Are you a Great Leader?

Organizations succeed for many reasons but those that have strong leadership improve the odds of maximizing profitability.
Here are a few important principles to consider in order to strengthen leadership skills.

1. Listen. Listening is the most valuable--and probably the most underrated--skill CEOs need to succeed. Great leaders listen to what their customers and prospects want and need, and they listen to the challenges those customers face. They listen to colleagues and are open to new ideas. They listen to shareholders, investors, and competitors.
2. Be Authentic. Great leaders are who they say they are, and they have integrity beyond compare. Vulnerability and humility are hallmarks of the authentic leader and create a positive, attractive energy.
3. Be Transparent. There is nowhere to hide anymore, and businesspeople who attempt to keep secrets will eventually be exposed. Openness and honesty lead to happier staff and customers and colleagues. More important, transparency makes it a lot easier to sleep at night - unworried about what you said to whom.
4. Be Responsive. The best leaders are responsive to their customers, staff, and investors. Every stakeholder today is a potential viral sparkplug, for better or for worse, and the winning leader is one who recognizes this and insists upon a culture of responsiveness. No matter the medium, responding shows you care and gives your customers and colleagues a say, allowing them to make a positive impact on the organization.
5. Show Passion. Those who love what they do don’t have to work a day in their lives. People who are able to bring passion to their business have a remarkable advantage, as that passion is contagious to customers and colleagues alike. Finding and increasing your passion will absolutely affect your bottom line.

Above all, treat others as you would be treated. By showing others the same courtesy you expect from them, you will gain more respect from coworkers, customers, and business partners.

Need to Conserve Cash?

Conserving cash can create benefits in economic conditions facing business today. When business is in a slow growth pattern, cash is very important and if you don’t have cash when you need it the most operations can be constrained.
Conserving cash may not be easy for those businesses that have been used to having the money to spend at any time. However, when some belt-tightening is necessary, some practical cash conservation methods may be prudent.
Here are a few tips to conserve cash:
• Spend wisely. Make sure that purchases are made for need to have not nice to have items. Items should have a focus on producing revenue where possible.
• Ensure new employee hiring is necessary. Employee salaries are a significant cash drain so efforts to maximize productivity from current employees are paramount.
• Lease equipment. Leasing vs buying can be an important option since equipment purchasing can be a serious cash drain.
• Plan ahead. Make sure you forecast financial activity. A plan outlining expected revenues and expenditures is vital to understanding cash needs. You certainly want no surprises on cash flow activity.
• Renegotiate leases. Rent is often a sizeable fixed cost that can be negotiated. Speak with your landlord; there may be an opportunity to downsize or even temporarily obtain rent reductions. Landlords often prefer to accept lower income than losing tenants.
• Go to the clouds. If your business is large enough to have in-house servers you are aware of the maintenance costs. If business is increasing this may be a cost effective way to create additional capacity without buying expensive new servers.

Business owners should share their cash flow objectives with other key managers to ensure every opportunity to maximize cash savings is realized.

Make Better Decisions

Decision-making is a crucial part of good business. The question then is ‘how is a good decision made? One part of the answer is good information, another part is experience in interpreting information.
Managers can be trained to make better decisions. They also need a supportive environment where they won’t be unfairly criticised for making wrong decisions. A climate of criticism and fear stifles risk-taking and creativity; managers will respond by ‘playing it safe’ to minimise the risk of criticism which diminishes the business’ effectiveness.

Decision-making increasingly happens at all levels of a business. The Board of Directors may make the strategic decisions about investment and direction of future growth. Managers may make the more tactical decisions about how they may contribute most effectively to the overall business objectives. But employees are increasingly expected to make decisions about the conduct of their own tasks and responses to customers. As a result careful recruitment and selection, good training, and enlightened management are important supports to good decision making.

How do you make the best possible decisions, knowing they will have an impact on your company's future?
There are strategies you can use to hone your decision-making skills.  Making better, faster decisions will help you take advantage of business opportunities.

1. Review the problem/decision in a broad context to include as many perspectives as possible. But don’t procrastinate just to get another opinion.
2. Make decisions as much as possible on facts rather than emotion. It is good to challenge your gut instincts; use objective data to reinforce decisions.
3. Don’t hesitate to challenge the status quo. Staying in your comfort zone in order to be comfortable may lead you on the same path. Change does not necessarily take more effort.
4. Be open to others opinion but trust your own ability and ability of employees to make a well-reasoned decision.
5. Recognize that some constraints may influence the decision; financial constraints, practicality, and lack of resources to implement the decision may influence the path taken.

Decisions are not taken in isolation and the effects of any decision will depend on reactions of others. Competitive behaviour should be anticipated and can influence choices. In the end, the review process needs to be completed with minimum delays and decisions finalized. Respect for action taken with a firm unwavering approach or allowing responsible employees to decide will earn respect from the organization.

Exiting the Business

Determining when and how to exit a business can present issues often more challenging than starting the business.  Here are a few thought starters for owners looking for a way to exit their business.




•  Is the business operated from strong principles of strategy with a clear vision? Can that vision be expressed and understood by those who manage the business or potential buyers? If you the owner cannot clearly state the purpose or reasons that you exist don’t expect new owners to invent it for you.

• How will you get the maximum return if you plan to sell? In cases where management/ownership is dominated by a single individual there is a risk that customers will not have confidence in new ownership unless the current owner can provide an effective transition plan that ensures continuity of the business operations. Current owners may need to plan for extensive transitional training.

• Factors that may support your decision to leave can grow out of many conditions. The most common are age or health related. A long career leading to a desire for more personal time; reap the rewards of your career. Age may not be the prime driver but longevity at the job could be creating burn out. It may be time to move on.

• Look for opportunities to exit from positions of strength. A well trained and competent management group may provide the opportunity to offer your staff a management buyout.  Managers may be able to pool resources to fund the buyout, you as owner may offer to finance all or part of the buyout or there may be an option to use company assets to finance the loans needed for the buyout. It also provides good opportunities for maintaining stability in the organization.

• Finally, the marketplace may facilitate determining the right time to exit. Poor economic conditions or competitive activity can have a huge impact on if or when you should exit. Positive conditions too might bring a competitor to the door with a buyout offer.

So the options are many but not always easy to sort through. Timing is critical, business life changes, choose wisely.