Keys to Leading a Great Team

Members of the Creative Event Services Team

Early on in my career I had the opportunity of directing the Creative Event Services (CES) team at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas. Our department served as the in-house Destination Management Company for the hotel which coordinated everything from linens and centerpieces to transportation and teambuilding for all of our corporate clients. When I took over as the director of CES in 2005, we were barely breaking even each month and the team’s morale was one step away from Armageddon. When I left The Ritz-Carlton in 2008 we were the 3rd most profitable department in the hotel and our Employee Satisfaction scores ranked us as #1 in the hotel. Upon my departure one of the managers in another department asked me what the secret was to building such a great team. I told them to adhere to the following:

Expect the Best:

Surround yourself with the best people you can find. Tirelessly search for people that are passionate about what they do and have a desire to get better. If you surround yourself  with highly passionate and motivated people, you will all feed off of each other’s energy. Just know that as the leader, it is your responsibility to fuel that passion and expect the best from everyone each and every day . You must also hold yourself to the same high standard and constantly strive to be the best at what you do.

Involve your Team in Decisions:

If you have a budget, share it with the team. If you have goals you need to meet, post them on the wall. If there is a credo or motto that you follow, make everyone recite it daily. Be open, be honest and give people the tools and resources to do their job. If business is slow or employee morale is low, turn to the team for the answers. Just because you are the “leader”, does mean you have to be all-knowing. Even if you already know the answer to a problem, pose the scenario to your team to see how they respond. You may be surprised to learn a new and better way to solve your problem. I learned early on that the more involved my team was in the decision making process directly correlated to the greater sense of pride they had in their job.

Get to Work!

Roll up Your Sleeves:
For most of us our jobs as leaders revolves around typing emails, taking phones calls or drafting next week’s schedule. While these are all important tasks, I recommend unchaining yourself from the office at least once a week to show your team you actually care about what they do by “sweating” a little. If there is a big event, roll up your sleeves and pitch-in with the set-up or stay late to help clean-up. You will learn a lot more about your business, and your team, by spending a few minutes each week lending a hand.

Who hired this guy?

Involve Your Entire Team in the Hiring Process:

Quite possibly the best decision I ever made as a leader was to get everyone involved in the hiring process of any new team member. I made sure that everyone on my immediate team would interview every candidate before we would ever make a decision on whether or not to hire them. The chemistry of your team is the single most important decision that you can make. You have to be sure that the person you add to your team is not only a good fit for the position, but a good fit for the team.

Fun:

Above all else, create a fun, creative and rewarding environment. I was lucky to work as a director during a boom economy where we generated a lot of money and could afford to have an employee outing 3 – 4 times a year. But even now, as profit margins have shrunk and our budget has gotten tighter, we still try and find some way for the team at R&D Events to unwind, have fun and get together on a non-“work” level. At the end of the day, if no one is having fun – all you are left with is work.

Learn More:

Want to build a stronger team? Then contact R&D Events. With nearly two decades of experience, the team at R&D Events has redefined the art of team work and has designed more than a dozen unique and fun teambuilding events that will help strengthen your company’s ability to work together.