Get All Access for $5/mo

Want to Be a Better Leader? Stop Emailing So Much! Business guru Jeffrey Hayzlett offers this tip to energize and empower your staff.

By Dan Bova

Including your employees in conversations surrounding your business is vital to its success. In his book The Hero Factor, author Jeffrey Hayzlett offers this advice for getting those important conversations going in a constructive way:

"Get your butt out of your chair, walk over to a desk, and ask a question to someone's face! Ask a question that opens people up and requires a thoughtful answer—the more personal and less work-driven, the better."

It's one thing to send an employee an email saying "do this task," but to get the best results, talk about it face to face. Answer questions, and ask questions. Having a deeper dialogue lets your employee knows how this one task is part of a bigger plan -- and opens the possibility of them offering insights on how to make it even more effective.

Learn more great leadership lessons by picking up The Hero Factor, on sale now.

Related: 15 Mistakes Successful Leaders Know to Avoid

Dan Bova

Entrepreneur Staff

VP of Special Projects

Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim, and Spy magazine. His latest books for kids include This Day in History, Car and Driver's Trivia ZoneRoad & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff, and Wendell the Werewolf

Read his humor column This Should Be Fun if you want to feel better about yourself.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

More from Entrepreneur Exclusives

3 Simple Ways to Boost E-Commerce Sales

Why Your First 1,000 Customers Are Your Most Important

How to Grow Your Business By Finding New Customers

3 Stress-Busting Relaxation Exercises You Can Do Anywhere (60-Second Video)

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle He Started in His College Apartment Turned Into a $70,000-a-Month Income Stream — Then Earned Nearly $2 Million Last Year

Kyle Morrand and his college roommates loved playing retro video games — and the pastime would help launch his career.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Growing a Business

How to Determine The Ideal Length of Your Marketing Emails Your Customers Will Actually Read

Wondering how long your marketing emails should be? Here's what consumers say — so you can send them exactly what they like.

Business News

A Former Corporate Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here's How She Does It

Here are the secrets to starting and growing a successful YouTube channel, according to a YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Business Culture

You'll Always Have Anxious Employees if You Don't Follow These 4 Leadership Tactics

Creating a thriving workplace environment hinges on the commitment of company leaders to nurture and inspire their teams.

Business News

Y Combinator Helped Launch Reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox. Here's What I Learned From Its Free Startup School.

The famed startup accelerator offers a free course on building a business — and answers five pressing questions for founders.