Kathrine, a middle-aged Project Manager with her company, has had it with her Line Manager, Kola. On this afternoon, after being summoned by the Head of Legal regarding a project she is managing, she busted at Kola, “you don’t listen to me. You don’t even try to hear what I think. We could have avoided all these issues with Legal, if you only listened to what I was saying last week…” Her face was dripping sweat, her arms were shaking, her eyes were almost given to tears…

Kathrine was ready to leave the company at this point, and it was all about her working relationship with her boss, Kola. For her, it was better to be a sit-at-home Project Manager, than to work for a Leader who won’t listen to her ideas…

This familiar scenario is the unfortunate story of many people in modern corporate environment; the exulted difference between a team and their leader. The gap, either in responsibilities or two-way-communication, continues to fuel the friction that is witnessed in teams today. In fact, some workers say there are things they wish their supervisors knew about them. Three of those wishes are highlighted here:

Wish One: That We Too Have Ideas

Leaders who perform excellently at the highest level understand that it takes the network of a brilliant team to achieve great results. They assign tasks to their team, ask questions of them, and expect and accept their genuine answers. No single leader has it all figured out. So, you must give your team a chance to bring their best to the table.

Wish Two: That We Should be Trusted to Deliver

After assigning the task, most average leaders still hang on; micro managing, controlling the process, and so on. This is mostly borne out of fear, lack of trust and/or an excessive need to control. A-Class leaders know when to delegate and give way, and many team members wish their leaders too could.

Wish Three: We Too are Committed to the Brand

Especially with Top Management, there is always an overarching feeling that others are not very committed to the vision as they. Founders of businesses, CEOs and other Pioneers have easily alienated their best hands by this assumption. While it is true that you are most likely going to be the most committed to your own vision, there are others who can buy into it and equally uphold it as you do. Help them and trust them enough to become as committed as you are.

In the famous words of Jack Welch, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” Nothing else is best said.

Dear Leader, make it your aim to build a solid team. Everything else in leadership becomes easier.

Cheers.