You may be tempted to think of products, or other measurable things, when considering what are the most important assets in your organization. However, the reality is that your most important assets are your team members. They find and solve the problems. They make your clients happy. They take care of the day to day operations that make your strategic goals possible. This does not diminish the value of other assets. Things like products and equipment, even structure, vision and leadership. But your people and your teams are who turn the success of your business into a reality.
“Your most important assets are your people. If you take care of your people, they will take care of you, and your vision.”
So how do you go about taking care of your people? It’s deceptively simple. You take care of your people the same way you take care of your family. That’s who they are, your work family. In practice, taking care of family involves guidelines, learning opportunities, support, and a vision that the future holds a promise that makes today’s effort worthwhile.
Here are some suggestions for demonstrating leadership;
- Encourage problem solving input (others see things that may not be in your scope)
- Provide training (it’s an investment, training will cause people to stay and add more value)
- Be honest (it’s your reputation that holds things together in times of turmoil)
- Make it feel safe (emotional support is not soft, it’s human, it pays dividends)
- Be fair (sometimes that means addressing an underperformer, and that requires fairness too)
If you think of your team like a family they will see and feel it in your actions. That’s the way people work.