Business Management

Key Leadership Traits for Business Owners

Are you a leader just because you own and operate a small business? No. Effective business leadership demands a captain of the ship not someone just standing at the helm. Leadership is active, not passive. Leadership is a combination of traits and the ability to think and act like a leader. Leading and directing the activity of others for the overall benefit of the organization.


Here are a few traits of strong leadership:

1. Plan
The core of business leadership is being proactive rather than reactive. Leaders are good in crises - but that doesn't mean they sit around letting crises develop. Leadership involves identifying potential problems and solving them before they reach crisis proportions. Good leaders analyze and plan and adapt their plans to new circumstances and opportunities.

2. Vision
Vision provides direction and without direction, there’s not much point to all that planning; 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.
     
3. Communicate
One of the best ways to avoid disgruntled employees and a dysfunctional team is to communicate clearly with everyone. Always let your workers know what’s going on and what you expect out of them. Also, give them insight into the bigger picture so they know your company’s overall goals and vision.

4. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes 
 You aren’t perfect. Nobody is. It’s impossible to run a business without making mistakes, but great leaders understand that mistakes will be made. That’s just part of being an entrepreneur. It’s how you rebound from those mistakes that really count.

5. Surround yourself with smart, talented people 
As a business leader, it’s important that you build a well-rounded team. You should understand your own abilities—your strengths, your weaknesses—and surround yourself with talented individuals who possess the skills you lack.

Learning to be a leader isn't easy because it takes a conscious commitment and consistent effort to develop one's business leadership skills. I hope these tips help develop that skill and contribute to greater business success. Let me know your thoughts. Gerry@polarisgroupmc.com

Business Management

Do's and Don’ts in Managing your Business

It has often been said that employees rarely quit companies. Instead, employees quit their managers or supervisors by leaving the company. Increasing positive and reducing negative managerial behavior will go a long way towards improving employee engagement.
When your talented employees are engaged, they are able to perform better and improve your business.
Here are some Do’s and Don’t’s to consider in order to get managers and supervisors started in focusing on ways to and improve manager’s performance.

1. Do Innovate – don’t rest on your laurels
             The most successful businesses are more innovative in a variety of ways.
            They offered new products and services more often.
            They adopted new technology more quickly.

2. DO what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it.
There is no better way to communicate the message that you are accountable for your promises and that everyone in your company should be accountable as well.

3. DO admit your mistakes…… 
...and take the blame for failures.

4. DO recognize your team.
You can never underestimate the power of simple recognition for a job well done.

5. DO smile and laugh.
Have some fun. But, be genuine; programmed fun and faked laughter is worse than doing nothing.

6. When appropriate, laugh at yourself; it will humanize you.

At the same time………

1. DON'T get angry.
   Getting angry is easy. Anyone can do that. Anger does not belong in your managerial kit bag.

2. DON'T be cold, distant, rude or unfriendly.
    Especially in difficult times, employees take cues from their managers and need to hear from        them. The team will judge managers by their action, moods, and behaviors, not by their intent.

3. Don’t rely on too few customers—diversify
    Many companies run into trouble at times when they lose a single major customer.

4. DON'T BS your team.
    This includes saying things that you don't believe in. This includes hiding information and            just plain lying. By the time each of us is in our early 20′s, we have all developed very well-tuned BS detectors.

5. DON'T avoid taking responsibility for your actions.
   You are the boss. As such, you are accountable and the buck stops with the boss. You are trying to develop accountability throughout your company. So, lead by example.

These are just a few ideas to help structure a positive working environment. I hope you share these with your team. Let me know what you think. gerry@polarisgroupmc.com