When it comes to leading employees, trust can be hard-earned and easily lost. For bosses who want to gain the trust of their employees, it can feel like a daunting task. Misha Peleg is a successful business leader who has led numerous teams over his decades-long career in business. Based on his own experience, Mr. Peleg has shared these five tips that will help to set you in the right direction to form lasting bonds and mutual respect with your employees.
1. Don’t micromanage your team
While managing down to every detail might feel like you are keeping tasks and team members on track, micromanaging can make employees feel a lack of trust from you. It can also eventually make employees feel as though they have to wait for your direction on every little thing, instead of being proactive in their own time, because they worry you are always seeking perfection. Even if a team member does something a little differently than you might, have faith they will get the job done and allow them to work in their own path and direction.
2. Remember your employees are more than their deliverables
Though of course the focus of a team is on the deliverables and products, don’t place so much emphasis on deliverables that you forget to recognize the driving force behind them – your team! Make time to connect with and get to know your team, learn their goals and motivation behind their role on your team/company, and try to develop genuine relationships. This will go a long way when it comes to employee trust and mutual understanding. It’s also helpful to learn your team members interests, strengths, and weaknesses, not only to get to know them better, but to also make it easier to delegate tasks and responsibilities based on each member’s aptitude.
3. Provide honest and helpful feedback – both positive and negative
Be sure to recognize employees for good work, as this will make them feel appreciated and confident. Even if you think they already know their strengths, reinforcing these will let them know they are performing well and moving in the right direction. However, Misha Peleg also notes not to withhold negative feedback or wait until a performance review to address problems. Employees may sense that you are not happy with them, even if you don’t directly say anything. So, being quiet about your dissatisfaction can lead to anxiety and distrust among your team. Give a good mix of positive and negative feedback, when applicable, and be sure to be honest and direct.
4. Listen to suggestions from your team
Being open to suggestions, both on work/projects and on your leadership style, will open communication pathways between you and your employees. It might be easier to think that entertaining suggestions will simply take up time and energy that you can’t spare, but employees who feel ignored will either find other ways to push their ideas forward (i.e. going over your head) or they will simply become disheartened in their work. Providing time and space for ideas of all kinds will make employees feel like they are contributing effectively to your team, and, you never know, it could lead to something great!
5. Empower rather than control
In essence, Misha Peleg always tries to empower his employees to do their best, rather than controlling them to do what he wants. His recommendation is to create opportunities for your team to learn and explore in their career, so they can find what they are passionate about and what they do well. In connecting with them, learn their company and career goals, and keep those in mind as you work together, so you can be a partner in helping them achieve their objectives. Collaboration and motivation will help you and your employees thrive much more than control and demands, and it will be a mutually beneficial relationship for everyone on your team.
Misha Peleg is a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist. Having founded several highly successful companies since the early 1990s, he uses his business success to support a wide range of non-profit organizations throughout the world. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.