Whether you are a small business with a few employees or a large corporation with thousands, everyone within your organization depends upon strong leadership in order to thrive. Leadership begins with you and trickles down the chain of command. Every choice that you make affects the direction of your business and the people under you. So, how do you make sure that you are making the right decisions? For those who wish to grow as a leader and improve both themselves and their business, here are four leadership tips to help you get your business up-and-running.
1. Seek to grow your knowledge and learn from experts.
A great leader is not one that believes they know it all but one that seeks to grow their knowledge and improve themselves regularly. In the case of this topic, seeking out resources that teach you more about leadership is an excellent idea. But where do you get started?
There are generally two different ways to begin learning more about a topic like leadership: using e-books/courses and connecting with experts. In regards to the former, make sure that you are using resources written by those who have extensive experience leading teams and small businesses (and who will offer information you may not be able to get anywhere else). Concerning the latter, connect with and follow leaders like Mark Wiseman, a global investment manager and business exec who regularly covers leadership topics that you can use in your own small business endeavors. As you continue to follow him, you continue to benefit from the information that he releases.
The more you learn and grow, the more your business does as well.
2. Provide your business with systems that encourage efficiency and progress.
Your employees shouldn’t only be working towards a paycheck. Rather, they should enjoy working with your business and be aligned with your business goals and mission. A great leader will provide their team with a vision that they believe in and choose to invest their time in. This serves to create employee engagement that drives performance and develops a positive company culture. Take time to figure out exactly what your company’s mission is and how you can leverage that to find employees who truly believe in your cause.
With that in mind, a vision is nothing without proper execution. If your business is disorganized and mismanaged, you cannot properly achieve your business’s goals. Along with identifying the vision and goals of your business, find systems like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to help your whole business do the work needed to reach these goals. What are OKRs? OKRs refers to a system that helps you to identify your main objective, identify three to five measurable key results, and align your company so that you are all working to meet those results and achieve your objective. While this is a system that can be used on its own, using an OKR system like Workboard that streamlines the process and makes it easier to track progress can be a better way to help your business grow.
3. Give your employees freedom and recognition for improved engagement.
Micro-managing your employees and only pointing out their mistakes is a great way to kill their motivation. Rather than engaging in toxic management strategies, give your workers the opportunity to thrive by trusting that they can do their job and recognizing them for their achievements. While some initial training may be required in the beginning, chances are that you hired them for a reason. The more encouragement that they receive, the better that they are going to perform as your business continues to grow.
4. Learn how to delegate tasks and put your trust in others.
Learning to delegate tasks and let go of control can be the hardest part of the business for most leaders. However, a business cannot grow if you are attempting to run it all by yourself. Instead of trying to take on every task and force employees to run all things by you before they are approved, give up some of your control and let others handle a portion of your management work. You’ll not only find that others are capable but that you receive the benefits of having less work stress and more time to focus on areas of the business that need you most.
Leading a business is a major responsibility. However, it is possible to become a leader with the right work ethic and determination. If you are up to the task and want to grow your management skills, use the tips provided above to start evolving into the leader that your business needs to thrive.