Here is the great paradox of team building: A great team is one in which the group is stronger than the sum of its members. At the same time, a team cannot succeed unless all of the individuals that comprise it are dedicated to the team’s vision and to its success.

To put all of that another way: Team building requires you to look at the big picture, but you can’t neglect all of the individual parts—all of the individual gifts, talents, and attitudes that paint that big picture.

Team building requires some group exercises, bonding, and communication, then, but also some focus paid to individuals. As the leader of the team, you have to invest time in each member of your team, helping him or her to develop the necessary skills and the right attitude for your team dynamic.

When should you begin this work of individual investment? There’s no time like now. You should start it as soon as possible, if you haven’t already—and in fact, the work of assembling a strong team, comprised of strong individual players, begins not with your corporate retreat or your team building exercise, but during the hiring process.

Yes, assembling your dream team means paying attention to the folks who interview with you, and ensuring that you’re hiring not just on the basis of their skills or their resume accomplishments, but also on the basis of how they fit into your team and compliment your other players.

Some tips:

• For each person you hire, make sure there is a detailed job description. Don’t hire for generalities! Hire for a specific set of tasks, responsibilities, and functions, and make sure you can identify how all of those things support the overall vision/mission of your team.
• Always look for compliments. You don’t build a good team by hiring a bunch of people who all act and think like each other. You also don’t build a good team by hiring a bunch of people who all act and think like you do. Always hire for fresh perspectives and skillsets.
• You don’t want to hire solely on the basis of personality, but neither do you want to avoid thinking about personality. An applicant may have all the technical skills you need, but what if he or she simply won’t mesh well with the other team members? Skills you can teach, but basic personality you can’t—and a clash of personalities could prove disruptive to the team dynamic.
• Don’t be afraid to solicit input from your team! Ask what kind of player they think you need to hire—what skills are needed in the office, what personality traits to look out for, and so forth.
• Be clear in communicating your team’s purpose and vision during the interview process. Make sure the applicant is on board with it, even enthusiastic about it. Don’t wait until the onboarding process begins to talk about important, big-picture matters of company culture.

Remember: A great team doesn’t happen by accident. You have to build it. And that building process begins with hiring!

This article was originally posted on RickGoodman.com.

So much of life comes down to the habits that we form. Want to be healthy and physically fit? It’s all about developing the right habits for eating and exercise. Want to have stronger relationships? Get into the habit of connecting, communicating, and showing others your affection.

And if you want to be a more engaging leader—well, there are some habits to form for that, too. I recommend these five, in particular:

1. Plan to engage. It’s difficult to be engaging when you’re making everything up as you go along. Of course, you may find yourself in unexpected situations, with some surprise opportunities to talk to employees or to potential customers—but most of the time, you will have a chance to plan ahead. Want to run an engaging team meeting? Take some time to plan your approach before the meeting. Want to engage a new client, rather than bore him to death? Plan your pitch in advance.
2. Listen. Get into the habit of understanding before you try to make yourself understood. This means getting out of the habit of talking over other people, or struggling to assert your point of view first and last. Make sure you always take time to figure out where other people are coming from.
3. Think win-win. One of the best ways to engage people is to present your case in a win-win manner—explaining not just why you want a given outcome, but why it’s also good for the other person. Be proactive about it; force yourself to always think win-win, and to lay out benefits and values.
4. Focus on the outcome. Always know what kind of outcome you’re looking to achieve, and lead with it. Don’t bury the lede: Whether you’re talking to a customer or a team member, be upfront about what you hope to achieve. This will give your conversations direction.
5. Follow up. Engagement is a two-way street—and while I don’t necessarily think you need to micromanage, I do think you need to give people room to ask questions or to offer you feedback. Get into the habit of asking for these things, if you’re not already.

It takes time and diligence to be an engaging leader—and it takes the formation of good, healthy habits. Do you have any tips to add to this list on how you engage with your team or with your customers?

Jobseekers are often told that it’s not what you know, but who you know. A similar axiom might apply for startups. Having immense industry knowledge and niche expertise is important—but ultimately, it’s having connections that can spell the difference between boom and bust.

Actually making connections, though, takes a certain skillset—and it’s a skillset that many entrepreneurs frankly don’t have. You make connections by networking, but networking isn’t something that comes naturally to most people. You’ve really got to know what you’re doing if you want your networking efforts to be effective.

