‘It’s Time to Step Up as a Leader’

By Jay Chapman, Zing Project

Thousands of beauty professionals from the spa, medi and wellness fields descended on the Sydney Exhi Leadership is like being the captain of a ship, except the crew has all the maps and the captain’s job is just to steer in the right direction. GAHHH! bition Centre at Glebe Island for the industry’s annual event, Beauty Expo Australia.

But in all seriousness, leadership is no laughing matter! It takes hard work, dedication, and a willingness to put your team first. A great leader is able to navigate the stormy waters of business while also inspiring their team to be the best they can be.

In this article, I will share my preferred leadership qualities, which are based on the principle of leadership versus management. By choosing to lead your team from the top down instead of managing them from the side, you will witness significant growth shifts in your team engagement and motivation.

Let’s start here, managing people and leading people are two very different concepts. The traditional management approach of using rewards and punishments is no longer effective, it’s gone! This approach was based on the metaphor of a donkey, where the an-imal is enticed to move forward with a carrot, and whipped with a stick if it slows down.

Using a traditional carrot and stick approach for people management doesn’t work in today’s workplace. For one, your team members are not animals! They are professionals with emotions, opinions, and skills. Using an outdated framework can break their spirit and motivation.

Effective people leadership, on the other hand, is a straightforward concept that can be developed and refined over time. You need to embrace its principles and work on honing and perfecting your leadership skills every day.

Let’s start with MONEY! Money is not the only means to recognize and appreciate your team’s efforts. Your responsibility is to discover what inspires your team, keeping in mind that it may vary for each person. How can you accomplish this? Your team members will leave indications, and by switching on your leadership mindset and tuning your radar, you will promptly identify what motivates each of them.

If you immediately think money is the main motivator the truth is, you have some reading to do! Since the whole ‘Covid thing’, many of your team’s motivators and what makes them tick have changed, so in that case your leadership needs to follow.

The response you receive from your team is a reflection of your communication. If you’re not having regular, scheduled one-on-one meetings with each team member to check in, you’re missing out on an opportunity to develop and improve your leadership skills.

I’m not referring to a brief conversation during a hurried lunch break or over the reception counter. Set aside private time for sit-down meetings to discuss the previous week and the upcoming week. Address their concerns and highlight their achievements.

Having a one on one connection with your team is SO important! It’s your opportunity to provide support and motivation, but also to provide feedback. Providing feedback is like fertilizer for growth.

The more you give it out, the better your team will thrive on receiving it. (I’ve also been told that too much can kill a plant! So be careful of that too!) Some team members may feel uncomfortable with positive feedback, but it’s important to help them get accustomed to it. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to give feedback more often than you think, especially for the younger workforce who require it more than ever.

As much as we provide feedback to our team members, it’s equally important to receive feedback from them as well. This helps to keep the conversation balanced and encour-ages open communication.

As a leader, actively listening to your team and seeking their feedback on how you can better support them is crucial. This not only shows that you value their opinions, but also helps you to understand their needs and concerns, leading to better teamwork and im-proved performance.

Being open to feedback also demonstrates your willingness to learn and improve, which can help to build trust and respect within your team. So, make sure to create a safe and comfortable environment for your team to share their feedback, and use it as an opportunity for growth and development.

Ultimately, this is accountability! It’s natural to choose the easier path, and if no one else is aware of your goals, you’re likely to slip. Maintaining accountability for your team earns their respect and yields positive outcomes. So many have a problem with holding people accountable, it is the single one thing that when you embrace, explodes your outcomes.

A good guideline to step up as a leader is to listen twice as much as you talk. For me this was HARD! Sometimes, we feel uncomfortable in silence and tend to fill it with unneces-sary chatter. However, asking high-quality questions can help your team find their own answers.

Consider the emotions you want your team to experience in your presence. Do you want them to feel motivated, inspired, or proud? To achieve this, you need to be clear about the outcomes you want to achieve and the emotions you want to evoke, and be laser fo-cused on how you show up as a leader.

Leadership is an inside job. You need to work harder on yourself than anyone else in your business. REMEMBER! When you point the finger of judgment or blame, there’s 4 fingers pointing back at you! You are the problem, and you are the solution.

For more business smarts, you can contact Jay Chapman at jay@zingcoach.com.au