What is the right path for empowering your new team that you are about to lead? Or how to make the one you already lead – move forward. ? What is the right path after which you will unleash the full, absolutely unfettered potential of your employees? What does the whole process look like, from starting work with a group of employees to developing and permanently strengthening their skills and full potential? And what’s next? How can a leader secure the durability of such a formed structure?

Well, actually I was very lucky because at the beginning and during my career I had two mentors – great guys who helped me understand how it works. I could count on their support at different times and in different circumstances of my path. I owe them the opportunity to go through the whole path in the right way.

When conducting meetings or discussions in your team, you will definitely meet people trying to dominate the discussion. This may be due to various reasons. Maybe they want to make a big impression on you, especially at the beginning. Or it may result from their character, personality or willingness to gain the respect of the group.

You will certainly be able to identify those who either cannot break through the conversation or need more time to analyze the problem you are talking about. This is the situation you will want to change. You need to strengthen these people not to lose them. Of course, this will not happen immediately. However, you need to activate these people by slowing down the discussion and asking them to express their opinion on the topic. They will probably have a problem with this at the beginning, but they appreciate your efforts over time, giving you their best thoughts.

I will now give you an extremely valuable tip that I always use. During the discussion I am waiting for everyone to speak up and express their full opinion. I do it for two reasons. First and foremost, to know the opinions of all professionals who know a given topic. Secondly, it is much easier for me as a supervisor at the end of the discussion to make a decision because I know in which direction this conversation has taken place.

Note that if I suggest at the beginning of the meeting what I think about how to solve the problem, the discussion would certainly go in a completely different, most likely wrong direction.

Put trust in your team.

Put trust in your team. [bctt tweet=” As a leader, you must first identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of your employees. Enjoy the strengths but focus on developing weaknesses. “]As a leader, you must first identify the strengths and weaknesses of each of your employees. Enjoy the strengths but focus on developing weaknesses. It is your duty as a manager but also a way to improve your team as a whole. Here, I want to share with you a proven way how I successfully develop my people for years.

Maybe you already know this chart but let me quickly explain what is on it and how the process of development and strengthening of my employee actually works. An increase in the value of the x axis means an increase in the degree of difficulty, an increase in the value of the y axis means an increase in the person’s skill level.

Ok, Starting point. If I agree with an employee that this person will develop in a given direction, I support him as a mentor in preparing for a task that is not extremely difficult and which I consider to be within his reach, if of course he puts a lot of effort into the consistent preparation. It can be a presentation in front of a group of senior managers, it can be preparation of a project or a speech within my team.

If, as a supervisor, I think that this person is ready, then we carry it out in absolutely controlled conditions, where, for example, I am close to this person or I am standing right behind him to feel my support. Or, for example, I also use such a model that it has a part to present inside my presentation or speech. There are really many possibilities. What counts is a sense of support, the ability to react when something bad happens or sometimes a small hint is enough.

All this so that he luckily reaches the end and comes out of it stronger. This is the vertical upward movement on the chart when, on the one hand, it reaches the limit of its current possibilities, but on the other hand it does not leave its comfort zone yet. Then the horizontal movement begins, which really means regeneration and getting used to the achieved result. This is exactly the same principle as when building muscle.

Exercise first, giving muscles a stimulus for growth, after which this muscle group needs a few days to regenerate before the next effort. Subsequent cycles when working on the development of competences, of course, look identical. Over time, your direct commitment to assistance in its preparation will gradually decrease and evidently move towards mentoring.

However, you always have to check at the end of the preparations whether he is ready and decide whether you give the green light or not. This method always works and the only thing that really limits a person who develops in this way is how good a mentor is J

Ensure a career path.

Ensure a career path. In my experience, about twenty percent of people come to work just for the money. Certainly no more than twenty percent. What people are looking for at work is recognition, respect, personal development, a sense of belonging to a community, the opportunity to learn something new or just a good atmosphere. The last thing obviously applies to young employees, of course. However, this does not change the fact that everyone is looking for something, everyone would like to know how his career will develop and in which place he will be with for several years.

[bctt tweet=”As a leader, you must absolutely concentrate on active listening and also observing non-verbal signals, body language and not on asking thousands of questions. “] Ask a good question. This topic is very much related to the previous one. First of all, as a leader, you must absolutely concentrate on active listening and also observing non-verbal signals, body language and not on asking thousands of questions.

Secondly, the way you ask questions cannot be suggestive or closing the topic, such as “now, I understand that we are choosing option A, right?”.

You must learn and above all ask correct, open questions.

Thirdly, and most important. You must learn and above all ask correct, open questions. Suppose my employee made a mistake. I invite him to a meeting to talk with him about the situation. Note – I want to talk to him about this situation and I don’t demand explanations. I am asking the employee to tell me how this situation looked from his point of view.

I don’t assume anything before this conversation. Nothing. Carte blanche. After listening to an employee, I ask him a key question: Tom, what must happen or what must be done so that this situation does not happen again in the future?

A question worthy of a great leader.

A powerfull question!!!! A question worthy of a great leader. Look, I don’t accuse, I don’t assume anything in advance, I give the employee a full chance to present his idea to avoid this situation in the future. I count on his creativity. He feels my support from the very beginning of this conversation and will not be afraid of the consequences of creative action during the implementation of subsequent tasks: Tom, what must happen or what must be done so that this situation does not happen again in the future?.

If I can ask you about anything, let it be this one, following thing. Always talk to your employee exactly the way I just showed you. The benefits of this approach will exceed your wildest expectations.

[bctt tweet=” By giving your employees your time, you give them a simple message to understand: you are important to me. No words, slogans or proverbs can replace it. “] Give employees your time. By giving your employees your time, you give them a simple message to understand: you are important to me. No words, slogans or proverbs can replace it. What counts is what you do as a leader. Your deeds. What are the benefits of this? Employees have the opportunity to tell you what they think is important at the moment, what you should know as their manager.

You can use time with employees to strengthen full communication between you, develop them, inform you why you have chosen this direction as a leader. You get to know their opinions, they feel appreciated. What are the benefits of this? Employees have the opportunity to tell you what they think is important at the moment, what you should know as their manager.

You can use time with employees to strengthen full communication between you, develop them, inform you why you have chosen this direction as a leader. You get to know their opinions, they feel appreciated. But here the human aspect is also involved. By giving them time, you also let them know you as a human.

Thanks to this you become more authentic in their eyes. I have never resisted telling my employees what I was able to do but also about failures. Also in private life. As a result of having a distance to yourself, you bring people closer to you and over time, you build trust.

Give a space for an action.

Give a space for an action. Finally, I will give you a way that offers great benefits. I have always given employees a huge scope for action – process optimization, changes and improvements. Really so huge. I do this because I know that even if mistakes appear on their side at the beginning, there will be less and less of them over time.

However, their skills, their confidence and their own abilities will increase spectacularly. They will start thinking outside the box, they will question outdated standards. And then comes the best – they start to bring solutions that you wouldn’t come across during any workshops or meetings. Why? Because first of all you have enabled them, they can do it and they want to.