Being the ‘Boss’ puts a natural barrier between you and your team. Learn how you can remove this natural barrier and create productive communication with your employees.

No matter the size of your company you can't be an effective leader if people are hesitant to approach you. Maintaining a hard exterior may show the makings of a tough leader, however this is not leadership. This is ruling with an iron fist not leading. Do you want to rule or do you want to lead? To lead you must be approachable to your team members.

This article details six simple steps that can make you a more approachable leader.

1. Get Off First!

As the boss your mood sets the tone for your work place whether you believe that or not. Just because you are the boss does not mean employees need to address you first.I had a boss in the past that refused to say anything to anyone unless they addressed him first.He felt it was a chain of command type of thing.That always bothered me about this individual.I actually saw this man refuse to shake hands with a supervisor during an introduction one time.The supervisor went up to him, put his hand out and introduced himself.This boss looked the supervisor up and down, said nothing, and than walked away from him with is hand still extended. It was the most despicable thing I had ever seen! Needless to say he was not at all approachable and his people skills were in need of work.This boss liked to rule not lead.I learned a lot of ‘what not to do’ from this man.Based on this I wanted to be different and vowed to address people first.Simply caring enough to learn their first name andprovide the greeting of the day to employees first shows them how approachable you are.This rule applies to everyone in your organization, from the folks cleaning your office to your direct reports.You should see the value in all your folks and show them you do.

When you say ‘Hello’ or ‘Good morning’ first it shows them you are a human being and not a monster. Show them you care enough to notice them and you appreciate them.This is a simple way to make yourself much more approachable to your team.

2. For God Sake Smile!

Nothing says approachable more than a simple smile. Walking around with ascowl on your face does not say approachable.This says I am angry and do not even think about bothering me right now.People will already be intimidated enough to approach the boss, but most will not even consider approaching a ‘grumpy’ boss. Get the chip off your shoulder and smile.Be personable and polite.I know this is simple manners but it seems that many of us forget that fact to often.

3. Keep your door open

Most firms today have an ‘open door’ policy. This of course means that at any time someone can come to the boss with an issue, right?If you want to be approachable, lead by example and physically keep your door open whenever you can.When the bosses door is closed a lot people will not want to knock and interrupt you.When someone sees your door closed they are assuming you are involved in something that requires the door closed or you are working and do not want to be bothered.Keeping your door open is a way to say, I am here and I am not trying to avoid you.A closed door does not say approachable.Show your team you want to see them as much as they want to see you and keep that door open!I am not suggesting taking your door off the hinges like Justin Timberlake did in the movie, ‘Friends with Benefits’, just keep it open whenever you do not need it closed.

4. Do not be afraid to Share your Set Backs

As a leader many times you do not want to talk about failures for fear of looking bad in your team’s eyes. Nothing is further from the truth. Talking about your set backs and what you learned from them is an excellent way for your team to learn from you!This shows them you are human and not afraid to share so they can learn from you and not make the same mistakes.Being a leader is about mentoring and developing your team.Use your experiences to help them grow and develop.Your less experienced team will benefit from your experience and be better off.You must allow this to happen by sharing your set backs and what you did after the fact to get better.Help them grow and use your experience to your advantage.

5. Make it fun!

Come up with ways to have fun with your team when possible. Call it team building, recognition, whatever the case may be.I used to take my managers bowling about once a quarter as a way to do team building and recognize them.We had a pin that was given to us by the bowling ally we regularly went to.I had everyone sign it and it became the trophy.The winning team got to have the pin for a time to display in their office until the next time.It was cheap and easy to plan and went a long way.The managers loved it!It was a good motivation tool and team building activity.

Work is work we all know that. If what you did every day was easy, everyone would do it right?Therefore you have to have some fun with your team where you can.This is a great way to make yourself more approachable. Even Chef Ramsey participates in the rewards for the winning team during the ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ series. This is where they see the human side of him.Take time to plan fun events when you can with your team.It helps develop your relationship with your members and builds the team.

6. Recognize Your Team

To add to this if you want to not only show you are approachable but motivate employees at the same time, recognize them! Get out and ‘press the flesh’ and tell folks they are doing a good job that deserve it.A pat on the back combined with a hand shake from the boss goes a long way.Human beings have a need to be recognized.Take it a step further and recognize people in front of their peers. They will run through a wall for you. Remember,

‘That which gets recognized gets repeated’

Once you establish those initial touch points, people feel more comfortable coming to you when there's issues. on top of that showing your appreciation provides an extra motivation boost.

Your status as the ‘Boss’ already creates a barrier with employees or unfamiliar faces. This combined with a hard exterior personality only cements it. Put yourself in your teams place, and take small steps to open the lines of communication. Then, you can break down those walls and capitalize on the knowledge of your entire organization. Treat people right and they will treat you right back!

My final thought on this is very simple. Treat people as you would want to be treated. If you follow this rule you cannot go wrong.