Leadership skills are something that you need to acquire in order to run and lead a successful business. Everyone is not born a natural leader, and this is not necessary in order for you to be a good leader. You can develop leadership skills over time and through experience. It is important to invest time in developing good leadership skills, as this will help you be a successful entrepreneur and a good boss.
The basic idea behind being a leader is that they have the vision of the business. A good leader has to communicate that vision and method of achieving goals to the rest of team. You will need to have determination and passion that will motivate your staff to help you succeed in making that vision a reality. There are multiple skills that will contribute towards you being a good leader, here are some of the essential skills which you will need to display being a good leader.
Emotional intelligence
You need to have a certain amount of emotional intelligence in order to be a good leader. This will help you better understand yourself and others around you. Empathy stems from emotional intelligence as you are able to relate to other people and understand their situation. You will need to effectively demonstrate empathy and emotional intelligence to your team and sometimes even clients to make a real connection with them.
Leading
You need to be a clear leader in the business, if you are the business owner you need to establish your position in the business. As the small business owner you will have a clear vision, that you will need to push to achieve. Be passionate about your goals and objectives, and make it infectious. Having your team mirror your passion and drive will make it easier to achieve those set goals.
Collaborating
You need to create a ‘we’ culture in your work place. Being collaborative with your team and working together will mean better results for you and your business. For example, if your business is looking to sign a new client, work together to find new the right new prospects by sharing ideas and any connections your team may have. Working together will also make your staff feel valued and significant. It will also improve working relationships in the workplace, making a friendlier and more productive environment. You will need to ensure that you have hired the right people for your team because they are the people that will essentially help you make your dream a reality.
Decision making
Making the final decision is ultimately your job as the leader. Being effective in decision making will set an impression of you to others in your team and outside your business. Being indecisive can make you appear weak and disorganised, so take time in making decisions and then stick to them. You should also sometimes take risks, as this is how your business will grow. If you remain in your comfort zone, you may get stuck in a stagnant state. You also should ensure that you monitor how you appear and what impression you give as this will reflect on your business.
Communication
Effective communication skills are vital to your business — from internal communication amongst you and your team, to being able to successfully communicate with your suppliers, manufacturers and clients. You should take time to listen to your team members, whether this is about their personal issues that could affect their work, or a great new idea to grow the business. Ensuring that you have good level of communication with your team is vital to success. You should also communicate any changes or progression of the business, and keep the staff up to date with any relevant business news. For example, if your small business needs to start saving money, relaying this to your staff will enable them to help you.
Constructive criticism
There will be times when you feel the need to criticise a certain the way an employee is doing something. They may be doing something that is not in line with your business ethos, they could be a new employee. You need to take time to communicate with them regarding the issues and you need to be constructive about it, so you can do this by showing them the way you normally do things in your company. This is a productive way to deliver criticism, as it won’t demotivate your employee and it will also show them how you run your business.
Delegation
As a small business owner, you are likely aware of how to undertake all the jobs in order to successfully operate your business. You will also feel the need to do all these things by yourself. However you must ensure that you are using delegating skills to assign tasks to the relevant staff. You need to make sure that you are not overworking yourself and you are taking time out, as this will avoid dealing with any unnecessary stress. You need to trust your staff to carry out the tasks that you have given them, as this will give you a chance to focus on tasks that only you can carry out. Invest time in training your staff to high standard as this will mean that you are confident in delegating to them.
There are a combination of skills you need to become a good leader. Some of these will come naturally with experience, as well as trial and error. Your communication and emotional intelligence will also improve with the more experience you have in leading a team and being a leader in your workplace.
More on starting up and growing your business here.
Follow Company Bug