Networking As An Early-Stage Startup Founder

A few tips for entrepreneurs looking to step up their networking game:

1. First, make sure you know what you want. Are you looking for investors? For strategic partnerships? Or just for some names to throw into your contact list for future reference? Having a goal in mind will ensure that you’re actually using your networking time effectively.
2. Go to events. This can’t be stressed enough. Yes, you can network online, and yes, social platforms like LinkedIn can be invaluable tools—yet even in today’s all-digital-all-the-time world, a lot of effective networking still happens offline. Go to seminars and conferences when they’re in town—and if conferences don’t come to your town, then do more traveling.
3. When you’re at conferences or networking events, don’t think about it in terms of business arrangements. A lot of professionals psyche themselves out, making themselves anxious or uncomfortable by thinking about the daunting nature of “networking.” So, just don’t think about it that way. Shift your mindset. Consider it an opportunity to get to know people who also want to get to know you. Ask questions and respond to questions honestly and openly. Think of it as conversation and relationship-building, not just a professional obligation.
4. Above all, listen when people talk. Networking is most effective when you forge actual relationships—and relationships work both ways. If you’re just thinking about what’s in it for me, then you won’t really be establishing meaningful personal or professional dynamics.

As an entrepreneur, you won’t succeed on your own. Sooner or later, you’re going to need to connect with people—and that means going out of your way to form strategic—but real!—relationships.

Are you wasting time in your team meetings? I asked that very question in a recent blog post, and have been surprised by the number of managers and leaders who have approached me upon reading it. I never realized just how wasteful my meetings were, some of you have said to me. But what can I possibly do to make my meetings more productive?

One thing you might consider is that some of your meetings may not be necessary at all. In the American workplace, we sometimes confuse meetings with getting things done—but as I’ve said elsewhere, if you can’t quickly and easily articulate the reason and goal of your meeting, then it probably doesn’t need to be held.

Engagement Is Essential

Beyond that, let me offer a simple—though not easy—strategy for making your meetings more meaningful: Engage your team members. If they’re actually involved with what you’re discussing on every level—if they’re not just hearing but actually listening, and contributing as well—then every minute you spend in that meeting is going to be, on some level, valuable.

Of course, you don’t just wave a wand to make engagement materialize in the hearts and minds of your team members. It’s not that easy. Building engagement takes some time and some effort—but with the right strategies, it’s possible!

Making Your Meetings More Engaging

So how do you do it? Let me offer some quick pointers:

• Frame your meeting as a chance to solve problems. Meetings that lack focus will also lack engagement—but what if you state the specific problem that your team is facing, and ask for any suggestions for improvement?
• Start with something positive. Before you get into problems and solutions, talk about something that’s going right for your team—or ask team members for some reflections on what they think is going right.
• Encourage everyone to participate. You might even go around the room in order and ask everyone to voice an idea—no matter how big or small, how rough or how precise. Just be comfortable with a few moments of silence as people think—and remember to be supportive of all ideas voiced! There’s no room for harsh criticism in a brainstorming session.
• Break down into groups. Divide your team into sub-teams of two or three people, and have them do some brainstorming together before reporting back to the group.
• Show respect. I can’t say it enough: If you want your team members to be engaged in your meetings, you’ve got to convince them that their ideas will be respected, not mocked, dismissed, or picked apart right in front of them!

Productive meetings are possible—and they start when you get all your team members involved and engaged.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably grown just a little bit tired of all the articles about millennials in the workplace. It seems like every day I see ten new headlines about how younger workers are taking over—and now we’re even seeing articles about Generation Z!

It’s not that I have anything at all against younger workers—far from it. And it’s not that I think it unimportant to consider issues that multiple generations bring to the workforce. But here’s what I ultimately think: Great leaders do more than just zero in on the little distinctions that separate one generation from the next. And great leaders never pit generations against one another, as if to suggest one is worthier than the other.

What great leaders do is bring different age groups together—engaging them in the workplace, fostering a spirit of inclusion, celebrating differences and affirming common purpose.

Obviously, that’s a mouthful—but how is it done?

Managing Across Different Generations

A few tips:

1. Define your culture in terms of behaviors/values, not age. Your employees may think that age disparity is a big deal—but what if you define each job and each project in terms of specific behaviors and values? Then, all of a sudden, age is less of an issue: Employees either have the values you’re looking for or they don’t, and age has nothing to do with it.
2. Give the gift of your feedback. No matter the employee’s age, rest assured that he or she craves your feedback—affirmation for good work, timely and specific critiques for subpar work. Don’t scrimp on feedback because you think an employee is too young to handle it or too old to need it!
3. Allow employees to provide their Engaging employees means doing more than just telling them what to do. Engaging leaders also provide specific forums for team members to offer suggestions and input on how the team is functioning.
4. Provide training where needed. Some employees—older ones, in particular—may be unengaged because they fear they lack the necessary skillsets to contribute to the team. Support all team members by providing training and instruction where needed.
5. Support mentorship programs. Another great way to promote unity on your team is to create a formal mentorship program—pair older and younger employees and let them encourage one another.

As a leader, you’re likely going to have employees of different ages—so make sure you’re engaging all of them, and making use of the unique skills that they bring.

The great promise of social media is that it allows us to connect with people even at a distance; you don’t have to be in the same room with someone or even on the same continent to strike up a conversation on Facebook, or to share with them your point of view via Twitter.

