Developing and Trusting Your Team's Strengths

Trusting Your Team's Unique Values

Gone are the days of micromanaging everything your trustworthy team does. Haven't you already put them through the wringer? You vetted them, and they proved acceptable to join your group. They persevered through the evaluation period and implemented your training. In time, you promoted them and trusted them with important company responsibilities. As a result, you're developing a team of future leaders you've positioned to be self-sufficient through knowledge.

How do you empower people in today's ever-changing workplace and unprecedented uncertainty? How are you building your leadership team?

According to Susan Rider, who wrote the Parcel Industry article, 'Empowering Your Team,' "The first step is building a "team of execution" instead of team of "waiting for direction" and this is done by empowering them and trusting them to make good decisions because you have given them the necessary knowledge and training to know how they can contribute their value."

At Excel Courier, we understand that each person walks through our doors with unique values. Each has behaviors based on their culture, belief systems, past experiences, and environments. Therefore, no two people are alike. Recognizing that is important to adjust mindsets and integrate as a functioning team.

Because of this, we work with an Integrative Development Practitioner that has helped us create a custom blended-learning platform for our team. "Building a strengths-based team and educating people on how to work together is critical for success," says Yedda Stancil.

Recognizing and highlighting forefront talents allowed us to understand how to work with someone and weave their strengths where they can function best. Focusing on that is the path of least resistance. In addition, it encourages a high-performing team to become more confident in their intra- and interpersonal communication styles.

Our strengths don't tell us what we can do, only how we might do it. There is no perfect combination of strengths for leaders.

Creating an environment built to promote a culture of growth equates to fulfillment for the employee and employer. Julie Uno, Excel Courier's Director of Human Resources, states, "Our goal is to create a workplace where employees know that what they do everyday matters. Everything else falls into place when we accomplish this with the right people."

Julie, who plays a significant role in developing our leadership program, says, "Recognizing that people managers are directly responsible for creating a productive and positive employee experience, we've clearly defined their primary responsibilities to inform and empower their teams by:

• Setting clear expectations
• Holding people accountable to the expectation
• Ensuring people feel safe and supported
• Facilitating collaboration"
  

Our other goal is to create a culture of trust that allows our teams to feel safe, accepted, and confident in their ability to contribute value and improve the organization. Helping our people sharpen their natural skills helps them operate in the fast-paced courier industry. It helps them operate in life.

Practices We Use To Help Promote The Culture 

1. Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment. Strength Finders is a values-based development program. We are operationalizing key behaviors that leverage our strengths and enable us to live and work aligned with these ideals.
2. Leadership Development Program. We meet monthly with our people managers in a lecture-style setting with our Integrative Development Coach and Consultants facilitating how to help develop essential leadership behavioral skills.
3. Online Excel Leadership Development Course. Online Resource Platform for 24/7 digital access to everything taught in the leadership development program.
4. Leadership Library. Access to books directly related to the leadership program is available for anyone.
5. Weekly reminder emails with links to resources. (worksheets, podcasts, and videos) Allowing leaders access to multiple learning styles to embrace their roles as teachers, coaches, strategists, preachers, and visionaries.
6. Monthly newsletters. Sent to the entire staff with the same resources managers have been coached on.
   

Because we believe people are our greatest assets, we have invested in creating a state-of-the-art leadership program. Our CEO Chris Marchetti says it best, "Our people are critical to the company and spend so much time inside these four walls. Empowering them and maximizing their natural skillset is our focus. They are the future leaders of Excel Courier; providing the right resources and trusting them to be self-sufficient is important for our success."

Now, this is what we're talking about!

Empower your team to be self-sufficient and become confident solution providers. And all done by providing your team with the right resources and direct access to you, their employer. You're their pillar of leadership, sage advice champion, and accountability buddy when they need it.

If you'd like to learn more about Excel Courier's leadership program, please get in touch with us at: ckilgore@excelgroup.com.

For more information on Integrative Development in Leadership Development, please visit www.yeddastancil.com.