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To continuously drive business growth, leaders have to be more willing to lean on their employees and ask for help. At times, leadership can be a heavy burden. For some, being a strong leader means subscribing to the idea that a leadership role entails bearing the pressures of the position alone. And while this belief can and has led to gains, shouldering every aspect of a business on one’s own will only work to a limited degree of success. Instead, learning how to build, manage, delegate and lean on your team can positively impact the entire team and the business. To help, 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members offer strong leaders tips for successfully managing their staff to drive business growth.

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Rather than perpetuating the same old top-down power dynamics, leaders can instead prioritize employees' needs. The role of company culture in many businesses has changed in recent years. This has meant moving away from traditional power structures where leaders decided the business path forward to systems that focus on intentionally giving employees a seat at the decision-making table.  While these efforts have proved fruitful for attracting and retaining employees, fostering a supportive internal culture is an ongoing undertaking that must regularly be assessed. As experts, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum understand the key role that leaders play in maintaining company culture. Below, 15 of them share their best advice on how leaders can create and sustain a supportive internal culture.

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To set first-time leaders up for success, organizations have to create processes that offer support and flexibility. Whether a first-time leader has been promoted or is newly hired into the organization, the systems a business has in place are critical for that leader to overcome the obstacles they will inevitably face. As experts, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum are familiar with business procedures that can help new leaders feel supported. Read on as 13 of them offer recommendations on what organizations should do to build systems that help first-time leaders succeed in their roles.

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It’s important for companies to think more broadly about how their employees contribute to the overall organization.

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While employee experience may look different for every company, employee connection is crucial.

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Leveraging data from the past year as well as feedback from employees and customers can give businesses insight into what initiatives to explore next. With the end of 2022 fast approaching, many businesses are already deep into planning for 2023. And while a new year offers a chance to try something new, market instability and the looming threat of a potential recession are increasing the amount of pressure felt by business leaders. Luckily, they don't always have to start from scratch when it comes to finding fresh ideas. Looking back at the successes and failures of the current year can offer insight into what initiatives would be best to explore or where an organization can pivot if something isn't bringing in the desired results. However, it's also key for businesses to keep a close eye on markets and customers because they too can provide guidance. To offer further insights, 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members share additional tips for business leaders as they continue planning for Q1.

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Developing a process to manage your sales pipeline helps ensure the business is constantly operating at maximum efficiency. The management of a business’s sales pipeline is continuous work that never really finishes. From prospecting potential customers and closing deals to checking in with customers and generating new leads, sales is a process in which leaders must take care to ensure there is a set structure in place for both finding new prospects and retaining existing ones. Investing time and effort into improving sales process management is a great way to increase efficiency, but knowing where and how to implement changes that will make a difference isn’t a simple task. To help, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members share strategies for how leaders can effectively approach managing a business's sales pipeline.

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Before taking on any additional work, it's best to ensure you and your team have the capacity to complete the work. An increase in workload is one indication that a business is doing well in a market. However, if the capacity of the current team is not considered alongside growing responsibilities, a business may end up with too much work and no ability to ensure it’ll be done in a timely manner.  To help dial back and shift focus before efficiency decreases, 14 Newsweek Expert Forum members each share one critical sign that a leader or business has too many projects going on at once. 

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Creating a culture that actively encourages employees to generate and share ideas is a great way to keep your company competitive in the market. Once an employee has been in an organization for enough time, the fresh perspective they brought with them may start to dwindle. Learning more about the organization and the clients it serves as well as becoming entrenched in already established systems can make it difficult to branch out, especially if leadership isn’t open to making real changes that impact the business in significant ways. Contrary to popular belief, the best ideas don’t necessarily always have to come from the top, and devising ways to keep employees part of the conversations happening within an organization can only lead to business wins. To help leaders create a workplace culture that fosters innovation, 12 Newsweek Expert Forum members share methods they've adopted for keeping their teams curious and innovative.

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  In business, a “leader” is typically defined as the person in charge. This can range from executives at the top down to the managers who preside over individual departments or teams. However, having an official leader position isn’t what makes someone a good–or even an effective leader. Great leaders are those who are able to balance the big picture of the company mission with the finer details of how employees contribute to the achievement of business goals. Developing that balance means leaders need to actively acquire and refine their skills. As experts, Newsweek Expert Forum members know that refining those skills is an ongoing process, so below, they each share one skill every manager needs to effectively lead and coach employees.

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For a business to succeed, entrepreneurs have to know how to effectively pitch and get stakeholder onboard with every new initiative. No matter how good a business idea may seem, every new initiative will not have complete buy-in from stakeholders at the start. No matter whether it’s investors, employees, partners or consumers, the onus is on the entrepreneur to present a worthy pitch, gain support and address concerns that may arise from the audience.  While this process may seem straightforward, the challenge lies in devising a plan to put any and all doubts from stakeholders at ease. As leaders, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum know that full support for business ideas is critical to success. To help, they offer strategies entrepreneurs can use to approach changing someone's mind and gaining buy-in from stakeholders.

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To keep your top employees around, it's important to show them how much you value their contributions and talents. A significant portion of one's life is spent at work, so finding value in that work is critical. As a leader, you want your employees to feel their time is being well-spent and their contributions matter. Happier, more engaged employees will result in stronger trust and higher-quality work. To help your organization achieve this, a panel of Newsweek Expert Forum members shared 15 ways you can help your employees feel valued.