Leadership styles are always evolving, and today’s most effective styles look very different than they used to.
It used to be that the most effective leadership style was “command and control.” This style, which is characterized by a top-down approach (where leaders make decisions with little input from team members), was inspired by the way we led our troops in World War II. This method used to find favor in the print industry, but perspective on leadership has since changed a lot since then.
Today, print industry leadership has evolved into a style we can label “inspire and engage.” Unlike command and control, “inspire and engage” communicates our vision, mission, values, milestones, and plans in a way that will inspire (not dictate to) our teams. Once inspired, we ask our teams to personally get engaged in helping us achieve those goals.
Certainly, print industry leaders need to have some level of command and control in order to hold people accountable for their work. Ultimately, however, the fuel for significant growth and achievement must come from an inspire and engage approach.
Changing leadership styles is not an overnight process. It takes time. Here are six ideas to help implement, inspire and engage leadership style, if you haven’t already. These can be useful to you whether you are the CEO, customer service manager, or sales manager:
1. Communicate, Then Inspire
If we want to accomplish our goals or achieve our vision, we must let others know what our goals and big picture vision are. (You can’t implement something you don’t know about!) This helps our teams cement in their own minds what success looks like and what it will mean to them when their department or company hits the target.
2. Create Plans as a Team
Call your team together as you begin to outline your plans. When you ask for their help and involve them on the front end, they will get further inspired and engaged.
3. Develop Scorekeeping Mechanisms
In sports, everyone wants to know the score so they know how close they are to the big win. It’s the same with company goals. “Scorekeeping” also helps the team make mid-course adjustments if plans are falling short.
4. Initiate Regular Team Meetings
Engage your team in meetings at regular intervals—monthly at a minimum—to review progress. After the review, ask the team members what could be improved. Showing that you trust and value their input helps to engage them even more. Depending on the ideas for improvement, you may want to establish another team to tackle good ideas.
5. Recognize Effort
At regular intervals, offer recognition for effort and progress. This provides the necessary motivation to keep the progress fires burning. Recognition could take many forms, including group recognition, financial rewards, time off, tickets for dinner and a movie, or anything else that helps team members feel appreciated and recognized.
Regardless of your position in the company, you’ll find that “inspire and engage” is a much more effective approach than command and control. How do you see others use inspire-and-engage strategies? How do you employ this leadership style in your area of responsibility?
Bill Prettyman is CEO of Wise, Alpharetta, GA. Wise manufacturers industrial/prime labels and tags, traditional forms, and digitally printed products and services for resale only. For more information, visit www.wbf.com or email Bill at [email protected].
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