Better leadership equals a better business

Being in charge isn’t easy, but improving your leadership is the way to bigger business returns, writes Zac de Silva.

There are many reasons why most businesses do not become a big success. Mostly, it’s due to how they are run. We all want to be seen as an effective leader and manager, yet so many leaders in business are sabotaging themselves by performing as a ‘C Grade’ leader.

If only they would do some of the harder things that the best do. Here are a few tips:

Make hard decisions and follow through on them in a timely manner. Many leaders have been

sitting on their hands for too long. What decisions and things in your business have you been turning a blind eye to? Are you strong enough to do something about them this week, or will you stick with the status quo and continue to ignore them?

Good leaders free their time up from fire fighting and make more time to be future-focused. They have a good to great idea of where they are going to end up a few years from now business-wise, and how to get there. They get their team really excited about where the business is heading, because human beings love being a part of something futurefocused and bigger than themselves.

Many leaders are doing things that they don’t enjoy and neither are they good at them. Everyone has their own personal, unique abilities. A leader’s time is worth a lot of money per hour. The best leaders have built their team so they are able to focus on the things that make the big profits for the business.

Some people say to me: ‘‘I can’t afford more resource to take some of the work off my shoulders.’’ But I tell them they would be able to afford what they need, if they were able to put more time into the business, meaning this new cost has a positive ROI (return on investment).

If you use your time wisely, you can afford the help. The impact can be massive when you are able to get to those things that will make all the difference for your business.

The best leaders I see are those who hold their team and individuals accountable. Accountable means you have those hard conversations and equally, ensure your people are delivering to their responsibilities. Who are you not holding accountable in your business? What will you do about it?

Remember too that the best leaders openly ask their team how they can improve themselves. When was the last time you asked someone in your team what you could do better?

Being an effective leader will make all the difference to your business and team’s performance. Great leaders make the hard decisions needed, and put their time into the things that will make their business successful in the medium to long-term. If your business or team is not going as well as it could, how much of that is due to your performance?

Zac de Silva is an award winning business coach and owner of businesschanging.com as well as being the co-founder of the Nurture Change Business Retreat in Fiji.

If you like the questions that Zac poses, check out www.accme.co which has information to get you thinking on how to run a better business and be a better leader.