How Great Leaders Instantly Connect With Everyone

The higher you go on the leadership ladder, the more people skills you require to be able to lead a truly effective team.

But the truth is, few leaders have the ability to make genuine connections especially with those whom they lead. It is no wonder that equally few teams are successful at bringing the leader’s vision to fruition

How do you inspire others to implement your vision? How do you get them to be excited about your mission and ideals?

The ability to connect with all sorts of people is an art and a science in itself. But those leaders who master it are able to get people to do anything.

Whether you are in charge of a small team of three or a large team of thirty, here’s how you can start to build genuine connections:

Let others take the spotlight

Reaching out and connecting with others is a true act of humility. It requires that you check your own ego and give your attention to someone else, typically a subordinate.The best leaders are those who are humble enough to recognize other people’s inputs and accomplishments.

When you take the time to often congratulate members of your team for their great work and publicly acknowledge others when they do something good, you instantly bring that person closer to you. They can see that their work is significant and more importantly, you as a leader value them.

Other than your own team members, take the time to listen to other people’s experiences, triumphs and accomplishments and they are more likely to lend a helping hand when you need it.

Remember, people like to be honoured and made to feel special.

Create a safe environment

Somehow, people tend to gravitate toward a person who is enthusiastic, friendly and shows genuine care for others.

Many leaders have a problem connecting with others especially in the workplace because they place a wall around themselves. As a result, your team has a hard time feeling safe about reaching out to you.

Everyone has a bad day but as a leader, it is important to be able to manage your own emotions and to always create a space that allows others to easily communicate with you.

A simple smile, an ability to avoid public displays of anger, enthusiasm and developing a gregarious attitude can help to knock down the walls that are keeping others from reaching out to you.

Know how to tell a good story

Presentations, sales reports discussions and strategic meetings are all important. But surprisingly, stories are what really inspire people toward a common vision. More importantly, they help to break the barriers between the leader and the rest of the team.

Whether you are meeting business executives, affiliates, or interacting with your internal team, telling a good story is essentially sharing your own experiences and your vulnerabilities.

Stories allow you to build a sense of commonality and enable others to see you as human and not an unattached solitary figure, according to Yamini Naidu, author of HOOKED: How Leaders Connect, Engage and Inspire with Storytelling.

Glow with passion

The most impactful leaders have an infectious level of passion for whatever they do. Whether they are at a networking event, giving a presentation to their team or hanging out with friends, it is easy to feel and tap into their passion—it is certainly easier to connect with such a person than one who does not exude excitement for anything.

Think about it: would it be possible to build solid relationships without a sense of excitement around something common?

For teams to work, they require a leader with undying passion and a sense of openness to learn from others. This qualities are infectious and will ensure that everybody gets behind them and feeds off that passion.

As Peter Drucker stated: “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitation.”

How to Become a Leader

Connecting with anyone is not synonymous to being everyone’s friends. Rather it is about having the ability to accommodate people and then strategically choosing the most important relationships to work on. This ability differentiates great leaders from the not so great ones.