Some social channels foster connection better than others, and the latest social apparatus to come down the pipeline is, for my money, the most useful of them all. It’s called Periscope, and I’ll tell you why I like it: It is perhaps the best social tool I have ever used for building real engagement with people. I’ve been active on Periscope for just a few weeks now but have already forged some cherished connections.

How Periscope Works

So what is Periscope? The first thing you need to know is that it’s owned by Twitter, and you can sync your Periscope account so that your Periscope handle is just your Twitter handle. That’s what I did!

The heart of Periscope is its Camera feature, which allows you to do a live video broadcast of yourself for all of your followers to see—or, if you prefer, for just a few select followers to see. The broadcast then lives on your page for a full 24 hours, or until you choose to delete it. Then—not unlike SnapChat—your content disappears!

Of course, your Periscope account will also have some sections for you to view streams from your followers or from global users—all pretty par for the course, as far as social media goes.

Using Periscope for Your Business

What sets Periscope apart from other apps is that is lets you broadcast your life in a totally unfiltered and unrehearsed way. Yes, you can always produce a big-budget video for YouTube or Vimeo, but Periscope offers something that business owners may find even more valuable: An opportunity to get really authentic with your followers. Not to stage anything elaborate or artificial; just to chat for a few minutes, to narrate part of your day, to field questions, to share quick tips, to comment on breaking news, or what have you.

In its rawness and its off-the-cuff nature, Periscope feels more like real conversation than anything I’ve experienced on social media—especially if you take Twitter-fueled questions during your session and actually do some live interacting!

Real-time Q&A sessions and quick online press conferences, office tours, and interviews with your team members—there are many business applications for Periscope. Here, for me, is what it all boils down to: Using Periscope, you can give your followers an unvarnished look at your authentic leadership and expertise—and that’s something that leads to real trust and loyalty.

Here’s a question: If you had a job where you didn’t feel valued or appreciated—where you felt like you couldn’t make a difference, and that your efforts were going unnoticed—how long would you stick around at that job? It’s a no-brainer: You wouldn’t stay around any longer than you had to. You’d bolt at the first chance you had to find a job where you would feel valued.

And guess what? Your employees feel the same way. That’s why one of the biggest jobs that HR professionals and small business owners face is ensuring that their employees know how valued they are.

And maybe you really do feel valued, but have a hard time proving it—for reasons that boil down to your budget. You can always make employees feel valued by giving them huge raises, but that’s just not an affordable solution. So the question is, how can you show value without blowing your budget?

Affordable Ways to Show Employees You Care

The following suggestions are not necessarily free, but they are low cost and potentially high impact—meaning they can be smart ways to boost your employee retention.

Hold some Innovation Days. Take a couple of days out of each year to let your employees step away from their normal responsibilities and let them address some projects to improve office efficiencies, create a better work environment, brainstorm strategies for the company’s future, or otherwise exhibit their input and their passion.

Schedule some Service Days. Something else you can do is provide employees with a couple of (paid) days each year where they can leave the office to participate in a charity or volunteer project that means something to them—proving that you really care about the things your employees care about.

Stock the kitchen. This is almost a cliché by now, but it’s a cliché because it works: Tell your employees that you care about their commitment to the office, and that the least you can do is offer them free coffee, soft drinks, or healthy snacks.

Schedule some team lunches. Whether monthly or quarterly, offer to buy everyone lunch in order to have some bonding time and company fellowship.

Provide commuter benefits. For employees who travel great distances, offer a monthly stipend to help offset costs.

Offer flexible work hours. Provide employees with greater leeway in when they do their work—thus allowing them to tailor their schedules to their other interests.

Be flexible in your PTO. Why would you care whether employees use their PTO for sick days, vacation, or simply personal time? Be flexible and non-discriminating here.

Offer sabbaticals. What if every five years, an employee got a free week off from work? That could really help employees feel valued over the long haul.

These ideas are really just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s a final secret: Your employees will appreciate effort. Whatever you can do to show you care, it won’t go unnoticed or ignored. And when you make an effort, you shouldn’t be surprised when employees return it.

Looking for some practical ways to be more productive, more engaged, more successful in your personal and professional life? I suggest you sleep on it—literally.

Many of today’s professionals significantly undervalue the importance of sleep. They see it as wasted time, and aim for radical sleep schedules where they just get two hours each night, or perhaps eschew traditional sleeping altogether in favor of 20-minute cat naps throughout the day. The thinking is that this leads to less wasted time and more productivity, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Listen, I’m a doctor, so believe me when I tell you: Your body and mind need sleep. Getting your eight hours each night is not wasting time. Actually, it’s recharging your creative batteries, resetting your body’s energy levels, and putting you in the physical and emotional place where you can really achieve at a high level. Plus, it’s staving off stress, anxiety, and burnout.

You need sleep—so instead of wearing your sleepless nights like a badge of honor, try actually investing in the down time you need to become a truly productive, creative, and engaged person.

