ARTICLE:: Strategies to make your followers feel important

Leaders who do know their onions do know how to make those who are within the sphere of their influence feel important. As a leader and would be leaders, you will need to take the issue I am raising today very seriously. You cannot lead effectively and successfully if you do not know how to adeptly make those who are under your leadership feel important. If you do not know how to make this happen, you are not leading your people, you are only taking a walk ahead of them. And taking a walk ahead of your people does not mean you are leading them.
 
As an effect of my years of intense research, I have been able to come up with some tactics that can make followers under your leadership feel important. This day, I am going to talk about four out of them and will mention the rest in the days to come.
 
The first strategy is thankfulness. Great leaders do take every opportunity to thank those who are within their sphere of influence for the quality of their work and their role in making the company, family, school, agency, nation…a success. Every time a leader thanks those who are working with him, they are going to feel more valuable and they will be more motivated to justify the leader’s faith in his or her team members. People will in next to no time desert leaders—who do not know how to appreciate those who are following their leadership and they will end up as lone rangers.
 
Many leaders today are very poor at appreciating those who are under their leadership even when they make giant contributions to the success and progress of the team’s vision and mission, but they are so good at criticising them each time they make even inconsequential mistakes. Leaders who are cynical cannot last in leadership in the 21st century. Soonest, they will be deserted and become loners. If you do not want to be deserted, put what I am teaching you today into practice.
 
The second technique to make people feel more important and valuable is by showing approval. Praise those who are on your team at every opportunity for any accomplishment—large or small. Praise your followers also for their suggestions and insight, for their exemplary thoughts. Praising folks under your sphere of leadership will increase their self-esteem and self-worth. I recommend that people should be praised immediately and specifically each time they make a notable and remarkable contribution to the success and accomplishment of your team. This is non-negotiable, if you want to become a successful leader.    
 
The third method that leaders who know their onions can explore to build a sense of importance and value in those who are within their sphere of influence is through admiration. Continually compliment people, whether it is on their traits, such as persistence on their possessions, such as clothes, or on their accomplishments. True leaders do not ignore their followers’ accomplishments; they are usually wise to admire them for every positive contribution they make to the team’s success.
 
Perchance the most important way for followers to feel important and valued is through an undivided attention from their leaders. People are not going to be dedicated to the goals of the team, organisation, school, company and country if they are continuously ignored by the person who is taking the lead. If they are ignored, they are not going to feel like key players in the task and undertaking, on the condition that they just only receive commands from you without having any opportunity for input or feedback.  Giving your followers attention means listening to them without interrupting. You do not necessarily have to take their suggestions or agree to what they are saying, but give them a chance to say it. This is very important if your want to become a star leader.
 
Over the years, I have found out that many people are impoverished of undivided attention from those who they are in relationship with. There are too many people in leadership today—who do not allot quality time to give their followers unbroken and exclusive attention. This is one of the chief and foremost reasons why many leaders are losing followers in large number today.
 
Additionally, one of the fast strategies to bond with people in leadership is to give to them undivided attention. When you give them undivided attention, what you are saying is that you value them, but when you do not give them undivided attention, what you are saying in some way is that they mean nothing to you. And you do not deserve the ‘followership’ of those who do not mean anything to you.
 
Lastly, many homes are falling apart today because the husbands {leaders} are not giving their wives {followers} undivided attention. And when a man does not give his wife undivided attention, what he is saying circuitously is that she does not mean anything to him anymore. Most men believe that once they give their wives money and what money can buy that their wives will be satisfied. The truth is any marriage that is devoid of undivided attention from the husband to the wife will collapse; it is only a question of time. Do not forget this truth as long as you live: one of the major proofs that you love your wife is when you consistently give her full and exclusive attention. This will bridge the wide gap between you and your wife!