Leading Others

To begin, it is important to recognise the difference between being a manager and a leader:

  • Managers achieve results by directing the activities of others. They plan activities, organise structures and control resources.
  • Leaders achieve results by creating a shared goal and inspiring others to want to achieve it.

Business owners need to cultivate leadership skills if they are to effectively play the formal managerial roles they occupy. Here are some key ways to lead through others:

Create a culture – Over time, your company will develop a unique identity of its own which is communicated in the typical attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of the people who work there. Left to itself, this culture will grow like a weed, anywhere it finds nourishment. The results may be at odds with the image you want to convey to customers and may work against your competitive advantage. Instead, you should deliberately create the culture you want.

As a leader, you play a key role in setting an example that others can follow. If you want people to provide high-quality service to customers, then you need to model that behaviour. The same goes for your treatment of employees – if you are seen to value loyalty and honesty, then your employees will value those too. Don’t ask your staff to do anything which you are not prepared to do yourself.

Connect to motivation – Owners sometimes complain that their employees lack motivation or don’t seem motivated to succeed. This is a mistaken view. Every employee is motivated to behave in the way they currently do. If they appear lazy, the reason may lie in how they perceive their efforts were treated. If they appear bored, the reason may lie in them not having variety in their work. If they treat customers badly, the reason may lie in them having no investment in customers being satisfied. Examine what systems of rewards are really operating and change them to reward the behaviour you want instead.

Empower your employees by giving them more control over how their work is done, more say in what work they do and more responsibility for suggesting what work needs to be done and how improvements can be made. The more pride of ownership you can cultivate in your employees for the work that they personally do, the higher the quality of their output will be. Any employee would prefer to be enthusiastic rather than bored – the key is finding how each employee’s motivation can be aligned with the company’s success. Decide what your team members are good at and give them the freedom and resources to get the job done without needing you around.

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