Here are some tips:

Set a schedule. Yes, you’re a grownup, so you may feel like you no longer need a “bed time”—but developing sleep habits and routines will help prevent insomnia or restless nights. Analyze your day and try to figure out the best window for getting eight hours of uninterrupted ZZZ’s. Factor in 15 minutes or so to actually fall asleep once you’re in bed.

Avoid stimulants before bed. This includes alcohol, which may help you fall asleep but can also impair the quality of your sleep. Turn off all electronics an hour before bed, too; they offer a lot of needless stimulation.

Create a healthy sleeping environment. Dark, cool, and quiet—that’s the kind of room you want to get good, restorative sleep.

Keep a worry journal. If you’ve got unchecked items on your to-do list that are keeping you up, write them down in a journal before you go to bed; simply making notes can help you feel a little better, enough to let go and drift to sleep.

Exercise. Working out during the day has been proven to boost sleep quality.

Nap smartly. If you do need to nap, be smart about it. Drink a cup of coffee before napping, which will help you wake up refreshed. Keep it to 20 minutes or less to avoid waking up feeling groggy. And don’t nap after three o’clock in the afternoon; doing so could impair your ability to fall to sleep that night.

More than anything else, get wise to the reality that sleeping properly is an investment in your productivity—not a hindrance to it!

On the one hand, the equation is pretty simple: Employees like to be at a company where they feel important and valued. They want to feel like they are able to use their talents and their time effectively, to really make an impact; and they like to feel like that effort is noticed and appreciated.

On the other hand…well, maybe it’s not so simple at all! Valuing employees is about more than just salary and benefits. It also means providing an environment that fosters good, productive work. It means facilitating mutual respect and a true team dynamic. It means offering clear trajectories for professional development and career advancement—and oh yeah: You need to do all of this on a pretty tight HR budget.

Why Good Employees Quit

So where can you possibly begin? How do you start the process of showing employees that they matter to you, and of keeping the best ones from jumping ship en masse?

Start with this realization. Employees do not quit the job. They quit the boss. And if you have a lot of turnover, a lot of employees leaving in a wave, you can rest assured that the problem isn’t them—it’s you.

With that word of tough love out of the way, here are some possible reasons why all your good employees quit on you—and some implications about how to keep them on board.

You’re burdening your best people with too many responsibilities. I recently met an accountant who was obviously supremely gifted, exceptionally good at her job; as a corporate bookkeeper, she was invaluable. But then, when the company’s HR manager quit, this amazing accountant was also given HR responsibilities, even though she didn’t want them, didn’t have any background in that field, and frankly didn’t have time. So now, she’s not able to devote herself to accounting excellence, and she is deeply unhappy in her work. Do you see the problem? When you have a crack employee, make sure you give that employee the freedom to do what he or she does best, rather than overloading the duties.

You’re a micromanager. Many executives and managers are perfectionists by nature. That’s great. But maybe the skill you need to work on is trusting people. In theory, you hired your employees for a reason—because you saw something in them. So let them do their work without peering over their shoulder, or else you risk seeing them go somewhere their talents will be better appreciated.

You’re not supportive. This is almost the opposite of the above. Your employees don’t want to be micromanaged, but they do want to know you’re around to answer questions or provide direction as needed. Never in the office? Well, don’t be surprised if your employees go somewhere where they think they’ll find a more personal and devoted support system.

You are clueless about team dynamics. Quick question: What are the biggest sources of conflict on your team? Who are the employees most and least likely to collaborate together? If you don’t know these things then you’re probably not really building a good team or using individual talents to their full potential. Don’t think your employees won’t notice that.

You run inefficient, horrible meetings. People don’t like having their time wasted.

You don’t communicate your vision. Your employees want to feel like they have a role in something bigger—but if you’re oriented on tasks and not the big picture, your employees will just feel like pawns in your own secret game.

These are just some of the behaviors that can cause great employees to grow frustrated, and to leave your company in waves—so if you want to prevent that from happening, prevent these behaviors from becoming habits.

Want to make sure that all your key players stay on board with your company for many years to come? Well, you could give them all big, regular raises—but if you’re like most of the business owners or HR managers I’ve met, you probably don’t have the resources necessary to make that viable.

So what do you do instead? What are some cost-effective ways to keep your employees on the team?

Start by reminding yourself that employees don’t quit their jobs—they quit their bosses. And if people start leaving you in waves, well, I hate to tell you, but it’s not them—it’s you!

But of course, you don’t want to let it get to that point. You want to prevent the mass exodus by investing in employee retention—as affordably as you can. And to that end, I’ve got a few ideas for you.

Affordable Ways To Invest In Employee Retention

Provide training. I say this all the time, but it’s because I really believe in it. Offering training lets your employees know that you care about their development as people and employees; it shows that you are investing in them over the long haul. It sends a powerful message, and it’s a message that most employees really appreciate. So invest in some on-site training options at your company; it doesn’t need to be every day, but do offer it routinely. Computer training, marketing seminars, mentorship programs, trips to outside seminars and workshops—there are plenty of ways to make this happen.

