Employees want to be successful in their jobs. A leader’s role is to enable them to be successful. It is probably one of the most important leadership skills an effective leader must execute properly: to enable others to be successful. Do you enable your followers to be successful, excel, and grow? Do you want to develop great leadership skills? Consider the following six guidelines successful leaders utilize to enable others to succeed:
1) To become an enabler, leaders must build a corporate culture based on growing individual’s skills, knowledge, and experiences. In order to create such a culture, enabling leaders must commit to ongoing coaching and mentoring. Do not get into the bad habit of only giving feedback during employee reviews; coaching must be an ongoing event if your goals are to help people succeed and grow as individuals. To build a company culture based on enlarging employees requires a commitment to manage the company toward that goal; it will not happen without planning and effort.
2) To become an enabler, you must first develop a relationship with your employees. A major factor in building successful relationships is in the leader’s ability to connect with each person. John C Maxwell points out in his book The Maxwell Daily Reader, all people will hold the following values in common: “Everyone wants to feel special, so compliment them. Everyone wants a better tomorrow, so give them hope. Everyone desires direction, so navigate them. Everyone is selfish, so speak to their needs. Everyone has emotional lows, so encourage them. Everyone wants success, so help them win.”
3) To become an enabler you must help your employees to experience success. To experience winning, start by setting goals together; coach them as they work toward their goals; always be positive but also firm in correcting destructive habits; search for ways to help them so they can experience success in small steps. Every success will make them feel good about themselves and show them who they can become.
4) To become an enabler, you must be willing to engage and empower people; to empower others you must give your power away. Remember, every time you exert power, you take something away from others. To enlarge others, they must feel they are contributing and have an opportunity to be heard. Enabling leaders create an atmosphere that says, “ I’m interested in your ideas and what you have to say.” Creating an open atmosphere for people to be heard, is the first step in empowering your followers. If you are not allowing your followers an opportunity to contribute ideas and be heard on a regular basis, you are not enlarging. If you are not empowering people to act on their own ideas, you are not enabling people the opportunity to learn and grow.
5) To become an enabler, you must generously pass out praise and recognition. Every time you give people credit for doing something right, you give them the positive reinforcement and confidence they need to perform at higher levels. Everyone needs encouragement. Encouragement empowers people to try harder, gives them energy, and helps them to reach their potential. Everybody can be somebody when they know someone believes in them. Don’t be afraid to tell people on a daily basis how valuable they are to the organization. Let them know how much of a difference they are making and how much you appreciate their work and loyalty.
6) To become an enabler, you must show the way by modeling the right behavior. To become the right role model, you must be visible and accessible. You cannot become an effective role model by hiding behind a closed office door. Utilize “leading by wandering around” to model the right actions and attitude for your followers. Followers will always doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do. When your followers witness you working hard, learning from your mistakes, sacrificing, and persistently pursuing your goals, they will be more trusting of your mentoring. There are many benefits to becoming a leader who is an enabler. Enablers are more likely to build loyal relationships with their followers while building their confidence and over all happiness with their career. Happy, confident employees who are growing their skills and knowledge add to the success of any company. As a leader, simply question your daily efforts by asking yourself this simple question, “Are my actions enabling people to be more successful?”
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