Regardless of how you arrived at your current tech leadership role, whether through a traditional career progression or a unique journey, there are key ways to showcase exceptional people leadership.
As a tech leader, you have the power to inspire and guide your team towards success.
Here, we will explore five strategies that can help you exemplify great people leadership, fostering a positive work environment, driving employee engagement, and achieving remarkable results.
Let’s dive in and discover how you can make a lasting impact as a tech leader.
1. Acknowledge and Appreciate Your Team
To significantly enhance the employee experience, tech leaders must tap into the inherent human need for recognition and appreciation. People crave acknowledgment for their exceptional work. Extensive research confirms that leaders who explicitly acknowledge and appreciate team members, rewarding employees who embody core values, foster a significantly higher and more fulfilling employee experience.
2. Foster Employee Decision-Making
One of the most impactful actions a leader can take is empowering employees with the freedom to make decisions and actively participate in determining how work is best accomplished. When employees feel that their ideas and suggestions matter, they thrive in a positive work environment. Entrepreneurial settings, where individuals feel genuinely invested in the company, inspire them to perform at their peak. Granting them autonomy and ownership over their work will unlock their potential and drive superior performance.
3. Provide Regular Feedback
Building strong relationships between employees and their managers is vital for reducing turnover rates and improving output. Instead of relying solely on perks, it is crucial for leaders to invest in training managers to provide regular and direct feedback, effectively navigate conflicts, and foster a culture of psychological safety. This approach ensures that individuals feel comfortable expressing their ideas, taking calculated risks, and providing open feedback within the team. While virtual happy hours alone may not motivate employees to deliver better work, when leaders demonstrate care, set clear expectations, and encourage open communication, team members become more motivated to contribute, improve and excel.
4. Prioritize Personal Growth
Irrespective of whether employees work in an office or remotely, personal and professional development should remain a top priority. Leaders must serve as coaches, guiding and facilitating employees in their quest to become the best versions of themselves and prepare for future roles. This proactive approach not only makes employees feel valued and supported, but it also demonstrates the organization’s commitment to nurturing the holistic well-being of its team.
5. Cultivate Psychological Safety
In a recent survey conducted by Workhuman, alarming statistics revealed that 48 percent of employees experienced burnout, 61 percent faced elevated stress levels, and 32 percent reported feeling lonely at work. The need for psychological safety has become more urgent — an environment where individuals feel secure and supported in taking risks and making decisions. Psychological safety promotes innovation, cooperation, and empowers employees to bring their authentic selves to work — an invaluable asset in the post-pandemic world.
Rebuilding psychological safety after a crisis necessitates leaders speaking openly about the challenges employees have faced and charting a more human-centered approach to management. Regular check-ins to gauge employee experiences are also crucial. By fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas and contributing their unique perspectives, leaders can seize the opportunity to create a “next normal” that represents a fresh start beyond mere recovery from crisis.
As a tech leader in a challenging landscape, take personal responsibility to cultivate your exceptional leadership qualities.
As Maya Angelou so wisely put it, “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
By recognizing and appreciating your team, granting autonomy, providing regular feedback, prioritizing personal development and fostering psychological safety, you can inspire your employees to achieve extraordinary results.
Nudge leadership coaching provides a safe space for developing and honing your leadership strategies.
To find out how leadership coaching can support your specific needs, book a call.