1. TALK TO ME

Leadership will always be easy if you communicate with your team. It is truly the very foundation of leading people. Be clear about the expectations. Talk to them and tell them what the vision is, what you’re trying to do, what their role in the vision is, how they’re going to be evaluated and how often you’re going to talk to them. People want to be heard and they like to know when you’ll be talking to one another, it brings reassurance.

People also don’t want to be confused about their compensation, especially in the world of recruitment. Communicate very clearly how they’ll get paid so that at any point in the sales cycle they can tell you how they’re doing against their bonuses and targets. If your people can’t tell you how they get paid, you have a real problem on your hands.

2.   A LEADER IS STILL PART OF THE TEAM

If your team doesn’t believe you’re working as hard as they are, how can you ever expect them to give maximum effort? They’re not supposed to automatically listen to you, you earn their respect. Just because you lead the team, does not mean you step outside of it. Never refer to your people as employees, but instead teammates. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to create a culture and the words you use matter.

3.   HAND OVER THE REINS

Leadership is ultimately about empowering people and allowing them to take the lead. If your team is full of people that you need to micro-manage and watch every second of every day, you’ve hired the wrong people. Hire smart people and then empower them to do their job. Just because you’re the leader of the team, doesn’t mean you need to lead every team meeting. Give the stage to other members of your team and show them just how much faith you have in them and their abilities.

4.   BE HONEST

The team expects your honesty, and they deserve it. When humans come together there will always be difficult conversations, but face them head-on. Every time you avoid an awkward conversation, you’re creating a bad culture that will eventually disrupt your team dynamics. Create an environment where it’s okay for people to be boldly honest about what they want, and be boldly honest back.

5.   IT’S ALWAYS THE LITTLE STUFF

There is a general idea that to be a good leader involves huge actions and grand cavalry charges, but it’s none of that big stuff. Instead, it’s the little day in, day out stuff that will set you aside and instill trust in your team. For example, if you take your team out for lunch there will inevitably be a few people who can’t make it, so make sure you pick up the bill for their lunch. Explain why you do the things you do. Always follow through on what you said you’d do and be there when they want to talk.]]>