Having your own business sounds like achieving a dream, but does a small business need leadership?
Of course, and a good one as well!
In this article, you can read what makes a good leader and why even small businesses need a good leader. Also, you can find out what it means to be a leader and can you learn behaviours that can help you in future events. What is more, you will be given a piece of advice about how to react and lead in crisis and different situations, so be sure to read till the end to find all useful information!
What Traits Does A Leader Have?
Many traits can describe a good leader and usually they depend on the situation and type of leadership. For example, if you work in a highly creative business, you should be creative and innovative. But, most traits are usually the same for the leader to have. You have to be well-organised and ready to make an example with your work. Also, a good leader is proactive and charismatic which motivates people to achieve their dreams and goals. Also, some decisions and moves need the courage to make, so a good leader is courageous and decisive. All in all, a good leader can think combining with personal traits makes a good and inspirational leader.How To Make A Good Plan?
A good leader is organised, but the first step is to make a good plan. If you are a visual type, writing everything down might help you. A plan should be smartly written, but also realistic and measurable. If you make an unrealistic plan, this will lead to disappointment and you won't be able to follow steps. Also, the plan should be measurable, so you can track your progress or work of your employees. A good plan is your prediction of the final goal and how you can reach it. In the meantime, you can involve possible problems in the future and use some of the analysis processes to define your threats or possibilities.How To Share Your Vision?
Sharing your vision and the final plan is usually very abstract, so many people won't understand it the way you imagined. Yet, it is important to familiarize people with the plan and share your ideas. Open dialogue may help you see your weakness and upgrade your plane for the good of all involved. It provides direction for your work and inspires people to work better. Also, some may have your vision as a personal goal, and getting that kind of help from your employees is critical to be successful. If you want people to understand and support your vision, you have to be ready to explain it and keep it vivid and present at any moment.How To Stand For Your Beliefs?
Having a vision and getting it into realness is two different processes. Sometimes, you will need to show everybody that you stand after your decisions and that you believe in your and other`s work. People appreciate the continuity and it helps them have stability and channel their energy into meaningful work. Sharing your opinion out loud is prone to criticism and sometimes it is hard to defend it if everybody is against you. Yet, the willingness and power of a true leader are shown if you can admit that you were wrong, but if you always stand after your beliefs. After all, you are the one responsible for the money, people and management, so keeping professionalism and sticking to your plan must be your priority.Can You Inspire Others?
You have to be sure about your decisions so you can inspire and motivate others around you. Being inspirational isn’t just a personal trait or a possibility to always stay and optimist, no matter what. Some techniques will help you keep people motivated and part of the process. One is constant and honest communication and often meeting where you communicate news and ideas. This can be updated via newsletters or by mail, but more open dialogue is always in life. Motivating people is especially important in a small business where everyone should do their job to see the result. If something is failing, then there won't be results. That's why a leader must be the team player and equal to the others in the team. That won`t only make your team successful, but also gain trust and respect.How To Make Company Cohesive?
If you want to succeed, you need to have a good and cohesive team that will support you and share your mission. Small companies should be cohesive and work together to make a result, so this is an important part of your work as a leader. People are individuals with their visions, beliefs and ideas, so you have to incorporate them into your final goal. Also, you have to solve problems immediately to avoid groups and gossip that may be bad for your work. A leader must be a good listener and show empathy that will help people feel understood and accepted. Even if you have your problems, you should put them aside and always keep professionalism.Learn How To Communicate
Communication is a key to success. This isn’t only about sharing your vision and motivating people, but it is everyday communication and a situation where you need to improve your behaviour and skills. To communicate is natural to every person, but you need to know how to get the most from your words and demands. A good communication combines straight and unambiguous messages with a proper non-verbal language. Your appearance and gestures say a lot about you, so be sure to present yourself and your thoughts in the best way possible. There are many courses where you can learn how to argue properly and which tone to use in which situation. Be careful, because most small businesses have very personal bonds and arguing can lead to unsatisfying results.Why Do You Need To Have A Crisis Plan?
Being prepared means you will have to control over the crisis or unexpected situation when it occurs. Crisis management is an important role of a leader of a small business since all control is in their hands. A crisis plan for some of the most possible situations is a good way to prevent panic and unwanted loss. Also, it is a good idea to learn how to react in a crisis and how to keep positive and find the easiest way out of it. Also, don’t just sit and wait for the crisis to solve, learn how to prevent further spreading. Be aware of your weakest points and accept and recognize when you need to react.Can You Learn To Be A Leader?
Some parts of a leader must have personal traits, but most of the behaviour can be learnt. The small business leadership is special and involves a lot of commitment and time for things to work. Yet, you can learn from each of your mistakes and try to be as much prepared as you can in the beginning. What is more, there are many courses, even free and online, that can help you upgrade your knowledge and prepare you for some future challenges. This is a great way to widen your practical skills and learn something new from the more experienced people that have been in the same or similar situation. Also, you can always ask to act in a situation, which is a great indicator if you have understood the theory, and be prepared for future situations.Is The Leader The Only Responsible?
If you own a small business, you will be the only responsible for major decisions and money you can gain. But, for the practical work done by an employee, you aren’t responsible. Yet, if there is some major mistake that affects your work, you should indicate it without punishing the responsible person or putting them into an embarrassing position. This can usually lead to counter effect and demotivate a person for further work. Yet, some major decisions in small business are usually your responsibility and if you aren’t sure, you can always ask for other advice. This won't show your weakness, but the ability to adapt as a leader.Don't forget to check out more interesting articles:
About the Author:
Susan has worked as an HR for a long time and started writing helpful articles on the Officeneedle site. Thanks to long experience, she was able to organise her knowledge and write interesting articles about office life. There you can find many useful tips on how to make work in the office more efficient and get better results, whether you just work in the office or own your business.
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