As a business speaker who helps extraordinary leaders produce extraordinary results, I’m often asked, “How can I get my team excited about the outcome? How can I get my team to ‘buy-in‘? How can I get my team engaged?” Believe me, as a leader who’s led a team to extraordinary results, I’ve asked those same questions.

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I didn’t discover the answer to these questions until relatively late in my leadership career. I thought that if I just hired a good team and gave them a (hopefully) compelling vision, then team engagement would take care of itself.

Maybe you’ve had those same thoughts, only to find that something’s still missing. You’ve assembled a great team, and you’ve got a clear, compelling vision of where you want to go. But somehow, you’re still not seeing that level of engagement that you’d like to see. Perhaps the engagement is a little lackluster overall, or maybe, while the overall engagement is pretty good, you’ve got one or more team members who just don’t seem completely on-board with the rest of the team. So what’s the answer? It turns out that the bulk of the elusive team engagement equation comes down to one thing:

It turns out that the most important ingredient in getting your team engaged—is you.

It’s true! Studies have shown that the clear majority of a team member’s engagement comes directly from that person’s relationship with his or her immediate supervisor/boss/leader. In other words—you.

• Not the quality of the vision.
• Not the quality of the benefits.
• Not the quality of the software you’re using.
• Not even the quality of the food in the vending machines.

Yes, those are factors, and they’re important (especially the one about the vending machines). But they’re not the most important thing.

Maybe you’ve heard the adage, “People don’t quit their jobs; they quit their bosses.” It’s true. The number one reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or supervisor.

So how can you make sure that you’re not that bad boss? How can you become the kind of boss—the kind of leader—who doesn’t just keep people from quitting, but who actually helps generate team engagement? Try putting these approaches into practice:

1. Involve them in the vision and the outcome. Make them feel like they are active participants in the process.
2. Provide uninterrupted listening in meetings. When people feel truly listened to, they feel more engaged.
3. Don’t micromanage your team members. Trust them enough to give them the WHAT and let them give you the HOW.
4. Say “Thank you.” And make it specific. What specific behavior or achievement are you thanking them for, and how does it fit into the organization or team goals?

Notice that not one of these approaches costs anything. Not a single cent. They’re absolutely free, but the results they deliver are priceless.

Bottom line: an engaged team produces better results. And isn’t that what you’re after?

Question: What challenges have you faced with team engagement, and how have you solved them? Share your experience in the Comments section below so that other leaders can benefit from your experience.