Developing Healthy Leaders

Human skills are ways we communicate. Active listening, understanding, empathy, self-awareness, even body language are key elements of human skills.

According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the most sought-after management skills right now is empathy. When human skills are developed and empathy is demonstrated by leaders, trust is built within the group. This dynamic opens the door for cooperation, which creates a stronger, more effective team. Poor communication feeds mistrust, uncertainty, and resentment.  Eventually, the best workers find another job leaving the poor workers behind. The old saying is, “People don’t quit jobs; they quit bad leaders.” Leaders with strong human skills create an environment very few want to leave.

Yes! It begins with an understanding of what empathy is and the desire to learn and practice it.  Learning empathy also involves accountability to work daily on demonstrating it.

Every good leader works on improving every day. A good leader communicates clearly and listens with empathy and an open mind.  Good leaders are relational. They work with their team, and they invest in each member’s improvement - not just in work but also in life. 

Good leaders are intentional in serving and desire to be a positive influence on their team members. 

Too often we forget that when someone is promoted, they are starting over. Many poor leaders are poor because no one helped them in their new start.  If a poor leader has a desire to improve, he/she can. Good leaders are always working to get better, learning something new, and developing skills.  A poor leader needs to be challenged to grow and given the opportunity to do so. If there is a good leader’s desire in him/her, it will flourish.

Creating an environment with an emphasis on both production and relational skills must be intentional.  It doesn’t just happen. Production-focused leaders will need to be taught the benefits of using human skills within their team.  Focused, ongoing training helps ensure the skills are being developed and reinforced. 

Production is important. We don’t eat if we don’t produce. However, if the sole focus is on production, then team members will begin to see themselves as “another brick in the wall,” unimportant and easily replaced.

Many executives have found that practicing empathy leads to more engaged, happy, and productive staff. When leaders learn and practice empathy, active listening, and clear communication, team members feel valued and gain a sense of belonging. Team members take greater pride in their roles and responsibilities and become more productive.

Production benefits from leaders who use Human Skills.

We know your organization will benefit simply because we have seen the results.  Our leadership development plan has been used in a variety of companies, both large and small.  Our process has been proven to be effective.

Our method of leadership development is not a one and done approach but an ongoing process. Part of the process we use is ownership and accountability.  We encourage leaders to own their growth. We meet with leaders one-on-one and assess where they are and how they are following through with their plans.

Yes. We want our participants to be able to speak freely. We want a trust relationship where the participant knows we have his/her best interests at heart. DREAM4 Coaches will break this confidentiality only if participants indicate they are going to hurt themselves or others.

We believe investing in your people and helping them achieve personal success is an essential part of creating a higher employee satisfaction rate.  We also know that when employees are happy in their personal lives, they bring that positive attitude into the work environment, which benefits organizational health. 

Healthy people, healthy leaders, and healthy teams create a healthy organization.