In theory this should be a winning recipe for success, but it isn’t. There is one thing that so often gets overlooked, and that is how you as a business owner lead your business and team.

You can have the best products and services, the most skilled individuals on the pay-roll, the perfect model, but without your leadership, the business cannot be sustained. A business cannot successfully operate on auto-pilot, it must be driven by you the business leader.

What does this mean in practical terms? How do you lead your business well?

1. Visionary Thinking: A good leader has a clear vision for the future and, very importantly doesn’t keep it to themselves, but is able to communicate this vision consistently and effectively to inspire and motivate their team. Good people want to be lead, they want to be working towards a goal that is bigger than themselves, to be part of a collective vision. It is the leader’s role to provide that clear vision to all.
2. Effective Communication: Good leaders are excellent communicators. They listen actively to seek understanding, provide clear instructions, and ensure that there is open, non-judgemental and honest communication within the team. They keep everyone informed and aligned with the business objectives. Good leaders know that effective communication builds trust, which is an essential component of a strong business foundation.
3. Integrity and Ethical Behaviour: A good leader acts with integrity and maintains high ethical standards. They lead by example, demonstrating honesty, fairness, and accountability in all their actions. They do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
4. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: Understanding and managing one’s own emotions, as well as empathising with others, is crucial for a good leader. They are able to build strong relationships, manage conflicts, and create a supportive and inclusive work environment.
5. Decisiveness: Good leaders make decisions confidently and promptly, even in uncertain situations. They gather necessary information and  include specialist within the business if required. They weigh up the pros and cons, and they always take responsibility for their choices, learning from and sharing any mistakes with others. No blame, no judgement or denial.
6. Adaptability and Resilience: In a constantly changing business environment, good leaders are adaptable and resilient. They embrace change, stay positive, and guide their team through challenges and setbacks with determination and flexibility.
7. Empowerment and Delegation: A good leader trusts their team and empowers them by delegating tasks and responsibilities. They provide the necessary resources and support, allowing team members to grow, develop, and take ownership of their work.
8. Continuous Learning and Development: Good leaders are committed to their own personal and professional development as well as that of their team. They seek out new knowledge, skills, and experiences, and encourage continuous learning within the organisation. The goal is to build a learning organisation, where knowledge and skills are not lost when someone leaves. That information is passed down from one person to the next, ensuring not only that the knowledge is maintained, but that all individuals are operating confidently in their roles.
9. Collaboration, Inclusion and Team Building: A good leader fosters a collaborative work environment where teamwork is valued. They build strong teams by recognising individual strengths, promoting cooperation, and ensuring that everyone feels valued and included.
10. Results-Oriented and Accountable: Good leaders are focused on achieving results and hold themselves and their team accountable for performance. They set clear goals, monitor progress, provide feedback, and celebrate successes while addressing areas for improvement constructively.

None of the above points have anything to do with financial models, product development or marketing strategies. These points are fundamental in achieving your success. I believe that once business owners understand the importance of being great leaders, only then will they run exceptional businesses.

What do you need to start working on to become a good leader within your business?

Over the past year I’ve seen a number of “experts” present guidelines around how to network well. Some advice I’ve taken on board and used, which has been great and others I’ve done a hard pass on.

1. BE GENUINE

• Practise active listening. Instead of thinking about your next line, just listen to the other person.
• Don’t interrupt the person
• Give them 100% eye contact when they are talking. Looking at your phone or watch does not keep you engaged.
• Going into the conversation, ask yourself “what am I going to learn here?” instead of “what am I getting out of this?”
• Paying lip-service is also not recommended. Insincere comments or creating a false image of support will backfire on you.

