Paying attention to employee feelings matters:

What’s the difference between exemplary and good employees? They care.

Via Responsibility at Work: How Leading Professionals Act (or Don’t Act) Responsibly:

What strategies really improve organizations? Research involving 400 people across 130 companies came up with a simple answer:

You must change individual behavior by addressing employee feelings.

Read more: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/12/greatest-leaders/

Employees are made happy by achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement:

They are most often made dissatisfied by policies, supervisors and work conditions.

Via HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Managing People:

More on building great teams here.

Ten things you can do to be like the best:

1. Know the power of feelings
2. …But be tough in a crisis
3. Know what makes employees stay and leave
4. Judge people by what they're good at
5. Hubris is your greatest weakness
6. Culture is what you do, not what you say
7. Managers are about processes, leaders are about people
8. Know thyself
9. Convey authority and warmth
10. Inspire by showing people the importance of their jobs

Read more: 

http://theweek.com/article/index/257553/10-things-the-greatest-leaders-all-have-in-common