How ‘bout this? Give Your Employees What They Want

Are you excited to go to work? Can you lead your team into excitement, too? Whether you’re an emerging or well-seasoned leader, I believe it’s 100% possible make work enjoyable for everyone. As a leader in a new company, I’m seeing firsthand how the simple the acts of loving what I do and enabling my team to love what they do changes this game we all call work.

With four million people quitting their jobs each month, it’s no wonder that when people don’t feel like their work is worth anything — or worse, like they themselves have no value — they simply won’t stay. It’s disheartening to see the workforce push amazing, talented people out, to the point where they feel like staying in a job means losing a piece of themselves. The reality is that we work and live in failed society, within systems of oppression. It’s our job as leaders to help maneuver the system, at least with the people we work with directly, to give them the agency to own their power. And, whenever possible, give employees what they want.

Start by acknowledging employees’ personal power

As an executive coach, I’ve worked with clients to find meaning and own their power inside and outside of work. Those who have learned to embrace freedom, discover their strengths, set boundaries, and find joy in life itself, can usually bring that with them wherever they go. It’s the responsibility of both the individual and their leaders to facilitate personal satisfaction wherever they spend their time.

After working with hundreds of successful multicultural women, I’ve watched them own their power by understanding their identities and the barriers that exist in the workplace. While it can be exhausting, they’ve learned how to strategically navigate around the systems that don’t always offer them protection. Armed with tools in hand, they don’t allow anyone to dictate who they are except for themselves. These women have shown incredible resilience in midst of adversity. They’ve learned to identify, hone, and share their superpowers. Many are helping to open the doors for those coming in after them. There’s still a long way to go. Owning your power is the starting point to create new possibilities for yourself and others.

At the end of the day, when you own your power as an individual, you stay or leave on your own terms.

It’s up to each individual to put in the learning and development time through reading, coaching, mentorship, sponsorship (and good old fashioned friendships). However, that doesn’t let organizations off the hook. It’s the responsibility of the organization and its leaders to guide employees to love what they do and set them up for success. As leaders, we have the priviledge of playing a major role in helping individual team members develop personally and professionally, providing them every opportunity to navigate through their own self-leadership journey.

I’ve learned that if people are the problem, help make them better. If work is the problem, help make it better. Both are possible.

We have to make work as good as it possibly can be for our own sanity. Plus, our career journeys can be an incredible place for growth, community, creativity, collaboration, and yes, freedom and JOY.

I’m on a mission to make work better as a leader

Eight months ago, I had the honor of joining a blossoming B2B creative agency (Stories Bureau) as Managing Director. While I’m no stranger to leadership, this is my first time running and growing a multimillion dollar company. And while I’ve loved every step of the process, I’ve been asking myself these questions:

Can I foster the type of environment I’ve been telling all my clients is possible? Can I create new possibilities for others? Is it scaleable? What’s the best way to set our team up for success? Can I help others find joy and freedom in their work?

I believe the answer is a resounding YES. Will I ever get it wrong? Of course.

According to Gallup, the majority of millennials (55%) are not engaged at work. I get this so deeply. As I mentioned before, if you don’t love what you’re doing, or you’re simply not good at your job, why try? Why show up at all?

I envision a workforce that enables employees to step into their passion, love what they do, and to live a life of purpose and impact.

And to do all of this with a wellspring of personal and professional support.

Based on past experiences and knowledge of leadership principles, I’m revisiting my skills to shape and sharpen the vision for Stories Bureau. Several nuances within these ideas are inspired by my new partner in crime, Kory Grushka, the founder of Stories Bureau. He’s awesome, our values are in full alignment, and I’m grateful to work alongside him and our incredible team in this journey. Kory reminds me that we’re working with people who have their own lives, their own struggles, and their own dreams.

The bottom line is that when you place your focus on your people, everybody wins.

The following is what leading looks like for me right now. (Keep in mind that I’m working with a remote team of less than 10 full-time employees and about 25 subcontractors.)

Three things I’m testing out as a BOSS

1. Ask employees/team members what they want.

What are they excited to work on? What do they want to do with their lives as a whole? How can we support them in their other passions? How do they want to grow? What would help them love their jobs?

Then, do everything in your power to make it work for them. If they don’t want to work with a certain client, take them off the project. If they really want to try something new, give them an opportunity. If they don’t want work on a certain day, give them the day off!

Your team members are the most important asset of your business. If you want them to truly feel free, give them the agency to make decisions for how and when they work, and what they work on. And, help them to identify and discover what work they love doing along the way.

I don’t want to fully give pros and cons to these tactics just yet, as they are in progress, but my research shows that these tactics listed here are embedded into transformational leadership principles that lead to increased commitment, involvement, loyalty and performance. On the downside, I have had some people decide they just don’t WANT to work with us, haha. They owned their power to say no. So, there’s that!

2. Delegate beyond your comfort zone.

This one’s for you personally as a leader. Just because you have more experience or feel you can do it “better,” doesn’t mean you’re the only one who can do or should do a task. If you want to model the way so your team doesn’t burn out, you certainly cannot burn yourself out by trying to do everything. Leading a team requires delegation. Even if you’re the best person for a particular task, find another person to take on the responsibility. It removes something from your plate while giving someone else an opportunity to learn, grow, and eventually shine in your space. I can’t tell you how much pride I feel when a team member or even a client does something that I usually do and then does an awesome job. Makes me so happy!

If you’re concerned with the quality of work suffering because you can’t fully control it, then try to find someone who you know can do it at at least 70–80% as good as you can. I’ve given tasks to others and they’ve bombed, but I’ve learned that if they can pretty much do it, and get to my 70–80% standard, the world will not come to an end.

3. Give generously.

Give your praise, your time, your care to your team, even if it doesn’t always feel natural. Last week a team member was sick, and Kory said, “Let’s send them a care package!” My first reaction was, “Why? They can take care of themselves.” Am I a cold-hearted snake? Trying not to be!

When you send someone soup when they’re sick, pay for someone’s lunch, give them an unexpected bonus after a job well done, it’s a way for your people to feel recognized unconditionally. Generosity isn’t just a once a year review or “special occasion” thing for us at Stories Bureau. It’s a regular part of our culture, whether it’s a small or big gesture.

Additionally, when you are generous with your time, it’s a form of kindness. It means when someone needs help, or they’re waiting on you for an answer, you make yourself available to provide clarity. Being too busy to be available is a no-no. It’s not modeling balance and freedom. And perhaps it’s a signal that you’re not delegating or hiring enough people.

Finally, giving thoughtful accolades is a daily practice with our team. Whether it’s a quick, “that’s a great idea” or a deeper acknowledgement of their awesome attitude or work, we are trying to engrain it into all of our employees to show appreciation to each other regularly. If you want people to take pride and ownership in their work, acknowledging their awesomeness not only tells them that you see them, it helps them to see their work from a different perspective. And own their power through owning what they bring to the table.

Let’s learn together to love life, our work, find meaning in what we do, and love others in the process. That’s really what this is all about. Loving work is about learning to love the people in it and get better little by little, every day.

If you have leadership tips that you really love, please share in the comments. Got any hidden gem book or podcast suggestions? Tell me!