Soup up your benefits. You may not be able to afford giving everyone more vacation time, but perhaps you can allow them to use their benefits more flexibly—providing flexible work hours, sabbaticals, or a PTO policy that gives employees more control over how they use their days.

Offer metrics. Your employees want to see that their hard work is actually accomplishing something. They want to see results—so show them. Run some reports and provide your employees with data to show that their efforts are paying off. Encourage them to keep up the good work.

Be the best. Allow your employees to feel like they’re playing for the winning team. Hone in on your company’s competitive advantage, and then encapsulate that in your company mission and values statements. Make sure your employees know they’re working for a company that’s special!

Open your door. Employees are more likely to stay with a company where they feel supported—so whether you’re the boss or the HR manager, make sure you’re approachable. You’d be surprised how far this can go!

Remember: You can invest in your employees without breaking the bank!

How much does it cost to replace a good employee? Estimates put it at well over $60,000—and that’s to say nothing of potentially adverse changes to your team dynamic and company morale.

Needless to say, then, when you get a really good employee—someone who constantly achieves at a high level and brings real leadership to the workplace—it’s in your best interests to identify that employee; to connect with that employee; to make that employee feel valued; and to do everything you can to make that employee want to stay.

Easier said than done? Maybe—but there are definitely some steps you can take to hang on to those top-tier performers.

Take Out The Trash

Here’s a tip that may seem paradoxical, at first: One way to hang on to your best employees is to be swift to fire people. No, you obviously don’t want to fire the top achievers, but you do want to fire employees who aren’t contributing to the team or pulling their weight.

If you have an employee who simply seems like wasted payroll, then give him or her the axe. Plain and simple.

This sends a message to everyone on your team—and what it says to your top performers is that yours is a company where excellence is celebrated but waste is not tolerated. It underscores that they are truly special in your eyes, truly appreciated; they wouldn’t still be employed if you didn’t really value them.

Build Some Pride

Something else you can do: Create a brand and a culture that your employees can feel proud of. Don’t let your workplace be one that your top performers are ashamed to talk about with their friends; make it a place that instills real pride and enthusiasm. Make it a place your employees want to brag about.

A lot of this comes down to marketing. Build some positive press for your company. Use social media to publicize company achievements, and also to promote social causes the company has invested in. These are the things that will make your employees feel proud to be on the team.

Bring Meaning To Work

One more thing you can do: Let employees know that their work is meaningful. This means creating context—making sure you share your vision, mission, and goals—but it also means providing your top performers with real metrics. Get some numbers, some hard data, that let them see how their work is impacting the company, the team, and the bottom line. Make it obvious that their labors are not in vain.

Your employees want to feel like they matter—so why not help them?

Are you looking to be a more productive and effective leader—to really maximize the time you’re allotted each day? If so, the answer you’re looking for may be somewhat unconventional. The best thing you can do is to take more time off, stepping away from your desk or perhaps venturing out of the office altogether.

By doing so, you won’t be “wasting” your time. Rather, you’ll be keeping yourself sharp and stable, ready to really devote your all to the times when you’re working intently. So while you may be spending less hours doing your job, those hours you devote will be exponentially more creative and more value-adding.

That’s because there are major hazards that come with continuous time spent on-task. Stress, fatigue, physical tiredness, and emotional burnout can all creep in, which leads in turn to a negative attitude and to a creative deficiency. The brain’s innate ability to stay focused and on track grows weaker and weaker if you don’t allow it a break—so in truth, it’s the hours you spend without taking a break that can prove wasteful.

Different Ways To Take A Break

Over the years, productivity experts have developed a number of specific formulations to help workers balance their time—to get stuff done while also taking sufficient time off for their mental health. I don’t necessarily think there is a right or a wrong answer here. It all boils down to what works for you.

• Some productivity experts champion the 25/5 split, wherein you work intensely for 25 minutes then take a five-minute break. After four of these chunks, you’re allowed a longer, 20-minute break.
• Also popular is the 50 on, 10 off rule—which is self-explanatory.
• A weird and unconventional rule is the 52-17 rule. The key here is to really focus hard during the 52, and then really let your mind rest during the 17!

Another question is what you should do during your break time. Vegging out with YouTube videos works for some people, but personally I find it to be a little bit numbing; it makes it hard to snap back into focus.

Instead, I recommend doing something physical—a burst of cardio or a quick walk around your building to clear your head, circulate your blood, and just let the mind wander. This is often when some of my best creative problem-solving happens, completely spontaneously!

Alternatively, try something creative– writing in a journal, drawing, listening to music, or perhaps even meditating.

Find something that works for you—but do find something. Your business depends on you learning to take the right kind of mental health break!

More and more frequently, teams are spread out across the city, the state, even the world; rather than having your full team working out of the same office, you may have “virtual” or “remote” employees working from the comfort of their own homes.

There’s been a lot of ink spilled to celebrate the advantages of having a remote workforce; I won’t go into that here, except to affirm that for many businesses, the option to work virtually can create a more flexible and robust workforce.

