As a leader, the most important part of your job isn’t your results; your job is to inspire your employees’ results.” – Richard S. Wellins, co-author of Your First Leadership Job: How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best In Others  Over the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about what it means to be an Invisible Leader — someone whose leadership impact lives long past their position. Someone who changes lives without necessarily getting all the credit. To recap, these are some of the ways to become an Invisible Leader:

  • Give without an expectation of return.
  • Decide if you want to be famous or great.
  • Don’t hold too tightly to relationships.
  • Be comfortable being the corner man.
The last one we’ll be addressing is: Be everybody’s cheerleader. If you’ve ever been to a sporting event with cheerleaders, you’ll know that they’re pretty loud. It’s their job to support, encourage, and keep the crowd engaged as they cheer their team to victory. What does cheerleading have to do with leadership? Out of Fast Company’s six habits of people who know how to bring out the best in others, four of them can be related back to being a “leadership cheerleader.

1. They focus on the person’s strengths.

In order to know someone’s strengths, you have to look closely at how they do things. Being intentional about calling out someone’s strengths — and utilizing — is essential to being a leadership cheerleader.

2. They empathize.

Remember our series on Emotional Intelligence a couple months ago? It’s important to listen and respond to the feelings of those around you.

3. They give recognition.

If you see it, say it! Make a habit out of giving recognition where recognition is due. Praise is a great way to reinforce good behavior, and is always appreciated by the one receiving it!

4. They create safe environments.

Being a leadership cheerleader creates an environment where people feel safe to dream and put themselves out there.

Something important to note is that there’s a balance. I’m not saying you should only call out the good things people do and ignore the mistakes or slip ups. Constructive criticism is essential to building up a leader, but it’s detrimental not to match it with positive feedback. As Invisible Leaders, we should never feel threatened by giving someone else the praise they deserve. The happiest team members are the ones who feel valued. Look at leadership cheerleading as way of reminding your team members of their value. [bctt tweet="The happiest team members are the ones who feel valued." username="dukematlock"] How can you make your team feel valued this week? How can you start making a habit out of cheering on the people around you?  

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