It is no secret engaged leaders are more able to motivate the team, guide the culture and drive the overall strategy of the organization.
Employees will rally around an engaged leader.
There is no magic formula to becoming an engaged leader, but the three steps below are helpful for any leader who wants to become more engaged.
Be Visible- “We see you”
You must be visible. Leaders who live behind closed doors or stay in a constant parade of meetings have a hard time achieving this basic pre-requisite.
Being visible signals that you care. Staff knows your time is valuable. The fact that you are intentionally carving out time to be seen goes a long way to building engagement and trust.
Staff meetings don’t have the same effect, employees view this as them coming to you. The impact is in meeting employees where they are.
Be Available- “I see you”
A visible leader is signaling that he or she is available. Visibility loses impact if you are not available. In our current environment being available goes beyond an open door policy. Leaders now need to adopt a “virtual” open door policy. This means availability via email, text or even a phone call. One quick win is responding to email promptly. Nothing frustrates a team more than a leader who won’t reply to an email.
While the utility of open door policies can be questioned, there is no debating the impact it has on the employee who has sought you out.
Be Effective- “We get things done”
Visibility and availability fall apart if a leader does not follow through. Part of being visible is the ability to obtain real time feedback about potential concerns or problems. Leaders who just listen but never act will quickly become know as ineffective. There is nothing more disengaging to staff than the perception that their concerns fall on deaf ears.
Staff wants to work for a leader who they know will get stuff done.
What’s more satisfying for an employee than to see action taken on a suggestion or concern they voiced.
Start Small
These three traits really need to be practiced together to be effective. A detriment in any one area can have significant impact on the others. While there is nothing complex about these they can be very hard institute.
Start small. Try to block 30 minutes a week on your calendar for rounding, carve out some dedicated time to tackle your email.
Focus on some small wins for your staff to show that they have been heard and you care.