In this episode we are going to be talking about how to make your people feel important and why it is so crucial to your leadership.There are some really simple techniques that you can employ when you engage and communicate with your team or even other people, your clients or anybody that you’re engaged with. If you can learn to make people feel important, that will encourage them to buy into you as a person and buy into what you want to say. Ultimately, if you are leading, you want people to buy into you and be able to follow you in the direction that you are leading them and one of the great ways you can do that is making people feel good about themselves and making them feel important in your estimation. So here are a couple of tips before we get into them.
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So here are a couple of tips before we get into them.
1. Learn to compliment and praise
The first thing is this, learn to compliment and praise your people regularly. Look for little ways that you can compliment and praise people. If you notice them doing a job well, compliment them on it and say, “Hey you did a great job there, I love what you did here”. If you notice something that they have taken the initiative to do, say, “Hey well done! That is really fantastic”. Complement little things or notice little things like hair color or outfits. Compliment them on their appearance.
Be generous with your compliments and be generous with your praise. When you lead with praise and compliments you are actually building people’s self-esteem, you are making them feel good about themselves and when they feel good about themselves they are going to feel good about you. They are going to feel connected to you, they are going to appreciate it and they are going to want to actually buy into you and work with you.
2. Show appreciation
The second thing is this, show appreciation. Whenever somebody completes a task for you, make sure you always thank them. It is a simple thing but take the time to thank them. If it is a big thing then thank them publicly, thank them in front of people and show your appreciation, even thank them at the end of the day. One of the habits I have gotten into with the organization that I lead, which is a Church and not-for-profit organisation is this; whenever somebody says goodbye to me I thank them for their hard work that day and say, “Thanks for the great day today, I appreciate all your hard work”.
By showing appreciation on a regular basis whenever they do something for you, it gets them to really know that their work is noticed and it is valued. They will work harder for you and they will go over and above for you.
One of the things that was recently said to me in my organization was said by a gentleman that works with us. He is an elderly gentleman and he has worked in a lot of industries. He said “I have never felt more appreciated than I do here.” Being appreciated meant the world to him and he actually works so hard for us and does so much for us. But the fact that we appreciate him on a regular basis is what really makes a difference for him. He expressed that after 50 years of working in various jobs in different companies and careers, he expressed that my appreciation was very much appreciated by him and as a result, it makes him a very valuable member of our team.
3. Learn people’s names
The third one is this: learn people’s names and learn to use them. There is an old saying that says “A person’s name is the most beautiful word that they ever hear.” People like to hear their own name. People respond when you use their name; their ears prick up and they notice when you are using their name.
Learn people’s names and always use their name when you are greeting or talking to them. Use their name in an affectionate or polite way and you will find that people actually feel more important and valued, especially if you have a large team or a large organization that you work in. I work with a lot of people and sometimes I forget people’s names and so the simple thing is to just say, “Hey please help me out I have forgotten your name, please can you tell me again so I can remember?”
Even making an effort to remember shows them that you value them and that they are important to you, so learn people’s names and use them when you are talking to them or greeting someone.
4. Acknowledge people
The fourth thing to make people feel important is this, acknowledge people when they are trying to communicate with you. Now this can take on a couple of different forms so for example, if you are in a conversation and you see somebody off to the side who is waiting for you just a simple nod of the head a smile, saying, “Give me one minute,” this will make them feel important and make them feel like you are noticing them and they are happy to wait. If you do not acknowledge them and at least say “Hey I’ve seen you and I can see that you are waiting for me,” that would discourage people. It will make them feel like they are less valuable than the person that you are talking to and it does not make for good relationships.
The second area that I see as being a real problem that is really simple to remedy is in emails, text messages and phone calls. If somebody calls you, sends a text message or an email, acknowledge it. Now if you miss the call and you can not respond immediately that is ok, most phones now have a little button where you can say, “I can’t talk now I will give you a call back.” That is a simple acknowledgement. If it is a text message and you can not give them the answer immediately say, “I will come back to you tomorrow or I will come back to you next week.” Do not just leave them hanging just because you do not have the response or you have the time. If it is an email that you need to respond to, say the same sort of thing, those simple gestures mean the world. It frustrates me immensely when people do not give a simple reply. If they just go silent and they do not tell you why they haven’t replied, that can be really frustrating and quite disrespectful.
If you receive an email especially from somebody important and you need to show them a level of respect, then always acknowledge. Acknowledge even if you cannot respond with a definite answer in the moment, you have to acknowledge receipt of the communication. It is such a simple thing to do but it is amazing how many people do not do it. I would encourage you, if you want to be an effective leader and you want to make people feel important and valued, take the time to do it.
So these are four tips to help people feel important. I hope that was really helpful for you. Don’t forget, if you want to learn more about leadership, check out our course “Leading for Success.” The link will be in the description below.
If you would like to learn more about effectively growing in your leadership, why not check out our FREE Goal setting guide. See below for details. https://leadcommunicategrow.com/free-goal-setting-guide/
5 Steps to Set Goals that Work
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