Leadership skills are almost a dime a dozen. Anyone who has ever supervised an employee considers himself a great leader, and hugely successful. He'll gladly provide reams of tutorial material to help the next guy. Leadership books abound, written by corporate CEOs and other big business leaders, all with more time on their hands than they know what to do with, thus their books. Their books provide their secrets to leadership success, always include "communication", and provide examples from levels of business few of us will ever see first-hand. Few of them have anything new to offer, their secrets are not really secrets, and their stories were applicable once-upon-a-time, but that time is usually not right now.
Here, I'll give you two "secrets" that aren't secrets either, but they will always apply at every level of leadership, and trust me, they are unique. And I won't just list them; I'll tell you exactly how to accomplish each.
First, bring your subordinates into the fold. This does not mean to buddy up to them and become friends. It means to tell them your "secrets", not things you can't tell them, but what you should tell them. Every organization should have goals, perhaps even a vision. Many have objectives. It doesn't matter what you call them; what matters is that every action employees take should be in accordance with them, and each employee should fully understand how their actions, or job performance, contributes to achieving the organization's vision. This lets them know exactly where they fit in the chain, and shows them the importance of their link within the chain.
Say your company makes sterces (secrets backwards). Your vision is to become the leading manufacturer of sterces in the state. You have competition, other bigger sterces manufacturers, but your goal is to surpass them in orders. In order to do that, you first have to increase your production rate. Sterces are made of five subcomponents, and each has its own production area, Foreman, and production team. When all the subcomponents are made, they go to the assembly area where they are put together into sterces.
Mary Ann works in the assembly area. She is a good worker, and is happy with her job. She has little stress and can easily keep up with the pace. She comes to work on time and leaves promptly at quitting time. She doesn't own company stock, asks few questions, makes no suggestions, and appears to have little concern beyond her own tasks.
Bring Mary Ann in, along with her supervisor. Show her the current statistics and review with her how her specific job contributed to those numbers. Emphasize the importance of what she does and how critical it is in the production chain. A graphic depiction of a chain with each link labeling a major production process would be appropriate to illustrate that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Don't insinuate that she is the weakest link, only that she is an integral member of the team. Then show her the company's statistical goals, with a clear increase on a chart. Ask her how she feels about the goals. Ask her if she has any suggestions or recommendations that might help the company reach them easier or faster. Show her that her opinion matters. Then tell her the company's vision. It answers "why" there is a need to achieve the higher numbers. Explain what's in it for her, whether it's a raise, a bonus, or just keeping the company going and saving jobs. In the end, she will be able to draw a line in her mind directly from the lowest link to the highest with a clearer understanding of her role and how her performance contributes to all the links above hers.
The purpose here is to put greater meaning into an employee's motivation for coming to work. If it is for nothing more than a paycheck, then anything above minimal acceptable standards is overkill. But if there is a greater purpose, then there will be greater motivation and greater performance.
Secondly, take care of your people by taking care of your boss. Success here means that you never take credit for accomplishments yourself; you give credit to the person who actually did the work. Here's how it works. Your boss has a boss, too. He is responsible to his boss for all of the activities under his supervision. The better informed he is, the better he will look to his boss. You never want your boss unable to answer a question about your part of the business. If that ever happens, it's your fault, and believe me, he won't forget it. So to keep him informed, you update him on the accomplishments of your people. Do so by name. "Mary Ann has nearly doubled her assembly numbers. She's doing great work and others are following suit." This gives your boss great information to pass on, and at the same time, it raises Mary Ann to a higher profile. Both your boss and his boss will know about Mary Ann. If either ever mentions her or speaks to her knowledgeably about her performance, her pride will skyrocket and her loyalty to you will increase because she'll know you praised her to the bosses. Her motivation and performance will go up. Others will hear about how Mary Ann was recognized at high levels, and strive to have the same happen to them.
If there are awards, have the boss present them. It will mean more to the recipient and it will still earn you respect from both above and below. Prepare the boss. Tell him what he can say and make him look good, and he'll never forget that either.
This second step creates superstars. When people realize they will be recognized for their achievements at the higher levels of the company, they will work harder. Along with that, they will know their boss is the conduit and doesn't take the credit, but passes it on, which will also result in harder work to please the boss, you. And your boss grows to trust you will keep in fully informed and he stays out of your hair. In the end, your chances, as well as those of your people for advancement have all increased.