The best way to build your business is to gather a loyal team around you. If your team is solid and trusts your leadership, their productivity and morale will be high, even through the hard times. So, what can you as a leader do to encourage your team to be loyal to you? Here are some tips from the experts.

Build your team’s cohesiveness

Team-building activities will encourage your direct reports to feel as though they fit in with you company’s culture. These activities can range from something as simple as a team lunch to a day-long or overnight retreat. Through group problem-solving exercises, educational and goal-setting workshops, and even casual events like completing a jigsaw puzzle together, can help your teams to really get to know each other better and build cohesiveness across different departments.

Give credit for good ideas

There’s nothing like a public expression of your delight with a team member’s work to make that person feel valued. It’s also important not to take credit for one of your direct reports’ ideas or solutions for a sticky problem. Instead, when you’re sharing the idea, be sure to mention the name of the team member who came up with it. Not only will this make them feel appreciated, but it will also encourage them to continue coming up with future solutions and ideas.

Have an open door policy

If a team member is having trouble meeting her goals, for example, be available to give her some tips and encouragement. Make time to check in with each team member at least once per month: Even a 10- or 15-minute meeting shows that you want to be his or her colleague and mentor.

Support them in their career goals

Ask your team members what they want to achieve and where they see themselves in one, five, or 10 years—and help them get there. Help them understand the steps they’ll need to take in order to move up through the hierarchy, and support them in their efforts. Let them know what skills they need to get to their desired position and suggest resources to help them build those skills.

Lead by example

Don’t ask your team members to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself. Making a big sales push? Hit the streets with your team members. Asking extra hours of your direct reports? Work those extra hours, too. Asking team members to set goals? Set some, too—and hold yourself accountable. By sticking with your team through thick and thin, and showing them what it takes to be successful, you’ll encourage them to stick with you, too.

Remember that a good leader is a servant as well. Your job is to build your team, help them when they need it, and make them feel like part of your company’s family. If you follow these tips, you’ll gain the loyalty and respect of each of your team members.

What do you do to encourage the loyalty of your team members? Share with us on Cydcor’s Twitter and follow us @Cydcor.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.

“Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try.”

– Mary Kay Ash, Sales Leader and Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

Initially, an entrepreneur was a confident man or woman with a deep vision of business. They were convinced that their idea was going to be the solution thousands of customers needed. That’s still a valid definition of the word today or, at least, up to a point.

You know this type of entrepreneur if you’ve ever watched the television program Shark Tank. On each episode intrepid innovators make the pitch of their lifetime to a group of business experts—the sharks. Sometimes an idea that sounds a bit whacky when you first hear about it actually makes sense during the pitch. At other times a sensible idea falls apart fast when the people making the presentation haven’t done their homework.

But these entrepreneurs have an impulse: they want to do or make something better. They have professional insight that makes them believe in their ideas.

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Entrepreneurial spirit isn’t limited to billion dollar startups or someone working in their garage on the next-big-digital-thing. It’s possible to embrace an entrepreneurial spirit while you’re working just about anywhere. The key to developing one is to be open-minded, curious, and committed.

Developing your entrepreneurial spirit requires the correct mental motivation. You have to bring the right attitude to your work in order to develop the ability to see opportunity instead of obstacles.

Entrepreneurs work in a competitive space that requires courage. Many people are afraid of competing in business, but don’t back away from a struggle. Use the fear as a catalyst to awaken and engage your inner entrepreneur.

Here are some tips to help you find your entrepreneurial spirit:

You Get Things Done

An entrepreneur tests ideas and learns from the feedback. Act on your inspiration. Make a presentation that explains a new process. Share it with your team or your supervisor. If there is an extra assignment available take it on: an entrepreneur has the drive required to get it done, no matter what the obstacles may be.

You Take Thoughtful Risks

You’ve nurtured the ability to be agile and adaptable. You’re able to produce as part of a team but can also work on a project by yourself and frequently make strategic decisions. Understand that taking risks delivers rewards if you’re successful, but there could be problems if you fail. You’ve developed ease with risk because you’ve done the research. You don’t guess. You make thoughtful decisions that are integrated into your plan.

You Always Ask Questions

You’re uncomfortable with the status quo. There is always a way to improve processes and methods for doing routine things more effectively. You question accepted wisdom and aren’t afraid to speak out against the traditional way of doing things because your ideas will improve the process.

You Emphasize the Positive

You get excited when you face a challenge and enjoy pushing boundaries when you’re in pursuit of a goal. You never think about what you can’t do. You focus on the positive and get other people who work with you excited, too. If one approach doesn’t work, you have another option to try. You don’t find blame—you find solutions.

