One of my clients recently described me on Instagram as the woman you need to follow if you want to be a boss nobody hates 😂
But it got me thinking – WOAH, isn’t that one of our biggest fears as new leaders? What if our employees hate following us, and we don’t even know it? What if we’re doing a bad job, and we honestly have no clue?
Today on the Joy to Lead Podcast, I went wild over this topic, breaking down several ways each of us can intentionally be leaders people LOVE to follow.
Listen to the episode now!
How to Be the Leader People Love to Follow
Honestly, it’s one thing to be a boss nobody hates. But it’s another level entirely to become a leader people LOVE to follow.Â
- Be a thermostat, not a thermometer. Our job is not to simply read the energy in the room and reflect it back, our job is to read the energy and help calibrate the temperature by balancing tensions and encouraging growth.
- People will do what you do, not what you say. So be the example of the standards you want your team to uphold. What you allow in yourself sets the expectations for your team.Â
- Nurture your culture. Culture is built on relationships which are built through conversations. To be a leader people love to follow, you must get curious and strive to get to know your team members on a heart level.Â
- Take ownership instead of serving blame. Don’t pin failures on team members, and conversely, attribute success to your team.Â
- Always pursue self-awareness. If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others. As Michael Hyatt always says, “self-leadership always precedes team leadership.”
Want to hear more? Go deeper with me in this week’s 12-minute episode of the Joy to Lead Podcast!
Go Deeper! Resources & Community
I talked about Conversational Intelligence in this episode