5 Things Leaders Value in Their Team Members
Great teams are the drivers behind all great companies in the Hudson Valley. A team and its leader make two sides of a coin. Despite demanding expectations, the rewards from working under a great leader can provide fulfillment and deep satisfaction. It’s not always a glamorous stir of hope, admiration, and awe-like feelings. More often than not, great leaders push you beyond your comfort zone and apply pressure when necessary in seeing things through. Truly great leaders can create enjoyable environments that nurture business growth while maximizing the full potential of their team members.
Top executives in Poughkeepsie should expect these five things from their teams:
- Engagement: Team members should be engaged. A team dynamic is not just about taking orders and doing work, it’s about collaborating through a series of processes. Team members should participate in the discussion, produce ideas, give feedback, and peer review. Although leaders are the designated drivers of this dynamic, it’s up to each team member to show up.
- Collaboration: Being able to collaborate well in a professional setting is an expectation. You can’t always choose your teammates, but you can choose your attitude. Collaboration is the opposite of avoidance; it requires time, attention, thorough communication, and honesty. It is important to be mindful of coworker preferences as extroverted individuals have different communication styles than their introverted colleagues. However, communication style should never be a blocker for collaboration within teams. Leaders can set the tone for collaboration by maintaining fairness in the way that they treat all team members.
- Flexibility: Staying nimble in business is one of the greatest sustainers for longevity. Companies are continually facing internal and external threats that affect the business strategy. Priorities can shift or workloads altered, but businesses make adjustments as necessary to stay current. Those who can be understanding of sudden management shifts while maintaining a positive attitude are highly valued. It goes back to realizing how individual work contributes to larger organizational priorities. Leaders who can paint their team a clear landscape of how their work contributes to the larger organizational outcomes directly cultivate flexibility.
- Commitment: All leaders value commitment. The chances of turnover are highest in the first two years of onboarding; however, the two-year mark is also when real mastery of a job begins. As new-hires turn into seasoned veterans, they develop tenacity, grit, and experience with the business cycles particular to the organization. Screening candidates for commitment qualities can be easily accounted for in the recruiting and staffing process. Commitment, when paired with trainability, is easily one of the top valued qualities in team members that executives should expect.
- Self-starters: Self-starters are teammates who perpetually and independently take initiative for their education and development. They don’t succumb to barriers. Independent workers can take loose direction and have a working style that managers favor as most managers are bombarded with a wide array of pressures. Self-starters alleviate this burden as they can stay current and useful to their teams, managers, and organization.
The recruiting process can play an important role in distilling the right candidates for these five qualities that every executive should expect in their team members. Top executives should also expect to nurture and develop these qualities out of their teams. Whether remote or in person, cultivating a winning work environment can be challenging, but the best teams are set up for success. Read more about Cultivating Company Culture…Remotely. Ultimately, winning cultures stem from a symbiotic relationship between leader and team.
At SMART Staffing Group, Inc., we have decades of combined leadership coaching experience. We’ve partnered with organizations of all sizes on staffing and recruiting to produce dynamic teams and talent. Our talent strategy blends corporate values with leadership needs and a robust candidate pipeline. We are proud to be a Certified Minority and Woman-Owned business that has served Poughkeepsie, NY since 2014.
