Is Your Leadership Team Engaged?

Engaged leaders are the type to jump in and proactively own the issues that pop up in day-to-day business. They also try to jump start the solutions needed to solve these concerns. They motivate others. They have the ability to keep people focused on the objective and vision, with a seemingly contagious positivity. Leaders like this unite and strengthen groups by listening, and staying calm. They are usually servant leaders that grow themselves by empowering others. It’s important for leaders such as these to enable and encourage others, while remaining humble, approachable, and authentic in their interactions and conduct.

This certainly sounds like someone I’d like to be described as.

Would you like to overhear someone describing you this way? Would you describe your leadership team this way?

The truth is not all engaged leaders are born this way. And that’s a good thing! That means anyone can become an engaged leader. As a matter of fact, many engaged leaders have some things in common. They tend to have had early experiences that shaped them. These experiences might have taught them how to get everyone around them engaged toward a common goal. Perhaps it was through sports, church, or event planning. Maybe they stepped up to fill a void, and didn’t even realize they were taking the leadership role. The familiar thread is the notion that the early experience allowed the leader to learn something about themselves. They were able to gain self-confidence, humility, and empathy. These traits are fundamental when it comes to creating an engaged leader.

Underneath an engaging leader’s behaviors are a powerful set of beliefs. They feel it is their responsibility to serve their followers, especially in times of crisis and change. We should try to create the emotional bond between our individuals and the organization.

The fact that the most engaging leaders are the products of early experiences, and deeply held beliefs means that new ones can’t be created overnight. Workshops and coaching can be helpful to develop these behaviors, but it will never be a matter of running through some behavioral checklist.

Take some time and think about your early experiences. What have you experienced in your past that can make you even more of an engaged leader. A phrase I have always liked and try to model my behavior by is “People might not remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel.”

So how will you make someone feel today?