High-performance leaders know that the key to getting great results from your team comes not from direction but from a relationship. Building quality relationships with your team will result in stronger, more cohesive teams. Teams that seem to have the Midas touch, conquering everything in their path. On the other hand, there are leaders who control and direct the actions of their team. I call those leaders “managers”.

A team with a leader proactively seeks out solutions to problems and resolves them themselves or presents resolution options to their leader to decide from. A team with a manager does not proactively seek solutions to problems, rather they ignore them entirely until the manager notices, or dump them in the manager’s lap to resolve.

To be a true leader you must create relationships with your team. If you are a manager, the good news is it is never too late to change. Start now! Here are four tips on relationship building with your team:

• Inspire and motivate those around you – Let your team know how much you value them.
• Build depth in relationships – Be interested in each member of your team as an individual, not as a “resource” to be used. Learn about them, ask them open-ended questions about themselves, their lives, their families. Be sure to listen intently and give them your sole focus.
• Coach and develop others – Coaching is an amazing tool! Coaching your team will make them confident in their work. They will take pride and ownership in a job well done.
• Foster teamwork through collaboration, bring people together – Conflicting, unclear, or missing objectives will demoralize your team. They will not care to work together

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