You are the Creative Visionary behind your company.

For you to fully own that role, you need to be able to rely on your team to create the results you hired them to deliver so that you can focus on your zone of genius.

Getting the support you need is critical to building sustainable growth and a successful 

business, but it isn’t as simple as hiring a new employee and handing over the reins.

Assigning tasks and offloading responsibilities without establishing support and a clear chain of communication isn’t demonstrating leadership.

Sending your tasks to walk the metaphorical plank–never to be seen again–is abdicating responsibility, not delegating it.

Effective Support is Built on Effective Leadership

Effective leaders know that they can only bring their best to the table when their team is empowered to do their best work. 

While that might sound vague, every team has the same fundamental needs. 

Regardless of your industry, there are six essential elements that you can put in place as a business owner to ensure you’re showing up as an effective leader for your team and your company.

The Six Essential Elements of Effective Team Leadership

1. Create Clear Expectations. 

Creating clear expectations means offering a thorough explanation of the required tasks, sharing relevant resources, highlighting any necessary steps, and identifying desired outcomes. Explicitly. Every single person on your team should be crystal clear on their role and the results you expect them to create.

2. Establish a Chain of Support.

Ensure that everyone on your team knows:

⇒ Who they report to

⇒ How to access and use the tools and resources they need to do their job

⇒ Who they can turn to when they have a question or unexpected challenges arise.

Emphasize that asking for help is not only allowed or encouraged; it’s expected–because you can’t know what you don’t know. 

3. Communicate Your Level of Involvement in Operations. 

Your team needs to know when you’re available, what you’re available for, how they can reach you, and who to go to when you’re OOO. If you don’t have dedicated time on your schedule to connect with the members of your team, make sure that their managers or direct supervisors do.

4. Implement Accessible, User-Friendly Systems.

Reduce the chance of minor oversights snowballing into significant problems by systematizing and automating everything you can. Create auto-populating daily or weekly checklists and project workflows for your team. Ask your team for feedback and develop a troubleshooting guide so frequently asked questions can be easily addressed without your direct involvement. 

5. Lead with Integrity.

Stick to your word! If you say you’re available via email on Tuesdays at 10:00 am, you better have your hands on deck. If you make a mistake, own it. If you’ve changed your mind about a particular issue, share how your perspective has shifted. It isn’t about seeking approval. It’s about showing up as a real human who is committed to leading with integrity.

Effective Leaders Set Their Teams Up to Win

Ultimately, being an effective leader is about giving your team the framework they need to succeed and then trusting them to deliver results. 

Instead of guessing what people need to be effective in their role, ASK. 

Your team has unique strengths, insights, and wisdom to share if you’re willing to listen–and an effective leader always is.

If you’re in the process of growing your team, keep reading the blog to learn how to build your A-Team and make the most of the Onboarding Opportunity.