4 powerful conversations to improve your leadership

As a leader in an organisation, it’s your role to make sure the conversations that need to be had are being had. In leadership training, there’s often a focus on conversations that are difficult, but I find the ones that aren’t so tough to be just as important – you need to have your finger on the pulse of your team, to be able to serve them as a leader.

Here are four conversations you need to be having with your team to be an effective leader.

1. “What are your goals?”

Asking team members what their long term ambitions are is a good way to build trust and show an interest in their careers beyond what they do directly for you. Let’s face it – it’s unlikely your whole team is going to work for you forever. I often find my team members become more engaged when they see how I’m willing to help them progress towards their goals in their current role.

Having the right conversations at the right time with your team is crucial for effective leadership.

2. “How are you doing?”

The importance of checking in on how your employees are feeling about their role and the organisation can’t be understated.

You don’t want to be doing this too often – when you do, it can seem a little overbearing from their perspective. Finding the balance between checking in and monitoring closely is key, and is the kind of thing you can learn on one of our leadership short courses.

3. “Do you have any feedback?”

In the hustle and bustle of working the job every day, it can sometimes feel as an employee that there’s no chance to give feedback on the job, the organisation or a manager. So your job as a leader is to make time. Many of these conversations can take place in the same meeting, and it’s a good idea to have them regularly scheduled – that way your team members know that they can hold onto some feedback for their next session with you if they please.

4. “Let’s talk about your performance.”

Depending on how the person’s going, this can be a difficult conversation or a chance to tell them how much you appreciate the great work they’re doing. Whatever the case, it’s important to talk this through on a regular basis, so you can can either put plans in place to improve things or talk about potential promotions or pay rises.

To learn more about the management courses we have on offer at ICML, get in touch with a member of the team today.