If you own a business, you will more than likely have a team of people that work with and depend on you. I know I do! But as the CEO, what do they depend on me for? They depend on me to provide them with the tools they need to effectively bring to life established business targets and sales goals. My job is not to oversee the production of these goals. My job is to give them the tools they need to realize the goals.
My aim is to give them the mindset and support they need to achieve their mission. My main purpose is to serve and support our talent into achieving these targets. Often at Smart, we ask, “How can I empower and engage creativity and confidence in order to build a strongly focused productive environment that allows for success and ease?”
This is important to understand because there is a talent shortage and your talent is your biggest asset. If they aren’t productive, you are out of business. When I want to foster their success, I do it the smart way. I create a level of ease that helps them perform at their best.
When you apply this method of daily support, over time you will notice that your people will feel more at ease and supported. This will cause their productivity to grow.
It must be authentic and heartfelt in order for it to have a lasting effect. Remember your job is to serve and support.
Here is my list of the top 12 simplest forms of support I use on a daily basis.
You’re doing great: Offering encouragement is one of the best ways to make people feel supported. It helps them understand that you value them and their contributions to the project.
We’re in this together: This reassurance is powerful. They understand you have their back and that they are not alone. This helps your talent feel at ease. There is a sense of collaboration and community and this brings a feeling of loyalty and pride. It promotes accountability and helps keep egos in check.
I trust you: The best way to build trust is to give trust. If your talent feels your confidence in them and their decision making, they will also feel more confident and more at ease. When you trust their actions, they feel more motivated because they can sense that you have a high opinion of them and this builds a strong bond to your leadership.
Please: Never underestimate the power of saying “please.” When things are hectic and stressful saying an authentic please brings in a sense of kindness and calm. It lets your team know that you have confidence in them and they will respond with the same level of kindness.
Thank you for that: Nothing is more motivating than sincere appreciation. It uplifts the well-being of your talent. When your talent makes effort, recognizing it produces more motivation and this gives you more success.
Tell me more about that: Being present, attentive and interested in what your talent is telling you will keep ideas flowing. Not all ideas will pan out, but you only need one good idea to add 7 figures to your bottom line. Your talent has that one million-dollar idea; you just have to listen for it.
It’s your call: Deferring to my talent’s genius is why I hired them in the first place. We encourage leadership in our office and that means empowering people to take the helm of a decision process.
I don’t know: When you add a heartfelt, “I don’t know,” you invite your talent to become inquisitive and find answers. You become authentic and human to them and you model humility and safety. It becomes okay for them to “not know” either. This is important because you then invite inquisitiveness and non-judgment into your working environment.
How can I support you: This is the game changing secret sauce in our working environment. If your team understands that you are here to serve them and help them succeed, they will rise up and meet you in a mutually supportive process. This powers momentum and enthusiasm in a way that has to be experienced to believe.
I’m sorry: This is a multi-use practice. It can be used to express empathy and to model humility. Either way you choose to use it, you strengthen your influence and credibility with your talent because they can trust you to show yourself to them willingly either empathetically or in humility.
What do you think: Asking your talent what they think about an idea helps them feel valued. It also breeds commitment when you ask them their opinion. Being open to listening strengthens their resolve to create success and this is powerful when it is naturally part of your working environment.
I’m proud of you: Nothing creates momentum like a job well done that has been valued and acknowledged. When you are proud of your talent they shine and become proud of themselves. The power of building this kind of authentic self-esteem inside your business powers productivity better than anything else.
These 12 go-to sayings create productivity, and support. They empower long-term progress and create success in your business. Lasting success is built on strong teams of people that can rise to new levels month after month, year after year because they have the support that creates winning, appreciation, ease and well-being.
Vickie Helm is a bestselling author, business and asset strategist, and the CEO of Smart Group Firm. She has improved the success of more than a thousand companies and the lives of thousands of individuals throughout her career. You can learn more about Vickie at https://thesmartlifeclub.com or https://vickiehelm.com.