Who cares what your employees say! The opinions of your employees don’t matter. Really. They don’t. You prove this each day by your actions.

You continue to leave them in the dark about upcoming actions and decisions that affect them. You do little to address their concerns. Now, they question you. They’re losing faith in you. They don’t believe in your leadership.

Is this happening because you’re forgetful? Or preoccupied? Or is it that you’d rather not share information with others? What are you afraid of?

Are you afraid they’ll find out you’re a pretender? You don’t want them to see you’re “faking it ‘till you make it”. I thought you were a leader. Are you?

So how do you get out of this vicious cycle?

Leaders understand the importance of letting their employees “self-manage” (with certain limits, of course). They don’t downplay their suggestions or overstate a simple mistake. Leaders value the experience of their team and use it to everyone’s advantage.

The people who do the work each day know more about the job than the managers who rarely get out of their office. Your employees:

• Know which company policies “tie their hands” and make their job more difficult
• Know the shortcuts that work and which mandated procedures don’t
• See the weakness in their managers
• Will continue to emulate the actions of their leaders, whether good or bad

When you have confidence in your team members:

• You let them do their job without constantly looking over their shoulder or micromanaging them.
• You have faith that every member will contribute to the department and support each other.
• You believe the project’s outcome will be complete and as intended.
• You know your employees will take constructive criticism and apply it without guilt or hurt feelings.

So, here’s the plan.

10 Actions to Bring Your Team Into Your Confidence Zone

1. Let your employees know your “work fears”, shortcomings, and concerns. Admit you don’t know it all. Let them see “inside you”. Become a “person” to them, not just a boss.
2. Hold full departmental meetings once a week to discuss recent challenges and concerns.
3. Allow your team to identify ways to address and solve the nagging problems they face – then act on them.
4. Remove restrictive rules and policies – untie their hands.
5. Publicly recognize individual employee efforts and their contributions to the department’s success.
6. Visit your team members throughout the day. Ask if they need help or if they have any questions. Get involved in what they do.
7. Let your superiors know. Give credit to those who do the work. Be their cheerleader.
8. Freely give them thanks and a show of appreciation – every day.
9. Smile, shake hands and listen to learn, not to reply.
10. Be humble.

Now, who cares what your employees say? You do!