2. GIVE FIRST 

• One of them is a vegetarian and cannot eat the bacon or egg in the pasta
• One of them is lactose intolerant and cannot eat the milk based sauce
• One of them is celiac and cannot eat the pasta

• Some people prefer clear, detailed instructions before starting off a new project and others will jump in and figure it out as they go
• Some people like to work in teams and others independently
• Some people need to be motivated by others and some people are intrinsically motivated
• Some people naturally like to lead while others follow
• Some people love change and get super excited about the idea of change, other people need to feel safe during the change process

1. Start Early and Plan Strategically

2. Identify and Develop Talent

3. Create a Succession Pipeline

4. Document and Communicate the Plan

5. Test and Adjust the Plan

1. Be more empathetic:

   • This is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. To actively do that, always be curious, enter the conversation by putting yourself in the other person’s shoes and seeing the situation from their perspective. This can help you better understand their thoughts and emotions. This also makes you less judgemental and more open to listening.

2. Practise active listening:

   • This is probably one of the hardest things to do. Instead of formulating your response while they are talking, focus on what they are saying. This will help you better grasp their point of view and therefore start understanding why they may have a different opinion to you. Listening with no agenda.

3. Be curious and ask questions:

   • This helps to clarify. Asking open-ended questions, not only shows that you are interested in their viewpoint but also helps you gain a deeper understanding of their thoughts and feelings.

4. Cultivate Open-Mindedness:

   • Be open to the idea that your way of thinking is not the only valid perspective. This can be a toughie, especially if you are very set on your opinion! Recognising and respecting that different people have different backgrounds, experiences, cultures and belief systems that shape their views.

5. Respect Differences:

   • Just because someone thinks differently doesn’t make them wrong. Disagreements or healthy debates can lead to productive, lively open discussions and learning opportunities. Always be respectful, always!

6. Avoid making assumptions:

   • Never ever assume that others share your beliefs or thought processes. Making assumptions about what someone thinks can lead to misunderstandings, conflict and all kinds of upset and negative consequences.

7. Manage Your Reactions:

   • This is probably one of the most important points. If you encounter a perspective that challenges your own, practice self-control and emotional intelligence. Avoid reacting impulsively, and instead, take a moment to consider the other person’s viewpoint before responding. Remember, we will never agree with everyone we meet. We will never all share the same viewpoints, but we can always be respectful and manage how we behave.

8. Seek Common Ground:

   • Find commonalities or shared goals with others if there is a difference of opinions. Emphasising shared interests can help bridge gaps in understanding and create a more collaborative atmosphere.

9. Reflect on Your Own Biases:

   • Recognise that everyone has biases. Reflect on your own biases and how they might influence your thinking and reactions to others. Being aware of your biases can help you be more open-minded.

10. Agree to Disagree:

    • Sometimes, people will have fundamentally different perspectives that may not be reconciled. In such cases, it’s okay to agree to disagree and maintain a respectful and civil relationship.

11. Learn from Differences:

    • Embrace the opportunity to learn from others who think differently. Always go into a conversation with the objective of wanting to learn. Exposure to diverse perspectives can broaden your own understanding and lead to personal growth.

12. Practice Patience:

    • Changing one’s perspective or mindset can take time. Be patient with others as they navigate their own beliefs and thought processes.

Attitude

• • Believing that not having a plan will bring achievement . Without a well-thought-out business plan, business owners will struggle to define their goals, target audience, competition, and strategies for growth. A solid plan is crucial for guiding the business and making informed decisions. A good plan not only reminds you what you should be focusing on, but it also reminds you what you shouldn’t be focusing on. Convincing yourself that not planning will save you time, is the first step to failure.
  • Not including your target audience in product/service research and development. Failing to understand the needs, pain points, challenges, frustrations and behaviours of your target audience can lead to products or services that don’t resonate with customers.
  • Not adopting a learning and adapting culture within the business. Markets, technologies, and customer preferences are constantly evolving. Businesses that are unable or unwilling to adapt to these changes can quickly become obsolete.
  • Ignoring competitors.  Ignoring or underestimating competitors can leave a business vulnerable. Understanding the competitive landscape is crucial for differentiation and strategic positioning.
  • Believing that growth will result in instant success. Premature scaling without a strong foundation can strain resources. Sometimes growth is not the answer to success.
  • Underestimating the importance of your employees. Building the right team with the necessary skills and a shared vision is essential for executing business plans effectively. Not investing in your people will result in high employee turnover, and unengaged and unmotivated individuals. This is definitely not a good environment to be working in every day.
  • Ignoring the macro-environment. Not taking external environment factors into consideration when planning. Economic downturns, changes in industry trends, natural disasters, technological changes, legal requirements and social changes can directly impact the business. How will these factors be managed?

