Are You Keeping Your Team From Reaching Their Full Potential?

That’s not ideal.

Leaders know that the success of their team often depends on how they motivate and support them. They have the power to unlock their team members’ full potential, or alternatively keep them from reaching it. To ensure your team reaches its highest level of achievement, here are four key areas that should be at the forefront of your leadership strategy. By avoiding these common pitfalls, you’ll help ensure all those under you remain inspired and motivated in their work!

Decisions

How are decisions made in your team? Are members willing to take a calculated risk and embrace the possibility of wrong turns as learning experiences, or do they wait on you? Is it possible that creativity in decision-making is inhibited by an overly cautious approach — one where your team members wait for your stamp of approval for what direction to take?

Trust

Strong communication between team members is essential for businesses to reach their goals. Creating an environment of mutual trust between team members and managers begins with strong communication lines. Too much micromanaging can make employees feel like their skills or loyalty are being questioned, leading to a decrease in morale — something no organization wants!

Ideas

A second area of focus is with ideas. Where do new ideas come from on your team? Is it primarily from you? Or, did your team members feel free to share ideas? If you’re the kind of leader who hears an idea from a team member and says, “Hmm, let’s look at how that might work?” Fantastic! If you’re the kind of leader who hears a new idea from a team member and says, “Hmm, the problem I see with that, or the challenge I see with that is…” If you’re taking that action, you’re stunting your team members willingness to share new ideas.

Conflict

The fourth and final areas is conflict, helping team members learn how to get along with each other. You don’t want problems to fester and grow. But at the same time you don’t want to be jumping in every time when team members have a difference of opinion. Challenge them to have the tough conversations and to ask each other questions that helps them find common ground and work more effectively together. Don’t be the one who stunts their ability to work together because you’re jumping in too quickly.

Leaders who recognize these four areas and who apply them appropriately, create an environment that empowers team members to utilize their strengths, think creatively, and work together with minimal friction. Leaders must overcome their own fear of letting go of control and trust that their team can go beyond expectations when encouraged to work to their full potential. These attributes allow members opportunities for learning and growth, and pave the way to success for the entire team.