How often do you hear about a detached, completely hands-off leader that inspired his team to achieve great success?

Not often.

Gilbert W. Fairholm, a noted professor and author, said this about leadership: “Leadership is not a starring role. True leadership describes unified action of leaders and followers (stakeholders) working together to jointly achieve mutual goals. It is collaborative.”

In my years of experience as a CEO and in other positions of leadership, I tried many different approaches to participate in teamwork and day-to-day processes. Small businesses, startups and growing tech enterprises all can benefit from a hands-on leadership approach — as long as you develop a strategy that works.

The Benefits Of Hands-On Leadership

Well-balanced hands-on leadership can have a lot of benefits for business owners and decision makers. Hands-on leadership helps you:

• Understand major shifts in your business and/or market: Staying hands-off prevents senior managers from understanding changes in consumer and employee needs. Occasionally participating in otherwise mundane business processes can give insights to improve productivity, employee morale, sales and more.

• Develop a rapport with your employees: Working the occasional shift or participating in work activities helps you develop a rapport with — and earn the respect of — your employees. Hands-on leadership helps them feel like you have a real understanding of their workday and the challenges they face. Close relationships with your employees can help turn them into brand advocates.