Berger Leadership Blog

For an organization to be successful, you must have a good team in place. And for a team to function at its highest potential, it needs a leader that knows how to motivate and shine the spotlight on others.

Marcel Schwantes, principal and founder of Leadership From the Core, writes that this kind of culture only exists in a workplace where a leader intentionally creates an environment that drives engagement and innovation. He lists six things that leaders can give their employees to make this kind of work culture a reality. The list includes:

1. They give employees their ear. Schwantes encourages the practice of "stay interviews," which can give a leader fresh insight on how they can improve the work environment.
2. They give their employees empathy. "A leader displaying empathy will foster strong personal relationships and promote productive collaboration," he writes.
3. They give their employees rewards and recognition. Doing this will also develop more personal relationships with your teams.
4. They give their employees space to recharge. This can include encouraging your employees to break up their days with a walk or a fun, short activity.
5. They give their employees plenty of information, communicating both the good and the bad.
6. They give their employees fairness. Schwantes encourages more focus on your employees than yourself.

Remember, this kind of culture won't just happen on its own. "It takes visionary, servant leadership at the top creating the environment for intrinsically motivated employees to release discretionary effort," Schwantes writes. And speaking from experience, changing a culture takes lots and lots of communication, time and patience.

Follow me on Twitter (@BDanBerger).