Starting a company is risky. It takes strength. However, it’s crucial that your staff is aware of that resilience. In order to be productive, employees need to believe in their organization and its future, which begins with their belief in you as a leader.

Here are a few actions that, if taken, will prove your resilience as a corporate leader.

Be decisive– In your business, you make final decisions. Support every well-informed decision with an explanation of your rationale, and end the discussion. Later, if the resulting data say your decision was wrong, move in another direction with the same unflinching sense of direction. Hesitation gets you nowhere.

Be innovative– Starting a company is a bold step, but it can’t be the only bold step you take. Every company has to innovate to survive. Be prepared to change your purpose, change your processes, and change yourself. Your success depends on experimentation.

Be generous– You rely on your employees to succeed. Tell them that. Explain how important they are. Pay them generously. Congratulate them on every job well done, and always treat them with the respect they show to you. Not only will your employees appreciate it, they’ll respect you more for it.

Be open– Transparency is important in every organization. Everyone should know exactly what’s right and wrong with their company. In the spirit of transparency, regularly host open and honest discussions with your staff. Be willing to receive feedback and, if necessary, make operational changes. Do not claim that everything is perfect. They won’t believe it and it will only breed resentment.

Be knowledgeable– You are personally accountable for everything with your logo, slogan, or name attached. Know what every employee (or at least every department) is working on. Know current trends in your industry and among other companies like yours. Know your customers better than anyone else. The second one of your employees answers a question you can’t, your reputation suffers.

Some would suggest that concern over what your employees think of you is trivial. They are wrong. As the leader, you influence engagement by developing a persona of resilience. An uninspired worker under performs. An uninspired company fails.