KILUVU

Forget slogans and posters. Forget mission statements. Forget culture decks. A survey of over 400,000 people across the U.S. found that when employees believe promotions are managed effectively, they are more than two times as likely to give extra effort at work -- and to plan for having a long-term future with their company.

But wait, there's more: When employees believe promotions are managed effectively, they are more than five times as likely to believe their leaders act with integrity.

The result? At those companies, employee turnover rates are half that of other companies in the same industry. Productivity, innovation, and growth metrics outperform the competition. For public companies, stock returns are almost three times the market average.

Effectively managing others is both a science and an art, just like programming or playing an instrument. Based on personality and past experiences, some people tend to naturally be stronger at leading and inspiring others. That being said, anybody can learn how to be an effective manager if given the right training.

What's nice about the world we live in today is that you don't have to reinvent the wheel to be a great leader. Countless studies have been poured into determining what makes for a good manager.

Whether you've always seen yourself as a natural leader or are scared in front of others, here are six science-backed tactics that are universally effective.

Many leaders believe a team is only as strong as its weakest link. Thus many organizations spend a lot of time working to attract the best talent, while performance-managing those that aren't operating at the standard they would like.

But building a world-class team isn't about just getting the right people on the bus. It's about making sure you have a game plan in place that makes everyone on your team operate at a higher level.

So if you want to build a team that consistently overflows with top performers, build a team philosophy and culture designed to enable everyone who is part of it to excel.

Team brainstorming seems like a good idea--at least, on paper. What usually happens is this: the company is experiencing a tough problem that no single person seems able to solve, so someone decides that more minds means more processing power, and before you know it you're all gathered in the conference room.

One or two people churn out bad idea after bad idea, while everyone else stares at the wall or multitasks. There are no major breakthroughs and most of you are irritated at the waste of time.

Sound familiar? Why is this such a problem?

What do you do for work? Not, what is your job title, or what’s written in your official job description? But what do you actually do?

It’s potentially the most important question you can ask yourself if you care about standing out, staying ahead of the change curve, and continuously elevating your performance to gain access to choice assignments and opportunities to advance.

This is because the value you deliver, the results you produce, and the impact you have on others come more often from the execution of unspoken intangibles that are not reflected in your title, job description, or the daily tasks and activities you’re responsible for. This severe mismatch is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the true demands of work.