There are several lessons in leadership that business owners need to know to be successful. Being a business leader is one of the most complex, rewarding, and often brutally frustrating professions. Leaders work tirelessly to drive productivity, profitability, staff retention, and customer loyalty. But when you peel away all the trappings of leadership, the most important leadership lessons are about believing in people and building relationships.

What type of leader do you want to be?

So much of a leader’s job is to achieve results through the work of others. Leaders keep people and teams on task. They maintain order, direction, and momentum. But would you want to work for a leader solely driven by numbers? Or someone who only sees people as simply the means to an end? Why would you want to be him if you don’t want to work for that guy? Sure, you’ll get your results, but at what cost to those you lead? And at what cost to the work environment or the company culture?

Lessons in leadership 101: Believe in your people.

Believing in those you lead is the hallmark of a true leader. The responsibility of all leaders is to be inspiring, coaching, guiding, and correcting. Applaud each person on your team for achieving their full potential. It’s also the most rewarding and fulfilling aspect of being a leader. Helping and seeing an individual stretch, grow, and display that glow of personal pride in their work is the true reward of leadership that feeds your passion. 

Connect with your people to build better relationships.

Lessons in leadership are not always easy to learn, but one every leader should strive to master is connecting with their people. Leaders need to connect personally with those they lead. Looking around, you’ll see that genuine connections among staff can be rare, even in small companies with just a dozen employees. 

When you are so consumed with achieving results and hitting your numbers, you are stuck in your box where your staff is reduced to objects. They can see and feel your indifference. If you don’t care about them, they don’t care about you. It’s just a job until something better comes along. Connecting with those you lead is vital. Connecting is believing in people.

Leadership lesson takeaways: 

Lead from within. When you believe in people, you get people to believe in themselves. And when that happens, you can achieve great things together. 

The fears that we don’t face become the walls. Victory happens when we walk toward the fears. When you master your craft, you’ll get attention. You get to world-class by being in sync and rolling in the same direction.

Great team leaders believe in their people more than their people believe in themselves. This allows leaders to push their team members to new heights and prove they have the confidence they need to make it happen. Your energy is critical. You can’t have low energy and run your team. To increase your energy, you have to take care of your body.