Having virtual teams brings its own set of challenges, though. For instance, how do you ensure that employees are engaged when you don’t see those employees in the office every day?

And how do you offer affirmation to an employee when the only time you lay eyes on said employee is at the annual holiday party?

Simple Gestures to Affirm Virtual Team Members

To keep your virtual employees engaged—and to ensure they feel appreciated—you’ll need to make a special effort. Some small but significant ways to do this include:

Schedule some face time. E-mail is alright, and even texting can be fine for simple yes-or-no questions. But it’s also important to have some face time with virtual employees—to be able to look each other in the eyes and have a moment of meaningful connection. Thankfully, there are plenty of technologies that make this possible—including Skype and, naturally, FaceTime.

Make a point to check on your employees regularly. Add it to your weekly schedule or your Google calendar. Reach out to your virtual employees weekly, even if just to ask if they’re okay and to thank them for their work. Don’t let virtual employees feel forgotten or alone. Remind them regularly that they are key members of your team.

Make sure virtual employees are part of team meetings. Get them on Skype or on speaker phone, or use a virtual meeting platform to ensure that all employees are engaged.

Include virtual employees in the collaboration process. Remote workers may be solitary, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the itch to be part of the team or to brainstorm with other employees. Actively include them in collaboration, and make sure you provide online collaboration resources, like Dropbox.

Give virtual employees chances to grow. Schedule time for them to either come to the office for team trainings, or allow them to attend some virtual conferences or webinars. Make it clear that, even though they work remotely, you care about giving them opportunities to develop.

Be deliberate in including your virtual team members—because that’s the only way to get them engaged.

I’ve said in the past that one of the greatest gifts a leader can give to team members is the gift of honest feedback. Taking the time to provide a quick word of encouragement or constructive criticism can go a long way toward showing employees that they are noticed and valued; that you are invested in their future and their place on the team.

But there is a flipside to this, as well: A hallmark of leadership is that you don’t just offer feedback, but also welcome it in your own professional life. Great leaders actively court feedback from colleagues and from employees—and don’t get their feathers ruffled when the feedback is less than positive.

Receiving the Gift of Feedback

It’s a simple fact of life: None of us like having our shortcomings pointed out to us, yet other people can often identify our faults more accurately than we can. When you’re willing to graciously accept that kind of feedback—not bristling or getting defensive, but actually engaging with it and implementing some changes—it shows that you’re a humble leader. It shows that what you care about is seeing all members of your team improve their performance and get better results over time.

When your team members come to you with feedback, then, it’s important to accept and even embrace it—not brush it aside. Some tips for taking constructive feedback well include:

• Don’t take it personally. Remember that everyone has blind spots and skills that need further developing. The fact that you have some areas to work on does not mean you’re a bad person, and that’s surely not what your team members want you to think. The goal is for you to get better, and your team members are just trying to help you—not insult you!
• Specificity is always a good thing. “You’re not a good communicator” is not great feedback; if your team members approach you with something like that, ask them for something more specific. That shows that you really want to improve, and it gives you measurable goals to work toward.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help! If your team members identify problem areas, maybe they can also help you brainstorm some solutions.
• Be grateful. Say thank you for the feedback—remembering that, for your employees, it’s probably really hard to approach their boss or manager with words of constructive criticism!
• Offer to return the favor and do an employee appraisal for anyone who comes to you with feedback—not in a tit-for-tat manner, but in the interest of making everyone on the team even better!

Remember: Feedback is a gift. Give it—but also open yourself to receiving it!

Employers and HR representatives pour countless hours into each employee—grooming them, training them, investing in them, making them into integral members of the team. But sometimes, just when you turn a good employee into a superstar, that employee jumps ship, heading to a different company and leaving you back at square one.

If that’s not the most frustrating part of team leadership, it’s got to be high on the list. Of course, you probably do what you can to enhance employee retention—but sometimes that’s easier said than done, and the hurdles to proper retention are numerous.

It Starts with Hiring

The first big hurdle to employee retention is bringing on the wrong employees in the first place. Teambuilding starts with the hiring process—and if you’re recruiting employees who are a bad fit, don’t be surprised when they don’t stick around for the long haul.

Are you experiencing a lot of employee turnover? That may mean you need to go back and reflect on your hiring standards. Make sure you have clearly defined job descriptions and a clearly articulated company culture, and that you hire with both of these in mind.

Employees Want Training

Another hurdle to retention: Employees who get hired but then quickly realize that they have no clear way to advance in the company—and no clear future with your organization.

Employees want to know you’re investing in their career development; showing them that, though, can seem tricky. What’s an employer to do?

Two things, actually. One, check in with employees regularly to talk about their career goals, and to be open with them about possible avenues for advancing in the company. And two, make sure to invest in team training—a great way to show employees you care about their development.

