A good working relationship with colleagues is vital for a successful business.
To be a good leader at work you need to possess humanity, humility and humour.”
High-performance organisations have moved beyond autocratic leadership styles into cooperative approaches where management and employees share their visions and work together.
A handful of tips to improve your relationships with your colleagues
*Lead by example
People pay more attention to what you do than what you say.
Set a good example in your work and play and do what you say you will do and always be honest.
Try to keep your social and business relationships separate. Don’t talk business all the time.
*Build relationships
Don’t be in a hurry. Make time to chat with people, face to face. Go for a coffee or lunch with them and forget business for a while.
Try to find out their interests. Ask questions and try not to interrupt them and listen with care.
“Where did you grow up and go to school?”
“What are your interests?
Have you any hobbies?”
“Have you a partner and a family?”
“Where do you live?”
*Take the time to understand colleagues and consider their welfare
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Empathize with people in difficult times.
Be compassionate and tolerant when things go wrong.
Try to understand the problems and the pain of others.
Understanding others’ pain opens doors to their heart.
*Encourage and support employees
A good work leader inspires and motivates people to go beyond what they thought they could accomplish.
Make the time to chat, understand, encourage and praise them. Be considerate of their needs, their wants and their problems.
Show compassion in difficult times and offer help when needed. At times just be considerate, be flexible to their circumstances.
If you give people support and encouragement they will often perform at a higher level than everyone thought possible.
Good leaders can be recognised because their people give superior performances.
*The key to leadership success
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Try treating people the way you would like to be treated if you were in their shoes.
Care for your colleagues with respect, be sincere and show tolerance and patience if they make mistakes.
-Geoffrey Moss(mossassociates.co.nz)
“People go further than they thought they would, because someone else thought they could.
SOURCE: “Secrets for New Managers”. A collection of guidelines and helpful advice.” 234p. Published by Moss Associates Ltd and Cengage Learning Asia. (Many of the articles in this book first appeared in the Singapore Institute of Management’s bi-monthly magazine “Today’s Manager”)Also available as an e-book from Amazon.com and from the VitalSource Bookshelf.
Another Handful of Tips 