Leadership comes with a plethora of responsibilities – instigating ideas, putting out fires, delegating, building a team, keeping that team running smoothly. Sometimes, getting caught up in the to-dos of leadership, a leader can lose sight of the value of their connection with the people they are leading. A connection with your team is arguably the most important aspect of your role and what will contribute most to building loyalty, driving engagement, and retaining your top talent.

Do you want to become a more connected leader? Incorporate these 5 tips for connected leadership:

1. Be Flexible. Connected leaders are open to doing whatever’s best regarding the task at hand and not necessarily doing it their way. Flexibility empowers those that work for and with you. Sometimes the original plan isn’t the best plan. Be willing to adapt to achieve the best outcomes.
2. Listen. Seems obvious but is one of the most challenging leadership skills. The person closest to the work often has the best sense of how to approach it and how long it will take. Listen to their perspective, you will learn a lot.
3. Be Proactive. When faced with difficult problems or situations, communicate with your team to resolve the issue and face it head-on. Get in front of the communication rather than chasing it after the fact.
4. Engage. In other words, CONNECT with your team! Engage on multiple topics and through multiple channels. Build trust by showing that you care about them as people, not just in your work relationship.
5. Stay Positive. You are the leader, after all. Be someone your team can look to for inspiration, or even hope. Don’t sugar coat, provide perspective. A positive mindset will create a comfortable and productive environment.

It seems the word is getting out that Connected Leadership has an impact.  Recently, unprovoked, out of what seems like “the blue,” I received an invitation to be the Guest of Honor at the upcoming Elevate CHRO Roundtable. The subject of the email was literally, “Michelle – Be our Guest of Honour at a Virtual CHRO Roundtable.”  They shared in their reach out, “the focus for this year will be on Relationship Driven Leadership.”

Yay! Of course I want to spread this message.  The invite-only event will be hosting top CHROs from across industries in the US and Canada. I was thrilled to receive this invitation, and even more thrilled about the topic they chose. Word is catching about the importance of connection and relationship building.

So the small world moment…, I was actually mid-conversation with someone when I got the invite and I excitedly told them about it right then. Guess what – they knew the sender. Having a person in common gave us a warm way to start our first conversation. Who doesn’t love those “small world moments?”