What are the best practices in leadership? According to a recent report by DDI World 2021 and an article in Forbes by Segel, E also in 2021, it has been identified that the business world is currently experiencing a leadership crisis.
Highlights include that emerging managers, who are poised to become future business leaders, lack exposure to inspiring leadership within their work environments and are often poorly prepared for their transition and this can cause mistakes to be made.
Small business owners and entrepreneurs are certainly not exempt!
Employees themselves express a strong desire to witness authentic shared vision, genuine confidence, and trust within their teams, as well as a respectful attitude towards colleagues, customers, and employees (reference).
Shockingly, the report reveals that less than 40% of managers indicated that they had not observed these desirable traits exhibited in their respective workplaces.
Few Understand What Leadership Truly Entails
Many do not understand what leadership is really all about and who can become a leader.
Small business owners, especially, rarely give this much thought as they typically busy themselves with running their business instead of providing leadership for their employees.
Leadership is first and foremost about behavior, followed by skills, regardless of whether the business is a small one or a giant corporate entity. .
Is it possible to take someone who is not a natural leader and turn them into one? What do Leaders do and what skills do they need?
The Difference Between Leadership and Management
Employees enjoy working for good leaders primarily because they trust and respect them, more than for the skills they possess.
Leadership is different from management.
Management relies more on planning, organization and communications skills. On the other hand, while leadership also relies on management skills, but even more so on a host of qualities that include:
- integrity,
- honesty,
- humility,
- courage,
- commitment,
- sincerity,
- passion,
- confidence,
- positivity,
- wisdom,
- decisive
- determination,
- compassion and,
- sensitivity
Some lucky people are born more naturally to leadership than others. More people are comfortable with the thought of becoming a manager then they are with being asked to take the position of leader.
Many people do not seek to be leaders. Fortunately, those who want to be leaders can develop leadership skills.
Too much emphasis has been placed on the running of businesses instead of leadership. Therefore, there are more aspiring managers than leaders with fewer of the former having the capability of becoming leaders in their fields.
Small Business Owners and Best Practices in Leadership
So, what about small business owners with employees? The sad truth is that most have simply found themselves in the position of owner and company leader with limited, if any, leadership skills.
Some even transition from previous managerial or non-managerial roles into leadership. This lack of leadership skills can create a crisis in leadership and play a major role in employee attrition.
Employees generally do not want to work under leaders that they do not trust, respect, or who are indecisive.
Best Practices in Leadership Style
Leadership can be performed with different styles. Some leaders have one style, which may be right for certain situations and wrong for others.
Some leaders can adapt and use different leadership styles for given situations. Some leaders are big, bold and brash characters, while others are quiet, unassuming but determined and visionary.
As a leader you must understand yourself and know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build the best team of employees around you.
Leadership is about finding the best in yourself and giving the best of yourself. Leaders always go first, setting the example, walking the talk, doing and not dabbling.
People respond to good leadership in all aspects of life, not just business. For example, a mother is a leader in her home while a son may be leader of a sport team or a daughter the leader of the debate team.
In addition, A group will rely on the person in charge to provide direction and lead them to success. A true leader is highly ethical, honest and respected.
In our society we have leaders and we also have followers. Are people born to one or the other?
The answer is an emphatic No! But, can you learn or finetune your leadership skills? Most certainly!
9 Strategies to Avoid Crises in Leadership
There are some key strategies you must adopt if you are to avoid a crises in your leadership. These are:
Visionary Thinking: Think BIG! Do not erect a ceiling. Instead, set no limit as to how big or how much better something can be. By aiming high, you can get more accomplished even if you do not hit your target.
Establish Goals: Set goals and never lose focus of them in your daily operational activities.
Establish Milestones That Lead to The Final Product or Service: Make sure that everyone understands what the final product or service offering is and HOW this will be accomplished.
Develop the Ability to Get Compliance to Orders: Employees must have belief in your vision to ginger them to be compliant to company orders and direction.
Learn to Delegate: You cannot get everything done by yourself no matter how good you are. If you try to do so, you will eventually burn out. That’s why you have employees working for your company.
You hired each one for a reason! Learn to delegate sufficient authority to your managers. Delegation is an acquired skill. If you do not know how to do this, GET ASSISTANCE
Learn to Motivate and Keep Your Team Motivated : Sounds easy? Not quite! This goes beyond the daily or weekly team meetings. What works well in one business may not necessarily work in yours.
Understand the company dynamics before you strategize on ways to keep employees motivated. Of course if you need assistance CONTACT US
Be Decisive in Decision Making: There is nothing worse than having a leader who finds it difficult to make decisions in a timely manner. Do not be that leader! Learn to be decisive in decision making. LEARN HOW
Learn How to Hire Employees that are a Good Fit: Do not do this through instinct on based on an urgent timeline. In the absence of an HR department, the business owner also serves as the hiring manager. Work the hiring process with no short cuts. TO LEARN MORE CLICK HERE
Provide Recognition and Reward Employees – Recognize and reward someone when a job is well done.
People follow leaders willingly if they are honest, ethical, consistent and treat them with respect.
Conclusion – Best Practices in Leadership
For you to follow the best practices in Leadership starts with a willingness and desire to walk in that role. You cannot make a change without doing so.
References
Segal, E. (2021) Latest Corporate Crisis: Only 11% Of Surveyed Companies Have A Strong Leadership Bench https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2021/05/19/only-11-of-companies-have-a-strong-leadership-bench-according-to-new-study/?sh=16ef46762b62
DDI World (2021) Leadership Transitions Report 2021 https://www.ddiworld.com/research/leadership-transitions-report
