Business Management

The Keys to Leadership in your Business

 

Are you a leader just because you run a small business? No. But you need to be. Without business leadership, your small business ship will circle aimlessly and eventually run out of power.

Effective business leadership demands a captain of the ship, not just someone who's standing by the helm. Leadership is active, not passive.

Here are some keys to effective business leadership:

1.     A Leader Plans

The core of business leadership is being proactive rather than reactive. Sure, leaders are good in crises. Leadership involves identifying potential problems and solving them before they reach crisis proportions – and the ability to identify and reap potential windfalls. So good leaders analyze and plan and adapt their plans to new circumstances and opportunities.

2.     Leaders have Vision

Vision is essential to good leadership. Vision provides direction and without direction, your small business will still flail about. So if you don’t have one already, take your first step towards business leadership by creating a Vision Statement for your business. Because it embodies your dreams and your passions, a vision statement will also serve as a leadership vision.

3.     Leaders Share their Vision

Sharing your leadership vision helps your vision grow and your business leadership develop. As you tell your leadership vision to others, you will strengthen your own belief in your vision and strengthen your determination to make your leadership vision become reality. Your business leadership skills will grow as you and other people recognize you as a person with leadership potential.

4.     Leaders Take Charge

As a leader you put together your planning and your leadership vision and take action. Whether it's implementing a specific plan to improve your business's bottom line or responding to a crisis, the leader is the one who makes the decisions and sees that the appropriate actions are carried out. You can't just "talk a good game" to be a leader; you need to act and take effective action for the good of your small business. 

5.     Leaders Inspire Through Example

Leadership is defined through action. Therefore, in developing your own business leadership skills, you have to act in ways that are fitting to your leadership vision and your self - all the time. We can all name many actions of other people whom we admire, but what inspires us is the integrity that gives these actions meaning.

The Value of Business Leadership

Learning to be a leader isn't easy because it takes a conscious commitment and consistent effort to develop one's business leadership skills. Anyone who is willing to make the effort can become a good leader. And as good business leadership is critical to business success, your efforts to improve your leadership skills will be amply rewarded.