How to Be a Better Leader at Work

The world of work has changed so much it barely seems recognisable. Our two worlds of work and family have been smashed together in the most unorthodox way. We are now leading our organisations from our lounge rooms, some days rolling out of bed and going directly to work. We are trying to connect, lead and inspire our people while simultaneously teach our children, share an office with our partner and have meetings while walking the dog! So, if these two worlds have crossed over, perhaps our family life can help us to lead and inspire our people.

Bring love

At the foundation of any family is love and so too this must exist at the foundation of teams. Through connection, understanding and forgiveness, you can build a strong, cohesive team that understands and values each other. Build connection with your people by sharing stories with each other about your past, finding things in common and forgiving people when they make mistakes.

Build your environment

Creating an environment for children to grow and thrive is essential in setting them up for success. At work creating a psychologically safe environment for your people to feel free to express themselves in whatever way they require will help to foster creativity, innovation, productivity and engagement. Building trust, being curious and promoting constructive conflict are great ways to build psychological safety in teams.

Promote health

When our children are healthy and happy, physically and mentally, they create the skills and resilience to be able to meet the increasing demands of the world we live in. The same applies to our teams. By supporting your people to live healthy lives through diet and exercise and have a positive mindset to be able to approach their work and challenges positively, you help them to manage stress, reduce illness and increase engagement.

Watch your language

It’s confronting when your child repeats back to you the same words, phrases or slang that you know you use every day. As parents, we are constantly on show. Our employees also watch, observe and take in all our words, actions, behaviours and values, good and bad. Attitudes such as job satisfaction, commitment and engagement are all positively influenced by a leader’s actions.

Show your vision

We all have hopes and dreams for our children – growing up and being happy with their life, partner, job, dreams and aspirations. As a leader, you also want your people to thrive, develop, learn and succeed. It’s important to have a vision of the future and a strategy to get there, so your people can make the link between what they do on a daily basis and the goals of the team and organisation.