Communication is Everything

Another hurdle to retention is lack of proper communication. Employees like to know that they have an open dialogue with the boss, or at the very least with the HR manager. It’s important that you keep those channels of dialogue open.

Having an open door policy is helpful, but one formal step you can take is to implement an annual review process and really take it seriously—a great way of showing employees that you have an ongoing interest in them.

What About Benefits?

Often, the biggest hurdle to retention is just money. You want to provide your employees with enticing benefits and competitive salaries, but sometimes the budget just doesn’t allow for it.

That’s when you have to get creative with some cost-effective employee benefits—like flexible scheduling, work-from-home options, professional development events, and more. I’ve blogged about this stuff before!

It’s not easy, boosting employee retention—but when you get a good team in place, it’s very much worth the effort.

Will you join me in imagining a quick scenario? Imagine that you’re my boss, and I’m your employee. I put in several years of work for you—five, ten, maybe even fifteen. Then I move on to something else—but then, 20 years down the road, our paths cross once more.

Maybe I’m with my wife when it happens. We’re exiting a restaurant, and I spot you waiting outside for a table, or just sitting down to enjoy your meal. I gesture to my wife. “Do you see that person over there?” I ask her. “That used to be my boss.”

“Oh really?” my wife might ask. “Was this person a good boss, or a bad boss?”

Now here’s my question for you: What am I going to say to my wife in response to this question?

Or, to cast it less hypothetically… what will your current employees be saying about you years, potentially decades down the line?

Will they remember you at all?

And if they pass you on the street, will their immediate recollections of you be fond, admiring ones—or will they be negative?

This is the concept I like to call the leadership epitaph, and it’s really pretty simple. What it boils down to is the need for leaders to think about how they’ll be remembered, and what that might mean for the way they lead their team right now.

There are a couple of different dimensions to the leadership epitaph. There is the broader sense of what your tenure as leader will ultimately mean to the company. Will you be remembered as the executive who created new jobs, expanded profits, and helped the company soar to new heights? Or will you be remembered as the person who was in charge during a period of major layoffs and losses?

But frankly, I think most employees will remember you less for the big picture stuff and more for the day to day. Do you lead by inspiring your employees—or yelling at them? Are you open to their feedback? Do you make them feel valued? Do you allow them to have their voices heard?

Do you empower your employees to be productive and happy in their work life?

These are the things your employees will remember. These are the things that will one day comprise your leadership epitaph.

So let me ask you one more thing: Are you concerned about what your employees will say about you when they pass you on the street, years from now? It’s only natural to wonder, but you can do more than that. You can think honestly and critically about your leadership style right now, and make the changes necessary to create a positive leadership epitaph.

Are you a leader, or are you merely a boss?

It’s a question I’ve raised before, and an important one to ask as you seek to understand your own role as the head of your team. A boss is good at giving orders and keeping all the pieces moving, perhaps, but real leaders collaborate, inspire, develop—in short, they make their employees better and, as such, get the most out of their team dynamic.

So ask yourself honestly which category best describes you. And, if you worry that maybe you’re just a boss when what you really want is to be a leader, don’t worry. There are some changes you can make to your leadership style today that will point you in the direction you want to go.

1. Learn to listen rather than just bark orders. The next time you’re tempted to issue a set of commands, stop yourself. Instead of commanding, call your team together for a discussion. Listen to what they have to say. Ask for advisement in the areas you feel weakest. Work together toward a solution, and then move forward together.
2. Find tools for motivating your employees rather than just scaring them. Provide metrics and data to your team members, showing them the impact their work means. Tell them that what they do is meaningful. Involve them in decision-making, and invest in educating and training them. Find whatever tools you can to motivate them rather than threatening or frightening them.
3. Step away from micromanagement. Don’t try to control your team members. Just provide them with some basic guidance. Share a goal, and some resources for meeting that goal, and let your team take it from there.
4. Make sure your feedback is constructive. If you’re yelling at your team members, or seeking to embarrass or punish them, then you’re not a leader. It’s as simple as that. Leaders provide constructive feedback that’s meant to address problems, improve performance, empower people, and ultimately yield better results.
5. Delegate something. To be a leader, you have to trust your team members to tackle projects on their own. Take something that’s on your plate and give it to an employee. That’s the first step toward meaningful delegation.
6. Be generous in your praise. Give credit where credit is due, and make sure your employees know that you notice and appreciate their hard work.

You may be more of a boss than a leader, and you may not like that one bit—but good news: Change is possible. Implement some of these changes today!

Would you like to have employees who are bold in their decision-making, strong in their convictions, and empowered to do what they think is right—to truly give you their best work and their highest level of effort, day in and day out?

Or would you rather have employees who are chronically unsure, uncertain, and wishy-washy—never wanting to do anything decisive without you giving them the green light or offering to hold their hand?

Most leaders would prefer the former, and it’s not hard to understand why: Having a true team means having employees who feel confident in contributing, and in using the talents and gifts that made you hire them in the first place.

Where Does Culture Enter The Equation?

