In an era where 88% of the workforce or 7 out of every 8 workers, feel like the organization they work for doesn’t care about them, it’s necessary to create a work environment that promotes a healthy and positive work atmosphere.

By embracing leadership practices that send people home healthy and fulfilled every day, you can create an exceptional work environment that motivates your employees to put their best foot forward. Happy employees mean productive employees, and productive employees make a successful business.

1. You may not be a family business, but you can be a business family.

While not every business is a family business, it doesn’t mean you can’t create a business family. By creating a positive and nurturing atmosphere in the work place you can ensure your employees WANT to come to work every day. Treat your workers how you would want your family to be treated in their workplace and watch their quality of work increase.

2. Build each other to greatness.

Encourage and insist that team member plays to their strengths, so that they have the opportunity to excel at what they are already good at. When team members do excel at their jobs, make sure they know their efforts are appreciated and that their quality of work isn’t going unnoticed by offering them a compliment in front of the team.

3. Be a Coach

Follow in the footsteps of proven leaders and role models who have shown that they have exceptional leadership and mentorship abilities. By taking notes from those proven leaders before you, you can ensure that your employees are highly productive, responsible, trustworthy, loyal and caring, creating a better, more productive work environment for everyone.

4. Trust is the foundation of all relationships

Trust is the foundation of positive work relationships; if you trust your employees they will respect you for it and trust you back. If you trust and allow your employees to engage in the shared future vision of your organization and allow them to help support that vision, they will do so enthusiastically. Your employees are capable of doing great things when you create a healthy work atmosphere.

5. Be aware of the “emotional contagion”

Elaine Hatfield, one of the pioneers of relationship science and a professor at the University of Hawai’i, says “All emotions — joy, fear, sadness and stress have been shown to be contagious,” as a leader you must realize that you are a walking mood conductor who is continuously influencing the judgements and behaviors of others. By bringing a positive energy to the job every day, you can influence your employees to do the same.

6. Be authentically human

Break bread together, celebrate together, collaborate, talk it over, and mourn together. Be proudly “unprofessional”. By creating an authentically human workplace you can create a space that works to build everyone up.

7. Let them grow and let them go

Let people grow beyond your team if that is what is best for them. Empower them to become the great leaders of tomorrow, and when the time comes let them leave the nest, spread their wings and soar to new heights.

These are but a few of the leadership techniques taught at the Chamber Training Institute. The program hosted by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in collaboration with The United States Black Chambers, The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, The Pan-Asian American Chamber of Commerce, and presented by Dr. Marc Hardy, from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business, works with local chamber of commerce executives and business leaders to provide them with the leadership tools and skills needed to strengthen their local business communities.

Many of the leadership techniques and information discussed above are taken from Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People like Family by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia.

If you are an individual or organization affiliated with a local Chamber of Commerce and are interested in attending a future Chamber Training Institute please consult the schedule of future events and contact Isaac Reynoso at ireynoso@ushccf.org.