5- key leadership skills in small business
Are
you a leader just because you run a small business? No. But you need to
be. Without leadership, the ship that is your small business will
aimlessly circle and eventually run out of power or run aground.
It’s
not having followers that define leadership. Cool-headed, farseeing,
visionary, courageous – whichever adjectives you choose, leadership is
a winning combination of personal traits and the ability to think and
act as a leader, a person who directs the activities of others for the
good of all. Anyone can be a leader, even if the only person they’re
leading is themselves.
But
you can’t become a leader just by saying you are. Leadership needs to
be worked at. Transform yourself into a leader with these five keys of
leadership.
1. A leader plans.
The
core of leadership is being proactive rather than reactive. Sure,
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 – 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. A leader has a vision.
Vision
is essential to good leadership. 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 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.
“A vision statement
is sometimes called a picture of your company in the future but it’s so
much more than that. Your vision statement is your inspiration, the
framework for all your strategic planning.”
3. A leader shares vision.
Sharing
your leadership vision, helps your vision grow and your 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. And other
people will start to see you as a person who’s “going places”. Your
leadership skills will grow as you and other people recognize you as a
person with leadership potential.
4. A leader takes charge.
At
this stage of leadership, 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,
you, as the leader, are 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 to be seen as taking
effective action for the good of your small business.
5. A leader inspires through example.
If
I asked you, you could easily name three people whose leadership
qualities inspire you. If I asked you why, you’d tell me about the
things these inspiring people did or are doing. Leadership is defined
through action. Therefore, in developing your own 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.
Becoming
a leader isn’t easy because it takes a conscious commitment and
consistent effort to develop one’s leadership skills. But on the
positive side, anyone who is willing to make the effort can become a
good leader.
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