How to be an effective leader of your business

Most business owners realise that strong leadership is an absolute must when running any business. A business and its employees need direction and clear targets to work towards, whilst remaining true to any values your business has determined as being important along the way. A good, productive culture is also crucial and tends to be determined and modelled by senior management. So how do you go about setting yourself up to be a great leader for your business, and how do you maintain it?

What makes a good leader?

An effective leader generally needs to do the following:

• Set firm but realistic goals for everyone to work towards. These can be both larger, long term business goals, as well as individual day-to-day, shorter term goals. This gives everyone something tangible to aim for, and keeps everyone on the same page.
• Delegate as many day-to-day tasks where possible to staff. This frees you up to focus on the big picture planning etc., and empowers staff to take on more responsibility.
• Recognise and reward your staff for a job well done, no matter how big or small that may be. Meeting a sales target, providing superb customer service, or simply helping a team member when business is busy, are all worthwhile achievements. If staff feel valued, they are more likely to respect you and the business and work hard for you.
• Become a great problem solver! Being in a leadership position often requires you to solve problems, settle disputes, or assist staff in becoming more efficient with their day-to-day tasks.
• Remain attentive and accessible to staff, and be a great communicator! Keeping open lines of communication with staff will promote a great company culture. Staff need to feel comfortable coming to you for advice, and they often appreciate knowing where the business might be headed, where any challenges lie, or where the team has been successful.

How do you learn to be an effective leader?

So how do you become a great leader whom your staff will look up to and respect? For some business owners, leadership comes easily and is second nature. For other owners, it can be completely foreign. Either way, you should never stop learning to be a better leader.

If you struggle with leadership, taking a leadership or staff management style course might be beneficial. It can also help to network with other more experienced business owners or leadership team members, to learn as much as possible from them and their experiences. You can also learn a lot from your staff. Ask staff members for honest feedback on a regular basis – this may highlight areas where you can improve your leadership.

Struggling to make or meet your business and leadership goals? Give our experienced team at Hart Partners a call on (03) 9600 3220to find out how we can help empower you and your business to succeed.