As a key requirement, leaders want to improve their functional areas in managing their staff. Customarily, the sincere intention of leaders is to improve productivity, staff engagement, high morale and improve performance indicators.
Therefore, the best leaders nurture a well-balanced workplace environment for employees based on mutual respect and amicable collaboration.
The leaders who excel at relationship building have an increasingly crucial role to play in today’s team-intensive, interconnected, and interdependent business world. Good leaders are more than mere decision makers. They most often follow a people first approach.
To build such a work environment, leaders are compelled to ensure that everyone is on the same page by building honest, honourable, and trustworthy relationships. Relationship building at the workplace as leaders is not simply a complementary skill but a fundamental element that ensures leaders to connect with staff, improve teamwork effort that drives leadership effectiveness and success.
The ‘referent power’ in leadership is described as the followers’ positive attitude towards the leader. Such trust primarily can be enhanced through a genuine bond between the leader and the follower. Hence, good leaders set aside adequate time with subordinates to build lasting relationships.
Dependable interactions always encourage open communication, where team members feel safe to share both official and personal views freely, provide truthful feedback, and express concerns.
Two-way communication
This exchange of honest and genuine two-way communication not only improves team spirit but also enhances the reliability of the leader. Therefore, when a leader is recognised by the followers as trustworthy, they invariably garner the support and loyalty of the followers.
Sense of collaboration and cohesion of a team is an essential ingredient in team success. Good leaders prioritise relationships to create a work environment that fosters a feeling of value and respect. The unity promoted within a team increases the contribution of skills that positively affect overall performance.
Most often, in a cohesive team, the team members are more likely to support each other and work together to achieve the best result. The collaborative spirit generated by strong relationships is vital for an organisation to sail through complex objectives that require collective effort.
Strong, trustworthy, and effective communication flow between leaders and their teams is also an important ingredient in business leadership. When leaders build relationships based on mutual respect and understanding, it becomes easier to convey expectations, provide constructive feedback, and address issues promptly.
Particularly, the feedback of subordinates is a compulsory requirement for a leader to navigate through the modern complicated business landscape. Leaders who have strong relationships with their team members are more likely to receive honest feedback, which is crucial for continuous improvement. Open and honest discussions and help identify unprecedented issues and resolve them swiftly.
People skills of a leader can heavily influence the morale of a team that brings many benefits including performance levels, productivity rates, high satisfaction scores and more. When individuals feel positively connected to the leader, they not only value inclusivity but also their natural enthusiasm to produce results increases tremendously.
Good leaders lavishly display the dire necessity of the inclusion of every member for the intended success, communicate with them on equal terms, provide mentorship, coach subordinates, give constructive feedback to boost morale, and so forth.
More productive
Motivated employees always are more productive, demonstrate greater commitment to their work, and are less likely to leave the organisation. Great leaders build great relationships, inside and out of the workplace, and create a supportive and motivating environment that leads to enhanced performance.
Empathy, or the leaders’ ability to understand and share feelings of others, plays a pivotal role in relationships in an organisation. It is one of the most powerful forces that maintains discipline and cooperation and a mechanism that allows the leaders to understand their followers and vice versa.
Empathy is the foundation to intimacy, sense of belonging, and trust. It also can be a powerful antidote to those who suffer workplace burnout, that invariably occurs during a tenure of work. Therefore, good leaders build relationships through an empathetic approach that fosters a deep sense of connection that creates a supportive and pleasant environment.
When leaders perfect their empathetic leadership skills, they can improve both effectiveness and efficiency that can enhance their success in the job. Empathetic leaders are assets to organisations because they effectively build and maintain relationships and retain talent. By being true to themselves and showing their true personality, leaders can create a sense of authenticity that will resonate with others.
In leadership, proving authenticity and maintaining transparency are key attributes for a good superior. Leaders must create a sense of faithfulness among the followers to be effective as a leader. Genuine leaders who foster trust among the followers build their relationships on authenticity and transparency.
Transparent communication
Authentic leaders are always honest about their decisions, transparent in their communication with others, and encourage timely changes within the organisation. When leaders communicate transparently, they build credibility and reduce uncertainty, which strengthens relationships and aligns the team towards common goals. Leaders build relationships through consistency. Employees tend to believe in leaders who are dependable through thick and thin, stick to clear values, and make promises that can be kept. It requires the leader to align their words with actions to establish steadfast credibility. Leaders who consistently demonstrate integrity, follow through on commitments, and behave predictably create a stable and trustworthy environment.
Consistent leaders always set clear expectations and stand by them in the long run. They make informed decisions on critical issues, maintain composure in stressful situations, and behave according to transparent ethical standards in all situations related to the staff. Team members are more likely to trust and depend on leaders who are reliable that enhances overall effectiveness. Consistency in leadership behaviour also sets a positive example and reinforces organisational values and standards.
Commitment
In a relationship, particularly when it is work-related, people respond differently to dissimilar approaches. It takes time to fathom the strengths, weaknesses, and motivational factors of everyone.
Therefore, those who believe in good relationships to lead create a conducive environment where the followers feel safe and valued that leads to commitment.
Relationship building is one of the most essential criteria of strong leadership that can drastically impact overall organisational success. By enhancing trust, fostering collaboration, improving communication, and boosting morale, strong relationships create a foundation for effective leadership.
Leaders who prioritise relationship building and deploy pragmatic practices such as active and friendly listening, constant communication, team spirit building, and support develop meaningful connections with their team members. These connections not only improve individual and team performance but also contribute to a positive and productive organisational culture
