By Vique`-Ocean Kahinju

BEING a business owner with a team of employees, you are a business leader. Good leaders understand the link between happy and fulfilled employees and satisfied customers.

“Your employees can be a ‘goldmine’ of great ideas and creative energy. They are also your strongest resource, provided you empower them to be leaders themselves,” explains Georgina Nantongo, a muman resource manager.
Below are some ways she asserts an employer can use to bring out the leader in each of their employees:

Be an encourager.
Employees often have fresh ideas or suggestions, but may not voice them out because they don’t feel their manager is interested.
Encourage your employees, regardless of their status in the organisation, to contribute ideas. Even if you think an employee’s idea can’t work, thank them and encourage them to come up with more new ideas.

Get Everyone involved.
Leaders, who aggressively solicit ideas from their staff usually find that doing so improves morale. This in turn creates positive change within the business. Strive to foster a climate of openness within your business. Engage your employees in the innovation process, and acknowledge their input and give them positive encouragement along the way.

Know each employee personally.
It’s impossible to motivate employees without first getting to know them. Make a point of having a one-on-one meeting with each member of your staff.

Once you start to gauge the strengths of each member of your team, you can help them develop leadership capacities that suit those strengths, as well as strategies to improve on any possible weaknesses.

Reward great ideas.
It’s important to acknowledge and reward employees whose good ideas help lead to positive changes. You may consider establishing an award or giving a gift of recognition. Then, get out of the employee’s way and let him or her lead the development opportunity (with your support).

Find their motivation.
Learn what motivates each employee, and encourage those things in each of them. This will coax your employees to become leaders instead of followers. With a little perseverance, your team will begin to work collaboratively to lead the business to success.

Keep your employees informed. Praise your employees for what they are doing right, and inform them about what they could be doing better. Challenge each of them to be the best they can be. Keeping your staff informed will foster respect and help them better meet your combined goals.

Provide positive feedback. Reinforcement encourages employees to develop their skills to their maximum potential. Use your leadership tools — coaching, counseling, and mentoring to help motivate them. And walk the walk as much as you talk the talk. Failing to lead by example can foster resentment and lead to low morale. Be sure to check out Do As I Do: How to Lead by Example for some helpful pointers.

Allocate decision-making power.
Empower your employees by giving them the ability (within reason) to make key decisions relating to their jobs and duties. The more faith and trust you place in them, the more likely they will be driven to succeed and to impress you.