so we can help. Schedule a call here: www.stacytuschl.com/call.
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