Being a leader doesn't mean that its only you who should be respected. In fact,leaders are required to give respect to their subordinates and followers. If not, then sooner or later, they will not be a leader anymore.

I believe a leaders duty is to empower their people through giving respect and constant appreciation regarding their work and their actions. Your workers need your compliments for them to build their self esteem, and for you to gain their respect.

Every person has this need, a need to be highly valued and treated well. They want to be respected and feel appreciated thus making them more confident about themselves.

Believe me, empowering your employees or subordinates is the best thing you could do to win their heart and respect. Once you gained it from them, it will be both beneficial and easy for you to work with them in a pleasing manner; ensuring less conflicts! In fact, even when you do correct them, they will be positive about that because they know what you say is right and you are correcting them in a constructive way.

Empowering your key people will increase their self esteem and their respect towards you.

Here are 5 ways to empower you subordinates:

1. Give them the respect they need.

Respect is not about always saying kind words. It's about be fair and praising when praising is needed. People will respect a manager who is fair. This means that if you make a judgement call on someone you must ensure that it is warranted. Also be careful of the words you use with people to ensure that you are never seen as being rude etc.

2. Acknowledge their contributions.

Many managers don't acknowledge the contribution each member of staff makes - ensure that you let your team know that every task they do grows the business. You are all working together for a common goal.
Explain to them that they play a very important role for the team. This can often really boost a team members self esteem. Make sure you are sincere when you say this.

3. Promote self-management on the part of each of your team.

Every body likes to feel that they can make choices within their job role. As a leader, why not try giving them freedom on what they do, but of course you are still there to observe their actions. Just give them a chance to explore what they can do. You may find some very capable people.

4. Make them part of the planning.

Before you became a team leader/manager/supervisor you were an employee. Did you ever experience being asked by your boss about your ideas?

It really feels good right? Do the same thing. You don't need to bring them to your meetings, just simply ask them about their ideas on your free time or schedule a time to meet them. Don't forget to compliment every ideas they give, don't discourage them. Just listen to every word they say.

5. Compliment individuals for their achievements.

Every task your employee completes is an achievement for them. Of course, it will be normal to see some things that need to be corrected or changed, but be sure to give more credits on the things they did correctly rather than the just highlighting the incorrect things. Don't find faults, find credits!

Always remember that no one is perfect and that everybody is in learning something new everyday. Encourage an atmosphere of constant learning.

Again, always give compliments and if there are areas of improvement then tell them sincerely. You could always correct them effectively in a good mood!

Richard Butler is a business life consultant who helps people set up and market their websites. He runs two successful websites: www.ebits.ie www.richardbutler.ie www.itsonlyajob.com