Successful Leaders Encourage Autonomy and Empower Their Team Members

One of the critical elements of successful workforce management is leadership. The roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers seem pretty clear cut, but the reality is that becoming an effective leader is a complex and challenging goal.

A common mistake on the part of many people in leadership positions is to question the level of involvement they should have with their teams. Maintaining a formal managerial role in a teamwork or teambuilding activity or failure to participate altogether is a serious mistake for any leader. Those in leadership positions need to understand that teamwork is about the group, and participating at the same level as the rest of the group is essential to progress, innovation and productivity.

Very simply, combining leadership and teamwork/teambuilding is the best way to glean value from team skills and make the team more effective. Empowering all team members to act autonomously and innovate is the best way leaders can improve team performance and strength. Another trait of an effective leader is to be mindful of team members’ needs and to steer the team in a collective direction that empowers and enables all members. This isn’t always an easy task for someone at the managerial level, who is used to being in charge, but a critical one for overall teambuilding success.

At the end of the day, combining leadership and teamwork is absolutely essential to strengthening the team and meeting productivity and innovation goals. Just as poor leadership or lack of leadership is bound to hold back the team as a whole, poor teamwork and teambuilding will also hold back progress. Finding a happy medium as a leader who facilitates autonomy and independent thought within the team setting is the best way to strengthen and grow the team while keeping members happy and productive.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi

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