USING ENGAGE TO BRING OUT THE BEST IN OTHERS

Leadership often takes shape in the small moments people remember: the promise you keep, the question you ask, or the decision you trust someone else to make. ENGAGE gives us six practical actions for making those moments count.

Let me invite you into a familiar scene. You arrive early, answer messages through lunch, solve problems all afternoon, and leave wondering why so much still depends on you. Your team is busy, too. Yet you would love to see more confidence, more initiative, and fewer decisions waiting outside your door.

A useful place to begin is the experience people have when they work with you. Can they count on your follow-through? Do they understand the priority? Do they have permission to act? ENGAGE helps turn those questions into everyday leadership habits.

The stories that follow are illustrative situations. Put yourself in each leader’s shoes and consider one small action you could take with your own team.

E — Establish Trust

N — Nurture Strengths

G — Give Direction

A — Activate Ownership

G — Grow Together

E — Encourage Accountability

You do not have to change everything at once. Choose the action your team needs most, practice it consistently, and notice what becomes easier.

E – Establish Trust

Picture yourself finishing a busy morning when an employee stops at your door. “Did you ever find out about the schedule change?” You promised an answer yesterday. You meant to follow through, but a customer problem and a stack of emails pushed it out of your mind. To you, it was one unfinished task. To the employee, it was a promise.

There is a useful choice in that moment. You can offer a quick excuse, or you can say, “I told you I would get back to you, and I didn’t. That’s on me. I’ll have an answer by three.” Then you put it on your calendar and deliver the answer, even if the answer is that a decision needs more time.

Trust grows when people can connect your words with your actions. Your team does not need you to know everything. They need to know that you will be honest, listen without immediately becoming defensive, and close the loop. Admitting a missed commitment can be the beginning of a better relationship when your follow-through supports it.

Try this today: Find one promise that is still open. Complete it, or contact the person with a clear update and a realistic next step.

N – Nurture Strengths

Imagine a supervisor who describes an employee as “too quiet.” The employee rarely speaks in meetings, so the supervisor assumes she lacks initiative. One afternoon, he notices her helping a frustrated customer. She asks a few careful questions, spots the source of the confusion, and explains the solution without making the customer feel foolish.

Instead of telling her to become more outgoing, he says, “You helped that customer feel heard. How did you figure out what was really wrong?” As she explains, he discovers a strength he had overlooked. He asks her to help improve the team’s customer handoff process and gives her time to prepare her ideas before the next meeting.

People’s strengths do not always arrive in the form we expect. The strongest listener may speak the least. The employee who questions a process may see a preventable mistake. Nurturing strengths starts with paying attention to useful behavior, naming it specifically, and creating room for the person to use it. Development still includes working on gaps, but it should also build on what someone already does well.

Try this today: Tell one person exactly what you saw them do well. Ask where they would like to use that strength more often.

G – Give Direction

Consider a team working hard on a new service launch. Marketing wants more leads, operations wants fewer surprises, and the owner keeps asking everyone to “pick up the pace.” At the end of the week, people are tired and disappointed. They have been busy, but they have been aiming at different targets.

On Monday, the owner changes the conversation. “This week, our priority is to make the first ten customer experiences dependable. Every customer needs a confirmed start date, a named contact, and a follow-up call.” The team assigns an owner to each step and agrees to review the results Friday. When a new idea comes up, they can ask whether it supports that priority.

Clear direction helps people decide how to spend their attention. Explain what success looks like, why it matters, who owns the work, and when you will review it. If competing priorities appear, help the team choose. A friendly conversation can uncover confusion that a general announcement leaves untouched.

Try this today: Ask two team members, separately, “What is our most important priority this week?” If the answers differ, use that information to make the direction clearer.

A – Activate Ownership

Imagine being the employee at a service counter while a customer explains that an order arrived damaged. You know the replacement policy, but every adjustment still requires the owner’s approval. The owner is unavailable. You apologize, the customer waits, and a problem you could solve becomes another interruption for the boss.

Now imagine the owner says, “You may replace damaged items up to $150 when the purchase is verified. Record the reason. Bring safety concerns, suspected fraud, or requests above that amount to me.” The employee has a defined decision to make, a boundary to work within, and a route for exceptions. The next customer receives help promptly.

Ownership becomes practical when authority matches responsibility. “Use your judgment” is easier to act on when people know the limits, have the necessary information, and understand when to ask for help. Start with a manageable decision, provide training, and review early outcomes together. If every reasonable decision gets reversed afterward, people will soon return to asking permission.

Try this today: Identify one recurring decision your team brings to you. Define who can make it, the boundaries, and the situations that require escalation.

G – Grow Together

Picture a project review after a promotion brings in fewer customers than expected. Everyone arrives expecting a lecture. Instead, the leader opens with, “I approved the timeline without checking whether we could reach the audience in time. What else should we learn before we do this again?” The room has a reason to speak honestly.

A newer employee explains that customers kept asking a question the promotion never answered. Another notes that the follow-up happened too late. The team chooses one change to the message and one change to the follow-up process. They agree on how to judge the next attempt. The disappointment now has a useful destination.

Growing together means making learning part of the work. Invite perspectives from the people closest to customers and daily operations. Be willing to discuss your own contribution to the outcome. An honest review can acknowledge a mistake while still expecting care and competence. Celebrate progress, too, so people understand which improvements are worth repeating.

Try this today: At the end of a project or week, ask, “What worked, what got in our way, and what will we change?” Choose one improvement, assign an owner, and revisit it.

E – Encourage Accountability

Imagine checking on a report that was due yesterday. You feel irritation rising, and your first instinct is to ask, “Why is this always late?” But you pause and say, “We agreed on Tuesday. It’s Wednesday, and I haven’t received it. What happened?” The employee explains that two required figures never arrived.

That explanation matters, but the missed update matters too. You respond, “Let’s get the figures today. Next time, tell me before the deadline if you’re blocked. What time can you complete the report?” You agree on a new commitment and check back when promised. If the pattern continues, you address it directly rather than quietly lowering the standard.

Supportive accountability makes expectations visible and gives people a fair opportunity to meet them. Confirm the result, owner, deadline, and needed support. Follow up with facts and curiosity, then agree on action. Appreciate commitments that are honored. Apply the same standard to yourself so accountability feels like a shared way of working.

Try this today: Review one current commitment with its owner. Ask what support is needed and confirm exactly when you will follow up.

Start with one conversation. Keep one promise. Give one person clearer authority. ENGAGE grows through the choices you repeat, and your next opportunity may be the person waiting at your door.