12 Leadership Tips for Building A Strong Team
Building A Strong Team Tip #1 – Loyalty:
Have you ever seen a successful team that didn’t have team loyalty amongst all of the teammates? Or maybe they didn’t have loyalty to their leadership team or their coaching staff?
So, you have to have team loyalty from the top down.
It’s key that you’re loyal to your leadership team. First and foremost, that doesn’t mean you’re not loyal to your direct team. It just means your loyalty needs to lie with the leadership team first and foremost, because everything goes top-down.
Suppose you’re not loyal to the leadership team. In that case, you’re going to have a hard time building loyalty within your team because there will be division there.
So, even though you may lead a team in a great organization and you’re on that team, you’re also on the leadership team as a whole, so your loyalty needs to start there that way.
When initiatives are discussed amongst the top leadership team, you can push those down to your team and ensure that your team understands them. And can be loyalty loyal to the organization’s overall mission that will build loyalty within your team and your company and your brand as a whole.
Building A Strong Team Tip #2 – The Big Picture
As a leader, make sure that you understand the why behind any change in the organization so that you can positively explain that to your team. This goes back to being loyal to the leadership team if you’re loyal to the leadership team.
When a change announced or talked about or something new is coming up, you need to get to the core of why that’s being done and really, whom that’s gonna benefit within the organization.
Sometimes there’s a change that occurs that may be difficult on your team directly, but it saves time for all these other teams in the organization, and so you need to understand the why so that you can positively explain that to your team.
People are willing to go through some pain and suffering if it means it’s helping other people. And so, if they understand that this change may be a little bit more difficult for their processes, but it benefits the teams and other people, they’re going to understand the reasoning behind it. They’re going to stand behind it.
Building A Strong Team Tip #3 – Speak Up
Must speak up to make sure the leadership team fully understands the impact of change to make the best decision. Leaders cannot be silent.
A leader is, you need to make sure that you speak up to the leadership team, won. Something happens in terms of change or idea of change, or new products or new services if you feel that there could be a better way.
And that’s important because if you’re providing your feedback and ultimately helping the team as a leadership team come to the best decisions, you’re going to be confident in those decisions.
You’re going to, therefore, be able to sell those to your team, which then bills organizational loyalty within your team.
It also helps your team to be in the best position for success because if there’s a change that’s coming down the pipe and you know that it could be a little bit different to benefit your team and the wrestle organization further, you need to be able to speak up so that ultimately you are making the company helping them make the best decisions
Then your team understands those decisions are really what’s best for them and the organization, which is going to build loyalty within the group to you as a leader.
Building A Strong Team Tip #4 – Build a culture that puts the team first
If your team you need to build a culture of, we before me, you need to build a culture where those people in your team don’t have a selfish mindset.
They have a mindset of being servants to each other, helping each other, and doing whatever it takes for the team’s better and not themselves. If you build a culture like that, you will have excellent team loyalty because there’s a bond there. Everybody’s helping each other.
Teams that don’t have that that have individuals trying to perform well for themselves and not benefit from others have a hard time building team loyalty.
Tip #5 – Have a mission, brand, goals, vision Standards
Ensure that your team has a cause or a mission or a goal that they stand behind and make sure that you talk about that often.
Why are you doing what you do? How does it make the world a better place?
Get your team to understand what that mission is and how they play a part in that so that it can get behind it.
Ultimately, your team is gonna have more loyalty if they are all are aligned on with the mission of the team is and understand what that is and take pride in achieving that.
Tip #6 – Lead By example
As a leader to build team loyalty, you have to be present, and you have to lead by example
If you’re leading by example, if you’re working hard, if you’re serving others, if you’re talking about the mission, if you’re passionate about the mission, then your team will follow suit.
And that’s going to build loyalty to you as a leader and loyalty within the team.
If you’re not present, if you’re not working that hard, then it’s gonna be very hard for the team to be loyal to you and if they’re not loyal to you, they’re not gonna be loyal to each other.
Tip #7- Treat everyone fairly
For leaders to build loyalty as they have to treat everybody fairly. That’s important.
Because if the team feels like you’re treating other people differently, maybe someone so it’s your friend after-hours kind of a deal.
So, you let them get by with a few things and somebody else. You don’t let them play by the same rules.
That’s going to be a huge problem. You’re not going to have any loyalty within your team.
So, you need to make sure that you treat every single person within your team 100% fairly.
Hold them all accountable, hold them to the same standards. It’s going to build loyalty throughout your team.
Tip #8 – Hold everyone accountable
To build loyalty as a leader, you have to give people real-time feedback, hold them accountable, and hold them accountable for their goals.
Make sure everybody understands their roles and how they play a part in the team’s success. And if they start falling short, make sure to give them that real-time feedback, give them open and honest feedback, and ask them to do the same for you.
This environment of open communication is going to build loyalty within your team. Just being able to do these things and doing these things shows you to care.
Ultimately, people don’t like to be held accountable all that much but what I found is people really don’t like to hold people accountable. That’s the toughest thing of all.
So just take that initiative and be that leader that does that people will start to hold each other accountable. By doing so, the team will become more successful.
And if people are holding people accountable within the team, it just shows everybody that they care, because there’s nothing worse than nobody ever saying anything right.
That’s when you start to feel like I don’t know if anybody even cares whether I do good or bad or whatever, so make sure that you build a culture of open communication and honest communication.
Tip #9 –Acknowledge performance
A leader is to make sure that you congratulate and acknowledge and constantly encourage people always. Always be doing this; find people doing something right and say something about it.
Suppose you’re always encouraging people all the time. In that case, when you do have some constructive criticism, they’re going to listen to it.
But if all they ever here are construct constructive criticism or negative things, then they’re going to grow numb to it. It’s going to be a negative thing, so constantly encourage them.
Highlight the good things they will start to, then do that with their teammates as well. And when you build a culture of positive reinforcement like this, you’re just gonna build more team loyalty.
Tip #10 – Set High Goals/Standards
People like to strive to be great. So set high standards and high goals. And don’t be afraid of missing them.
It reminds me that quote by Vince Lombardi that was something like, you know, always strive for perfection, knowing full well that you’ll never achieve it.
But in the process, you achieve excellence, and your team ultimately wants to be excellent. And by doing so, on working together as a team to achieve these high goals, you’re going to see that it builds loyalty within your team.
Tip #11 -Acknowledge tough times
As a leader, to build loyalty, take accountability when you fall short and ultimately embrace, struggle, and challenge within the team and be transparent about them. Throughout the years, I’ve found the tough times were the times that build the strongest bond. I call that a trauma bond.
If you go through a very tough call, tough time together with a group of people, you ultimately have a bond right that can never be changed or never be shaken.
So, by going through these tough patches, even if you’re not successful, just working through them will build bonds and loyalty within your team.
One year has passed, and you’re hanging out at the bar talking about old times. You’re not going to talk about the great things that you did all the time.
You’re probably going to remember the times of struggle and have a look back and talk about it, and you’re going to laugh about it when you look back.
Those are the things that build bonds, so embrace the struggle, be transparent about it. Tell your team when there’s a big challenge that you have to overcome. The team will rally together, become more loyal, and try to overcome that challenge.
Tip #12 – Don’t be afraid of losing people
They’re still going to lose people Even if you have loyalty. It’s just natural. People change in life. They get married, they move, things happen. And so, you’re gonna lose some people here and there. But by constantly building future leaders within your organization, you’re building for the future.
And so, if you do end up losing somebody, you just fill them right in with somebody that’s just is talented by building leaders in your company for the future.
You also build loyalty within your team, and your team is going to be confident that they’ll be successful, even if they do lose a key player.