As a business owner, you can focus on profit and loss. Just as important as marketing the company and knowing the numbers that drive margins is the foundation of the company: motivating your team. Why? or McKinsey survey found that employee disengagement and attrition costs medium-sized businesses between $228 million and $335 million annually. In other words, even on a smaller scale, your company is losing money and hindering business growth by not properly motivating your employees.

Leadership and motivation they go hand in hand. As a leader, your job is to push people forward to achieve the company's goal. How you do this depends on various factors. As the CEO of Carbliss, I have never considered myself an inspirational leader. At least not in the way I've pictured it in my head – a Tony Robbins-type figure standing on a stage giving a long speech and firing up the crowd is not me. And you know what? It's okay. We all have our different strengths and weaknesses. Our different ways of approaching leadership. Below are the key differentiators we use to maintain team engagement while driving our margins.

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The secret of leadership through motivation

Many business owners spend years navigating leadership styles to find what works for them. Some become strict bosses, dictating rules. This doesn't work. Others become too close to employees and end up losing respect for them as company leaders. Others look the other way and pretend they don't see the problem. That doesn't work either.

Through my experience in business, I have found one particular leadership technique that works better than others. Using this approach has led me in the best direction – even though I'm not the charismatic type of leader. If I had to sum up my approach to leadership, it is this:

Understand who someone is and use that knowledge to move them. Instead of a pep talk, help people move toward what they want most in life. It is subtle but profound. By recognizing and helping individuals achieve theirs aspirations within the team, we create an environment where personal and professional growth go hand in hand. In a way, I'm just here to remind them of their goals so they can hold themselves accountable.

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Leadership by example is important to company culture

Of course, this the culture of accountability starts at the top. Transparency has always been a cornerstone of my leadership style. I am honest and open, and will call you about your stuff if necessary.

This honesty is not meant to be harsh. It really comes from a place of caring. My team knows that I do genuinely cares for them and the objectives we aim to achieve. My commitment to openness extends to all aspects of our business, even during challenging times.

For example, in the early days at Carbliss, we lost significant amounts of money. I immediately decided that I didn't want to hide it. We laid it all out for the team, explaining that we had anticipated this phase and had a plan. By sharing this openly, we kept the team informed and helped them understand that the plan was to burn money and this is just another part of our journey, not a reason to panic.

This built-in transparency FAITH and reinforced the idea that we are all in this together. He also created a culture of resilience, a trait that leads to another critical aspect of leadership: leading teams proactively rather than reactively.

Taking a team to the next level

Motivation is not a one-time push. It is a constant motion engine that moves people constantly. When it comes time to rev up the engine, leaders must be able to find what it takes to push their team forward.

To be an effective leader, you need to make sure that “everyone's cup is full”—that they have the resources, guidance, and motivation they need. You should be the one pointing the way to success, not pushing them towards it. When a team knows their leader is invested in their success and well-being, their motivation and performance naturally increase.

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Hire the best leaders from the start

The most effective way to lead a team to success is to hire people who are already leaders themselves—individuals who resonate with your vision and values. As a business, every person you hire is an investment in your company in some way. It costs you money if you're not moving your company forward with that hire.

We prioritize hiring hungry, humble and smart people. THESE self-motivated individuals they often require less external inspiration because their goals and ambitions drive them.

Leadership still occasionally recalibrates direction. This is to be expected. When you have a team that reflects your ethos, leadership becomes less about rah-rah motivation and more about guiding self-directed individuals toward a shared vision.

Effective leadership doesn't have to be the kind of wordplay we see in movies or TV. There are other ways to motivate and inspire people. You don't need to be an inspirational leader to still be effective. Find your confidence and succeed in a leadership style that fits your goals and objectives.