When you start running a business, there’s a good chance you’re the only person involved. But if you are truly focusing on your business, you will soon find yourself in a position where your business is growing and becoming something more significant. You set up a dedicated office, you bring in a whole team of employees, and you turn your business into something more than you could have possibly imagined. This can be wonderful but it can also bring a whole host of challenges with it. One of the biggest challenges is that you’re no longer just a business owner, you’re also leading a team. That’s not something that everyone is entirely prepared to do and it can be extremely difficult.
With that in mind, here are some things you can do to ensure that you’re the right leader for your business.
Be willing to learn from different places
It’s great to read articles on business blogs and websites when you’re trying to better understand how to run your business. However, it’s important to understand that there are often plenty of things that you can learn from industries outside of your own. For example, Philip McTigue has huge amounts of experience working with the military and, even if your business has no connection with the military whatsoever, there are plenty of valuable things you can learn from him and that industry. From the importance of clear communication to teamwork to understanding how to embrace new technologies, you can learn a great deal from what other industries are doing.
Listen to your employees
All too often business owners assume they know what they’re doing far better than their employees possibly could simply because they are the ones at the top. However, you need to remember your employees have a perspective on your business that you might never have. You might have the bird’s eye view, but they’re the ones on the ground floor. If they come to you with concerns or issues you should never just dismiss them outright. You need to make sure to listen to what they have to say and be open to feedback at all times.
Embrace failure
Here’s something that far too many business owners don’t want to accept: things are going to go wrong in your business. There really isn’t much that you can do about that. However, what you can choose is how you respond to that failure. If you refuse to accept it then you’re just going to dig yourself into a deeper and deeper hole. However, by embracing it and learning from it you can carry your business forward stronger than ever.
It’s important to remember becoming a great leader or your team isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight. Especially in the early days, when you may not be 100% sure of what direction you want to take. That being said, the last thing you want to do is to fall into the trap of giving up at the first hurdle because things got difficult. The only way to be a truly great leader is to make sure you never give up, even when things get tough. Here’s to YOUR success!
Carolyn R. Owens has over 25 years of proven experience and serves as a Career Strategist, Leadership and Life Coach. She is the Chairwoman and CEO of Infinity Coaching, Inc. where they help you up-level your skills so you can up-level your income. Infinity Coaching, Inc. provides one-on-one and group coaching, organizational training, and personality assessments. Carolyn is certified to give both The Energy Leadership Index Assessment and Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Assessment. You can find out more about both assessments and other products and services athttps://infinitycoaching.net.
