In business, great leadership has many components. Perhaps one of the greatest elements of motivating your team is providing them with a great place to work.  But what defines a good work environment? Is it a latte bar in the hall or expensive leather couches?  No.

At our company, I have spent the last 31 years honing my leadership skills and have found that these great tools lend to a positive work experience: honesty, approachability and personal attention.

My mentor once told me to always be as honest as you can and to never waiver from that. I try to live up to that standard and find that honesty opens doors to open and effective communication, trust and even humor – all of which are useful leadership tools.

Being approachable or as I like to say, being there for your employees, provides employees with exposure, opportunity to learn and support.  These three elements tell an employee you have their back and make them feel safe and secure in where they work and who they work for and with.  At our company, we have an open door policy and every member of our leadership team is equipped and willing to help an employee in need. Regardless of a leadership team members’ role, never will an employee be turned away or referred to someone else when they need assistance.

Through the course of my career, I have learned that personal attention makes employees feel good and work harder.  It helps them to do more and do better and that’s what we want – for our employees to excel.  Each employee receives a personalized development and accountability plan and our plans are supplemented by one-on-one, small group and large group meetings and our doors are always open if an employee has a question or concern.  There has to be multiple opportunities to grow and learn. 

Of course, there are employees who are happy in their current positions and do not wish for anything more than what they are doing now.  That’s fine.  Recognizing that different people have different goals is a very critical component of great leadership.  At our company, we enable those people to continue to do their jobs well in a safe and open environment.  Then, for the high-potential employees who do want more, we spend our resources supporting their training and development to help them exceed their own expectations.  That is what great leadership is about – supporting someone’s goals no matter how small or how large that goal may be.

The next time you evaluate the type of environment you offer to your employees, think about what you cannot buy such as honesty and personal attention rather than free coffee, leather chairs or fancy phone systems.  At the end of the day, it is what you personally put out to your employees that matters most and helps them grow from good employees into great employees; and that itself is the fulfillment and reward of being a great leader.

Gloria Frazier

  Gloria Frazier is the broker / owner of ERA American Realty of Northwest Florida, Inc. in Shalimar, Florida.