But would you believe that, to a large extent, your company culture decides whether employees act confidently or hesitantly? It’s true: Your workplace values and vision can go a long way toward either cultivating or undermining employee confidence.

So if you’re looking to establish a culture that creates confidence, here are some tips you may want to consider.

Help your employees to build awareness of their strengths. The more comfortable they feel identifying their own strong points, the more confidence they’ll have in acting on those strong points. In particular, you can encourage reflection and journaling, asking employees to spend time thinking about the workplace activities that most energize them; you can also share positive gleanings from your own performance reviews, or peer performance reviews.

Brainstorm ways to make those strengths even more productive. Speak with employees about their strengths, but encourage them to go beyond self-awareness. Ask them to work with you to think up different ways their strengths can add value to the office.

Give praise where praise is due. Always offer public affirmation and gratitude for significant achievements—letting employees know that their good work is not just noticed, but appreciated.

Be constructive in your feedback. You can and should share ways your employees can get better, but make sure to balance the bad with the good and to offer specific ways they can do so—not just vague criticisms or disapprovals.

Lead by example. Whatever you do, don’t spend time beating yourself up or publically harping on your own shortcomings. Recognize the ways in which you need to improve, then move on!

Ultimately, building a culture of confidence starts with you, the leader!

You want your workplace team to run like a well-oiled machine—but when conflict rears its ugly head, your machine breaks down and your team stops working productively. For managers and HR professionals, then, resolving the conflict and moving back into a collaborative, efficient work environment is essential—but never easy!

I meet a lot of leaders who dread conflict resolution more than any other part of their work. I understand why—but here’s the thing: Conflict is bound to happen when you have passionate people working together under the same roof. And the sooner you come to terms with that, the better you’ll be able to arrive at a peaceful resolution.

What Every Manager Should Know About Conflict

With that said, consider a few basic truths about conflict in the workplace:

Conflict is inevitable. Again: It’s just something that’s going to happen. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Don’t assign blame. Don’t fret that you have a bad work environment. Just understand that conflict happens—and deal with it.

Conflict is unavoidable. Or at least, it should be. You can try to turn a blind eye to conflict in your workspace, but then the underlying issues will fester; morale will plummet; and, most critically, your employees will lose respect for you.

Conflict is productive. Conflict is not always a bad thing. In fact, it’s often an important way for employees to work out their differences and arrive at a new level of understanding with one another. So long as you facilitate conflict in a way that’s solutions-driven and constructive, there’s no reason why conflict can’t result in some positive changes.

Conflict is volatile. Of course, keeping things solutions-driven and constructive is easier said than done, as conflict can cause everyone to get a little hot-headed—but as a manager or HR employee, you’ve got to stay above the fray. Remember: You’re management. You’re a leader. Your role is to facilitate, not to get sucked in.

Conflict is unwinnable. The point is not necessarily to determine who’s right and who’s wrong. Conflict resolution is about letting everyone feel heard, and then providing a sense of closure—a place from which everyone feels comfortable moving forward.

None of this is meant to suggest that conflict in the workplace is fun, or that there isn’t such a thing as too much of it—but when the occasional conflict arises, and you address it wisely, it can actually be a healthy thing for your team.

All of us respond to problems in different ways. Some of us immediately start turning over that problem in our mind, perhaps looking for the reason that problem emerged or seeking out related problems that may not have dawned on us yet. But others look beyond the problem to the solution—immediately looking for ways to solve the issue and move forward.

There’s probably room for both ways of thinking—but if you’re in a position of leadership, your employees are going to look to you for answers. To a large extent, they’re going to need you to have solutions, not just theories about the problem itself.

So developing a solutions-oriented approach to leadership is certainly commendable. The question is, how do you know when you get there? How do you know if you’re truly a solutions-oriented leader?

I can think of a few telltale signs.

The Marks Of A Solutions-Oriented Leader

You know you’re a solutions-oriented leader when…

1. You look at a problem and see the possible outcomes—the possible future. If you allow yourself to become emotionally involved in a problem—getting your feelings hurt or growing resentful over it—then you’re not really thinking about solutions. Don’t dwell in the past; start building the future.
2. You think systematically and strategically. You’re at Point A. You need to get to Point B. A solutions-oriented mind immediately starts thinking about methods to close the gap and make that change.
3. You have little time for excuses. The solutions-oriented leader simply doesn’t need coulda-shoulda-wouldas. The solutions-oriented leader doesn’t care about whose fault it is so much as what can be done to make things right.
4. You resist problem-oriented questions. Some employees will inevitably ask why did this happen? The solutions-oriented leader fights these questions, though—because often, they just waste time. Focus less on why and more on what do we do now?
5. You take a collaborative approach. The solutions-oriented leader knows that the most important thing is to find a way forward—and the best way to do that is to pull the whole team together into brainstorming and collaboration.

Next time a problem arises in your workplace, consider your response. See if you can find some ways to focus less on the issue itself and more on the possible solution.