You Give Voice to Your Passion

Your enthusiasm for your work is captivating. It reveals your passion and the depth of your commitment to reaching your goals. You have a deep understanding of your industry and bring your energy and expertise to all phases of problem solving. When in doubt, remember these powerful words from Warren Buffet: “Without passion you don’t have energy. Without energy, you have nothing.”

Go ahead. Embrace the entrepreneur within. It’s time you did.

How have you developed your inner entrepreneur? What strategies do you use when you decide to turn obstacles into opportunities? We would love to hear your thoughts about this topic. Please comment on our Facebook page and share this article on your social media.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada, to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We've done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.

We reward Olympic athletes with gold medals for setting records. We value the person who is able to compete and win on their own terms. But athletes don’t win races on their own: these exceptional people train every day and work with coaches who teach them how to perform under pressure.

Think of yourself as an athlete in your own life. When you’re entering a time of increased pressure you need to continue to train. You also need to share what’s going on with your team at work and your family and friends.

As we take on more assignments we begin to feel pressure, and that pressure brings on stress that’s bad for your health, destructive to your productivity, and complicates your personal life. Here are some strategies for handling pressure at work and at home from Cydcor. Experiment with these tips, and over time, you will develop your ability to achieve success under pressure.

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Be a Good Communicator

Alert your supervisor when you’re entering a stressful time. If you decide that you’ll have a problem completing your assignments you must inform your supervisor. If you’re unsure about getting something done you need to be responsible and professional enough to ask for help. Be proactive and raise a red flag when you see trouble on the horizon—not when your ship has started to sink.

Control Your Emotions

Problems will arise and pressure will grow depending on time, resources, and the difficulty of the assignment. We often react emotionally when we start to experience pressure at work. Some of us perceive pressure as a challenge while others might experience it as a threat. While emotions make it hard to think clearly and limit your ability to solve problems, know that it’s okay to feel the emotions. Transform them into the energy required to complete the task.

Make a Plan

Climbing a mountain seems impossible, but taking one-step forward is a much more manageable goal. Get the pressure you’re feeling out of your head and onto paper. Break it down into smaller tasks. Be specific. Assign a time frame for each of the steps. If possible, delegate tasks. Make notes about the process once the task is complete so you’ll have an even better plan the next time a similar situation occurs.

Cultivate Bravery

Sometimes, pressure appears seemingly out of nowhere. When something goes wrong you need to be brave. It’s time to change your thinking. Instead of choosing panic, recognize the problem and then tell yourself, “Well, that’s inconvenient, so it’s a good thing I have my notes and I’ve practiced for this situation.” Bravery comes from practice and experience. Imagine what could go wrong and develop some possible responses. Write them down. Visualize yourself completing the tasks in a calm and relaxed manner.

Take Care of Yourself

During times of high pressure it’s easy to get distracted and forget to take care of yourself. It’s at these times that you need to be most aware of your health. Avoid fast foods or unhealthy comfort foods. Eat a balanced diet, drink lots of water, schedule short breaks during the day, get plenty of sleep, and try to get some type of exercise everyday. It relieves stress, lowers your blood pressure, and improves your mood.

Check out other blogs full of business advice from Cydcor, including Building and Maintaining Customer Relationships.

Delegation: Learning to trust your colleagues in helping you complete work is an ability that some struggle with. However, everyone will need help every once in a while; be it covering for you while you are on vacation, handling an emergency situation, or taking on a task simply too large to handle alone.

Communication is important. Be sure to tell your team member or co-worker the key goals of your project or work being handled with a client. Also be sure to give them all the resources available, along with relevant contact information and documents.

Lists: Despite our best intentions, many to-do items can get lost in the fray of our everyday lives. Writing things down and creating lists is a great way to manage and check-off tasks that have been completed.

For larger tasks, break them down into multiple, smaller tasks. For example, writing a ten-page document can be pared down to creating two pages a day up to its deadline.

One of the most satisfying aspects of creating a to-do list is crossing off things when they are done.  It gives you a sense of accomplishment and gives you a visualization of progress for tasks both large and small.

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Breaks: Studies have shown that spending more than eight hours a day at a desk without moving around much is detrimental to one’s energy level and focus. Productivity is not measured by the number of hours sitting at your desk, but by how much work you get done.

Many recommend getting up every hour for a ten-minute break to walk, stretch and drink some water and socialize with your co-workers.

Goals: Set ambitious, yet realistic goals. Create goals both in your professional and personal lives. One of biggest reasons why people don’t succeed with their goals is because they didn’t set a deadline. Goals should be specific, measurable, and they should be written down. It is also good to get feedback about the goals in order to refine them.