Right now, there are approximately 200,000 relationship experts employed in the United States helping people learn how to better connect with each other.
That is because relationships take work.
Even healthy relationships can be elevated with additional insight and support. And as a leader, your relationship with your employees is paramount to your organization’s success. Creating healthy relationships is like laying a strong foundation upon which loyalty and trust can be built.
And when you have a team that believes in you, they will be inspired to be innovative and productive, which will ultimately culminate in growth for your organization.
For Extreme Leaders, a leadership keynote speaker is the relationship expert you need to craft a leadership strategy that creates positive relationships by building trust and respect. An effective leadership speaker like Steve Farber will show you how to gain respect as a leader through practical strategies and real-life tips.
Why is Learning How to Gain Respect as a Leader Important?
Before you learn how to get respect, it is imperative to recognize why it is important.
When people feel comfortable in a situation, they are much more likely to give others the benefit of the doubt in the event of any perceived miscommunications or misunderstandings and will be more open to collaborating with their team. When everybody is on the same page, it is easier to work toward shared goals.
Extreme Leaders recognize how important it is to build respect by fostering open communication and building strong relationships.
This starts by treating employees with respect and being open and honest in your communications. When you exhibit positive communication and respect for colleagues in the workplace, your team will be inspired to follow your lead. By being transparent and approachable, your team will trust you and seek your input on small problems before they blow up into huge issues.
Building positive relationships with your employees improves communication, increases job satisfaction and makes leading your team easier and more enjoyable.
Six Strategies to Learn How to Build Respect as a Leader
As a leader, building trust and respect is integral to creating a positive team environment that fosters collaboration and innovation. When your team respects and trusts you, they will be more invested in your organization’s goals and inspired by your vision to achieve them.
Learning how to get respect from your team is not a one-and-done initiative.
It will take time and effort, but when you put in the work, you will reap the rewards of increased positivity and productivity. You can begin this journey of discovering how to gain respect as a leader by following six simple yet effective strategies.
1. Always Treat Employees with Respect
Throw out the old adage about “treating others as you wish to be treated” and instead focus on treating employees the way THEY want to be treated. When you treat employees with respect by meeting them where they are, you will be well on your way to cultivating loyalty and inspiring honesty.
Exhibiting this respect is one of the most important things you can do as a leader because respect leads to trust and trust builds strong relationships. When you respect your employees, you are essentially giving them a voice and people appreciate being heard. This will inspire them to go above and beyond and support you long term, which will ultimately lead to growth for your organization.
Exhibiting respect for colleagues in the workplace is not only an effective leadership strategy, it is simply the right thing to do.
2. Be an Approachable Leader
When determining how to get respect from your team, it is important to think about how you present yourself. Do you come across as approachable or do you appear closed off and uninterested in what your team has to say? If your team doesn’t come to you often with their ideas and questions or seek your advice, you may want to evaluate your approachability factor.
An approachable leader is an effective leader.
A great way to become more approachable is to conduct regular one-on-one meetings with your team or implement an open-door policy that is clearly communicated. When you lead with love by showing your employees that you care about their issues or challenges at work, you are setting the stage for success.
By listening to your team’s ideas and recognizing their achievements, you are effectively creating a workplace culture of open communication and mutual respect.
3. Recognize Your Employees’ Contributions
In addition to recognizing outstanding achievements, it is critical to acknowledge other contributions as well. Not every success will be in the spotlight, but each employee’s contributions are necessary for the strength of the team overall and should be recognized.
When you take the time to publicly acknowledge the efforts of your team, both large and small, it shows that you value them and their work. By recognizing the dedication of your employees, you build trust and nurture loyalty, both of which are crucial to achieving success.
You may want to schedule time at the beginning of your team meetings to share individual and team milestones or achievements, which shows that you value your people first. Encourage your team to cheer each other on, as this can give employees an added boost of confidence that will increase productivity and foster growth.
4. Be an Empathetic Leader, Show That You Care
Extreme Leaders recognize that they are the main reason employees stay or go. No matter how much someone loves their job or co-workers, if they don’t connect with their manager or if they feel unappreciated, unvalued or unheard, they will leave.
A leader has the biggest impact on employee engagement and retention.
Showing care and empathy is one of the most effective ways a leader can earn love and respect in the workplace. When considering how to build respect, it is important to see past an employee’s contributions at work and truly get to know them as a person. When you lead with love, your team will recognize that you sincerely care about them and they will be more engaged and committed to their work.
Modeling empathy enables you to gain the trust of your team and they will be more likely to follow your lead, even during challenging times. This is critical, especially in today’s turbulent and competitive business world, because employees who feel cared for are more likely to remain employed with your organization. Exhibiting empathy as a leader is how to gain love, respect and loyalty from your team.
5. Offer Positive and Constructive Feedback
As the leader, when you offer positive and constructive feedback, it shows employees that you care about their personal and professional development and that you are willing to invest your time and energy in helping them grow.
Being open and honest with employees about their performance is a key factor in increasing motivation and cultivating a positive working relationship. In order to be truly effective, the meeting needs to be face to face in a private setting and the feedback should be given in a constructive manner, with time built in for the employee to ask questions.
When you consistently treat your team with the respect they want and deserve, your input will be welcomed and appreciated, and you will guide each employee toward elevating their performance and achieving their career goals.
6. Be a Supportive Leader
A supportive leader continuously seeks out ways to foster growth for each employee and success for the team overall. There will always be ebbs and flows where an individual may struggle, but by helping them turn their obstacles into opportunities, you are building stronger relationships with your team.
In addition to coaching an employee directly, you can also ask other team members to mentor their co-workers through situations they may have previously experienced. This creates stronger bonds within the team, as well as with you as their leader.
When you show that you are always willing to lend a hand, you are fostering a workplace culture of mutual respect and your employees will feel appreciated and valued.
By supporting your team, you are creating success for your organization.
A Leadership Keynote Speaker Can Teach You How to Utilize Love in Leadership to Get Respect
Any one of those 200,000 relationship experts would tell you that love is paramount to creating strong relationships. When you lead your team with love, you will organically gain their loyalty and respect, which will ultimately increase the success of your team and organization.
But who leads the leaders?
Bringing in a leadership speaker is the first step to embarking on this journey. This expert will keep you on the right path, even when faced with obstacles, and help guide your team toward increased growth, positivity and productivity.
Be the leader that respects employees, is approachable, recognizes contributions, shows empathy, offers positive feedback and supports each team member. Not only will you gain love and respect in return, you will also be building a strong foundation for long-term success.