Behaviour

• • Poor Financial Management. Mismanaging finances, overspending, underestimating costs, and failing to secure adequate funding can lead to cash flow problems and ultimately business failure.
  • Inconsistent marketing and sales initiatives. Even if you have a great product or service, poor marketing and sales efforts can prevent potential customers from finding out about it. You will remain a best kept secret, which doesn’t help your top-line.
  • Complacency and lack of innovation. Failing to innovate and introduce new products, services, or processes can lead to stagnation and loss of market relevance and market share.
  • Complacency and lack of new customer acquisition. Dependence on a single customer or supplier can create vulnerability if that relationship changes or ends.
  • Poor customer service. Without the customers you will have no business. Treating them with respect and going the extra mile is not a cliche, it works!

Skill set

• • Insufficient personal and professional development. Not every business owner will be a natural leader or manager. Recognising this upfront and addressing this weakness makes good business sense. Successful business owners need strong leadership skills to manage teams, suppliers, customers, make tough decisions, and adapt to changing circumstances, irrespective of how big or small the business is.
  • Lack of training and development for all team members. Poor or no training and development will not only stifle the growth of the business, but also create closed-minded and demotivated team members.

As stated above, successful business owners learn from their mistakes and adapt their strategies accordingly.

What do you need to start changing?

1. Adaptability and Innovation

A learning organisation is better equipped to adapt to changes in the market, technology, and industry trends. Employees are encouraged to be curious and open to new ideas, which leads to innovation and the ability to seize new opportunities.

How can you achieve this?

• Encourage your team to share their ideas and thoughts of how “to do things” better.
• Incentivise your team for their creativity and innovative suggestions.
• Encourage mistake sharing and solution building.

2. Competitive Advantage

• Promote professional and personal development in the business
• Building training and development programmes into your business strategy
• Incentives learning initiatives.
• Promote learning as company norm.

3. Employee Engagement and Retention

• Ensure that training and development initiatives are part of the employee remuneration package.
• Have growth plans and actions as a measurement on the employee performance appraisal.

4. Problem Solving and Decision Making

• Allow the team to come up with their own solution suggestions
• Encourage team members to share problems and solutions with each other
• Schedule regular think tank sessions and brainstorming sessions for the wider team.

5. Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration

• Encourage team members to share their knowledge with their team mates
• Schedule job shares and job shadow sessions

6. Talent Development

• Every role and team members has a career path training plan
• Invest in training and development resources (in-house and outsourced)

7. Resilience to Change

• Assign key members of the team to take on the roles of change agents.
• Encourage the idea of change. Discuss the positives around change and remove the taboo that the idea of “change” brings into the workplace.
• Constantly keep the team up to date with what is taking place within the business. The more you communicate with them, the less uncertainty around change there is.

8. Customer Satisfaction

• Encourage external customers to share their feedback by having regular surveys, digital feedback platforms, etc
• Ensure there is an annual internal customer satisfaction or employee satisfaction survey in the business.
• Conduct exit interviews

9. Continuous Improvement

• Conduct regular (quarterly and annual) SWOT analyses of the business. Looking at all areas, to ensure that all gaps and weak areas are rectified.

10. Future-Proofing

Here are some outcomes from working with a coach:

1. Enhanced Self-Awareness:

Executive coaches help leaders gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots. Through assessments, feedback, and reflective conversations, coaches assist executives in recognising their behavioural patterns and personal biases, enabling them to make more informed decisions and develop effective leadership strategies.

2. Skill Development:

3. Objective Feedback:

4. Goal Setting and Accountability:

5. Improved Decision-Making:

6. Stress Management and Work-Life Balance:

7. Conflict Resolution and Relationship Building:

8. Career Development: