Six Habits Of People Who Know How To Bring Out The Best In Others

As a leader, the most important part of your job isn't your results. Your job is to inspire your employees’ results. Here's how.

[Photo: Flickr user Andrew Fogg]

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If you think your most important job as a leader is to write mission statements, set goals, or even increase revenue, you’re focusing on the wrong metrics. Your most significant role doesn’t involve your results; your job is to inspire your employees’ results, says Richard S. Wellins, co-author of Your First Leadership Job: How Catalyst Leaders Bring Out the Best In Others.

"As a leader your focus changes; your number one priority is to bring out the best in others," says Wellins, who is senior vice president at management consulting firm DDI.

A study done by DDI and Harris Interactive found that 98% of employees who have good leaders are motivated to do their best, while only 11% of employees with ineffective managers felt motivated to give their best.

Being able to bring out the best in others is a skill that involves just 10% natural inclination; the other 90% has to be deliberate, says Wellins: "It can’t be learned by listening to a lecture or reading examples," he says. "It needs to be practiced, reinforced, and used day to day."

Here are six of their daily habits:

1. THEY FOCUS ON THE PERSON’S STRENGTHS

Good leaders identify the strengths of individual team members and give employees opportunities to use them, says Wellins. "They cultivate and optimize others’ talents and capabilities," he says.

While some strengths will be obvious, good leaders schedule one-on-one meetings and ask questions such as, "What do you enjoy doing most as part of your work?" and "What do you miss most about the jobs you’ve had in the past and why?"

2. THEY EMPATHIZE

Leaders who bring out the best in others listen to what team members are saying and put themselves in their shoes, says Wellins. When dealing with an emotional situation, listening and responding with empathy can immediately reduce tension, and until things calm down, nothing productive can occur.

"Empathy will drive better performance; this is a huge motivator," says Wellins.

3. THEY GIVE RECOGNITION

People who bring out the best in others also reward and recognize good work. Leaders often worry that praise will seem unprofessional or that employees will become complacent or overconfident.

"It isn’t and they won’t," says Wellins. "It’s about making a person feel good about themselves even when they feel challenged or are in tough times.."

This is also important when things are going well, adds Wellins. "It’s so simple, but our research shows that one- to two-thirds of leaders are not good at acknowledging good work," he says.

4. THEY CONNECT THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Liz Wiseman, author of Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work, calls leaders who bring out the best in others "multipliers." She says multipliers look for talent everywhere and focus on finding people, at whatever level, who know the things they don’t.

"Multipliers take the time to understand the capabilities of each individual so that they can connect employees with the right people and the right opportunities—thereby building a virtuous cycle of attraction, growth, and opportunity," she writes in an article for Harvard Business Review.

5. THEY DON’T MICROMANAGE

Bringing out the best in others means delegating. "Good managers are careful to not micromanage," says Wellins. "Their job is to assign or direct general goals in work that needs to be done but they should never do it for the person."

Stretch goals that push people can have a big impact on how people feel about themselves, their work, and what they can accomplish, says Wellins. "Appeal to their strengths and give them responsibility and they will achieve their goals," he says.

As team members earn small wins, their confidence grows and seemingly insurmountable problems appear less daunting, adds Wiseman; roadblocks become interesting puzzles for the team to solve.

"Multipliers see themselves as coaches and teachers," writes Wiseman. "These leaders put a high premium on self-sufficiency: Once they delegate a task or decision, they don’t try to take it back."

6. THEY CREATE SAFE ENVIRONMENTS

People who bring out the best in others give people permission to think, speak, and act with reason, says Wiseman.

"They generate an intensity that demands high-level work from the team, but they also have a high tolerance for mistakes and understand the importance of learning along the way," she writes. "So they create mental spaces in which people can flourish."

