Assist your employees in unveiling their zone of Genius!

Assist your employees in unveiling their zone of Genius

A leader is one that can make the best of any situation. They can take something little and turn it into something amazing. Such a person is a leader, as opposed to someone who is obsessed with control, and dishes out demands like a meal. A good leader is courageous and is not scared to challenge old rule and even push past boundaries to get results. Leadership is not about telling everyone what to do but rather about challenging others to be the best version of them that is possible.

The success of your employees, how they tackle problems, deal with any situation they are faced with, the decisions they make, and the factors affecting making those decisions all depends on the kind of leader they have. As a matter of fact, all great leaders were mentored by people that were great leaders themselves.

The leaders of the past were always relied upon to have answers to every question, solve every problem the team encounters as they come. But the market of today requires more innovations at a very fast rate that the only way to stay afloat in the market is to have a stream of good ideas coming in. All these ideas cannot come from the leader alone. Everyone on the team has to contribute. To enable this to happen, the function of the leader is to enable his employees unveil their genius zone and problem solving skill the way they know how to, to come up with the brightest ideas they can to help a situation.

Just like no two people are the same, your employees are not the same either. They come from different cultural backgrounds, they have different beliefs, and different exposures too. They are not expected to think like you, or any other person on the group at that. A good leader is one that can identify, and appreciate the differences that each employee has, and knows just how to put those differences to the advantage of the team. These kinds of leaders have the intelligence to see the potential in each team member and know just what to do with it. They don’t waste time being intimidated, recognizing that everyone is different.

Since it has been established that one of the duties of a leader is to help employees be the best version of them, how then can this happen? Here are a few tips to help your employees, and your team as a whole:

a)     Encourage them to act natural;

As a leader, you should not try to mold your team members into who you want them to be. You should not under any circumstance try to influence their thinking. Allow them to embrace the natural ways they think and build their own strengths. Put them in an environment that will best suit the kind of people they are, that will bring out the best in them. Encourage them to trust their own instincts and decisions as an individual. This would help them with their problem solving skills as individuals. If they know that they are allowed to be themselves, not a shadow of someone else, their self-confidence will be increased, and this will enhance their overall performance.

b)    Give your team freedom to carry out their own duties;

Micromanaging is not really a motivating factor. Give your employees space to do their thing. Do not give them the impression that you don’t trust their judgment by breathing down their back while they work. Give them room to express their creativity, and if they make mistakes, be gracious enough not to rub it in their faces. Correct them when they are wrong, but allow them to make those mistakes first if they have to. Give your team more freedom than you are even comfortable with. It might be a little overwhelming to you, but such a good show of faith will help your team deliver amazing results.

c)     Stop giving them answers all the time:

Handing the answer to every problem to your team is not really helpful to them. Restrain yourself as much as possible from doing this, no matter how difficult it might be for you. Remember that it is not about you alone, your team matters. You might feel the urge to always tell them what to do, how to do things, but think of a day that you might not be present to do these things for them. You want to know that you have people that are capable of thinking for themselves and solving problems without assistance from the “boss”. My belief is that my employees should come to me with solutions, not problems. This will challenge them to be better, the best at what they do, unlocking the greatness inside of them.

d)    Discover their career or job vision:

A lot of people just go through life without a vision, especially those ones as regarding their career. The importance of a vision is that it acts as a compass to guide you, and it also helps in prioritization. If you make your employees discover their vision, their drive, their efficiency will improve remarkably. They will become self-motivated, because they are doing what they really want to do and would not need you to tell them what to do all the time.

e)     Make them stronger by surrounding them with those that are stronger.

It is easy to rest on one’s laurels when there is no competition. As a result, you as a leader can help your employees become wiser by surrounding them with people of stronger potential than them. This will challenge them and make them see things from a different angle. In the process, they will learn from their mistakes, and those that are more learned than they are. In the long run, they will thank you, as your “pairing” choices will help to shape them to become better, more effective people.

f)      Be a reflection of what you expect from them

I have come to learn that telling grown- ups what to do all the time is the worse way to get them to do it. In fact, it is a terrible motivation factor. The best way to do it is to be a mirror of what you expect from them. If you want them to be more punctual, never come in late. If you want them to be more organized, keep your table well arranged. These little things you have to do will require a lot of discipline and commitment from you. As the leader, you need to be the change you want to see.

As a sportsman and a coach, I have come to realize that one has to allow each individual’s innate potential to come out of hiding. This makes them better at what they do. I noticed that every member of my team had their strengths and weaknesses, which was not necessarily the same as that of the next person. Some of them did not even know where their natural genius is as regards the game. I knew this, and as their coach and leader, I made it a personal responsibility to help the lost ones find the sides they play, helped the weak ones turn those weaknesses to strengths, and I showed the ones with the strength how to channel it for something good.

I had this promising young volleyball player with a mean serve. The problem was her serve had no direction. It always went in the wrong direction. On the same team, I had another player that was better than hitting the ball, preventing it from hitting the ground- she had very fast reflex, but she came in as a hitter. I knew the situation was wrong from the first practice, so I fixed it. The girl with the mean serve but bad angling I trained specially until she could hit any target with her serve, and the young lady with the swift reflex was trained as a libero, not a hitter.

This is the duty of a leader. You observe where the natural genius of the people in your group lies, and you put them in the best situations to bring out that genius in them. You should not place a man that belongs on the field behind a desk because it does not make you look good. Selflessness is one of the golden traits of a great leader.

(Outtake : Michel F. Bolle's Book - "The Art of Successful Leadership" - Tredition Publishing 2016 - ISBN-10: 3732381056 - ISBN-13: 978-3732381050)