What happens inside an organization is a direct reflection of the opportunities and success attained on the outside. As a leader, your ability to build trusted connections among co-workers is pivotal. However, there is a balance that must be found in developing these connections. Leaders don’t want to cross the line into making a relationship too personal with subordinates or fellow executives. On the other hand, leaders also need to establish credibility and develop a line of communication that members of the organization know they can rely on.
The importance of finding a balance between these factors of a working relationship is to avoid the risk of not being able to effectively delegate. If a leader has a connection too personal with team members, they won't feel comfortable giving them work or negative feedback. Additionally, a leader may not be willing to make hard decisions that will benefit the team overall if it risks the satisfaction of others.
On the other end, a leader who makes too little effort will lack cohesion between and within their team, weakening communication. Ultimately, leaders want to achieve a level where they can be friendly and open with others but not attach them to any area of their life outside the organization.
The first step to effectively implementing this approach as a leader is taking accountability for everything that goes on under your control. Not only does this keep you in a spot where you’re able to see things logically, but it also sets an example for the rest of the team. A leader who can communicate effectively and remain highly disciplined will be productive and inspire others. Maintaining discipline with an attitude of optimism and general kindness will construct a highly balanced leader whom people will feel comfortable receiving tasks and bringing questions.
Maintaining emotional and analytical control over your decision-making is the foundation for having effective working relationships with others. This can translate into long-term satisfaction and success in the organization as you are proving to be an effective leader capable of managing yourself and others in a business setting.
Of course, being part of a team means you will be spending plenty of time with members, which may make it hard to keep some relationships strictly business. Yet, it is important to be able to do so to be able to handle anything the organization may face.
Here’s what to consider:
Limit Sharing Personal Information
It’s great to talk with others and share what you’ve got going on, but there is a limit to how much you should let others in on. What that limit is remains up to you, you don’t want anyone to have the information they could later share with others which will alter your image of professionalism. Your team is not your emotional support group, any personal opinions about others within the organization must not be shared.
This method works up and down the chain, all members of the team should strive to maintain a level of professionalism as a baseline. Additionally, tailoring communication to a level of what’s appropriate and necessary is a good start to finding this balance.
Remain Focused On Goals
At the end of the day, everyone is likely to form some level of bond within the workplace, and while these bonds are necessary, they can’t be distracting. Being part of a team means everyone is after a collective objective. To meet the objective, there needs to be cohesion but at a capacity necessary to reach an optimal outcome as a team. Getting too caught up in personal opinions can lead to the formation of out-groups. This divides the team and presents speed bumps to progress or even halts it.
Instead, keep discussions positive when speaking about others, actively seek out opportunities to take action, and detach emotion from the process.
Follow Your Directions
In a position of power, giving out tasks to others can get the best of a leader and cause them to sit back a little. One of the most defining characteristics a leader can have is humility, and occasionally taking action that you could easily ask others to do is necessary to gain respect.
An example of this would be a store manager letting their employees go home early while they stay and clean up. This shows appreciation and actively demonstrates that the leader doesn’t see themselves as “above that”. Additionally, likely, the employees would voluntarily stay and help. Now the team is forming a meaningful work bond that will carry over to accepting tasks and helping each other further in the future.
Find A Best Friend At Work
A peer at work is different from a direct report, they may work in a completely different department or report to someone else. So long as they are not under your leadership they become neutral. Studies show having a best friend at work is good for overall mental health. They take a layer of stress off and reduce feeling isolated at work which is beneficial for creativity.
Now your best friend at work remains under the umbrella of a working relationship, not letting personal matters get involved. Additionally, you come to each other to share what’s going on with both of your jobs. They become a safe space, you bounce ideas off them and may even come to each other for advice or share frustrations.
Conclusion
Investing in meaningful relationships with subordinates is a pillar of effective leadership, to attain this, mutual respect between the team must be established. By not getting caught up in rank, and personal opinions, and avoiding the formation of out-groups, the team can be effective. It’s important to know that there are no poor-performing teams, only poor-performing leaders. Be a leader that is selfless and open, the needs of the team always outweigh the wants of the leader.
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