To thrive at Under Armour, you have to answer Kevin Plank’s three questions

June 20, 2016 • 5497 Likes • 243 Comments

When you think about sports companies, which come to mind? Adidas, right? It was founded in 1949. And how about Nike, circa 1969? For sure. But when the data was crunched for LinkedIn’s U.S. list of Top Attractors, the companies where people want to work now, only one showed up: Under Armour, founded by Kevin Plank a scant ten years ago. (For the record, both Adidas and Nike showed up on the global list of Top Attractors.) But there can be no doubt, Under Armour is the powerful new kid on the block. At its launch, the sole workers were Plank, then a recent college grad, and his girlfriend at the time (and now wife) answering the phone. “The phone would ring in the middle of the night and we would be writing orders from California half asleep at 4 a.m.,” Plank told me. Now he’s got about 14,000 employees, but it appears his dedication (and from the sound of it, his hours) have not waned. I talked to him about what he thinks makes his company such a hot place for jobseekers.

Suzy: Busy times for Under Armour. And you’ve just had your 24th consecutive quarter of 20% -plus top line growth.

Kevin: Very busy. But hearing about being on the Top Attractors list was a huge honor for us too, because there’s nothing more gratifying than hearing that people want to be part of what you’re doing. I firmly believe that people don’t work for companies, they work for people. And being on this list is affirmation that our people are on fire. We’re winning, and they’re feeling loved and cared for, and they’re loving and caring for each other.

SW: Less than three minutes in, and you’re mentioning love?

KP: You have to love the brand. You have to really love it, what it stands for, what the company values, the way it does things. We have that. Our teammates — we never use the word  “employee” — love our brand and our products.  And then, as an individual, you have to feel loved. So, yes, it sort of starts and ends with love. But there’s the critical dynamic of winning. People like being on winning teams. It’s that simple. When you’re winning, you’re creating a dynasty. If we weren’t winning, it wouldn’t be as exciting to work here.

SW: Talk about why you think you’re winning.

KP: We have a culture of people who feel like they own the company, whether they have equity or not. When they leave at night, they turn the lights off. Not because it’s a rule, but because they want to. They feel like this is their company. And we’ve got a company that understands that perfection is the enemy of innovation. We have great competitors in our space with much more resources. We can’t be intimidated. I don’t want our people working harder. They have to work smarter. People get that – and it inspires them. They understand that our job is to see around corners and think about what’s next. We used to have 20 engineers. Today we have 300. And all of us have to be asking, “What if Amazon and Apple get into the shirt and shoe business?”

SW: I’ve heard you say you run the company with three questions. What are they?

KP: More like three statements after every conversation or meeting. “This is what I  heard.” “This is what I think.” And, “This is what we’re going to do.” I encourage all our managers to use that approach. It’s about making sure people’s voices are heard. Did I hear you? Did I understand your meaning? And then, clarity. My view on your opinion is the following, and therefore my actions will be the following. Everyone must have a voice, and everyone deserves clarity. Those things increase performance, satisfaction, and speed.

SW: You celebrate a lot around Under Armour. Why?

KP: We have a lot to celebrate! But it’s more than that. It’s a way to spread the culture and to get cohesive around our future. We just hosted Armour Day, it’s like our MAC week. We have 14,000 teammates, 6,000 of us in Baltimore. We opened up our warehouse and had an epic rally. Jordan Spieth showed up and gave away a set of clubs to a young fan; Tom Brady and Lindsey Vonn took the stage; the choir from the local Baptist church brought down the house, and we closed the show with Kid Rock.  That’s a pretty good party.  And it’s a party with a purpose.  We’re building corporate citizens here. It’s all part of the excitement about now and the future, and making sure Under Armour is the best place to work in the world, period.

SW: Can you keep up that kind of intensity?

KP: Absolutely. Which isn’t to say it’s always going to be growth upon growth.

We make big bets. Sometimes we’ll win, sometimes we trip a little bit. We don’t have all the answers, but we’re going to give it all we’ve got. Like I was telling the team the other day, “I don’t have to be right. I just want to win.” It doesn’t have to be my idea. I just want the best idea. And then the team will bring it to life.