BASIC STEPS TO HELP BUILD STRONG LEADERSHIP ABILITIES AND QUALITIES

BUSINESS 101: BEN BIERMANN

NELSON Mandela once said: “A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the nimblest go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realising that all along they are being directed from behind.”

The truth, however, is that few people are born leaders and in trying times even the strongest sometimes struggle to present a brave face and lead successfully.

It is important that a small business owner realises that in how the business and its employees are managed.

If the owner’s leadership skills are lacking, it is imperative to take appropriate action to improve these skills.

Here are some basic steps to build leadership confidence and abilities:

Trust

Your role as a leader gives you power to inspire and provide guidance. However, using your influence would have the biggest impact when there is trust.

American author Stephen Covey said a team with high trust would produce results faster and at lower cost.

As such, it is important for business owners to invest time to familiarise themselves with their employees in order to build trust and to know how to use their influence to get things done in order to increase productivity and effectiveness.

Strengths

It is important for small business owners to work with their strengths and improve on their weaknesses in order to boost confidence. They should remember: Don’t waste time worrying about what they can’t do, instead focus on what they can do.

Fear

They shouldn’t allow fear to prevent them from reaching your full potential. They should try new things, make new contacts and take certain risks.

If a small business owner does not venture out of their comfort zone, it will restrict their growth as a leader and can be detrimental to the company.

Innovation

A leader does not let obstacles get in the way of their success.

Business owners should not be afraid to tackle problems headon. They should be creative about finding solutions – something which should come naturally to entrepreneurs as many of them are innovators, having recognised a trend in an industry or identified a shortcoming, and then proactively created a solution to capitalise on a demand or overcome the problem at hand.

Mentorship

Small business owners should find themselves a mentor who has a proven track record of being a good leader. This can be done by identifying the traits they would like to develop within themselves.

Mentors provide counselling and support, based on experience, knowledge, skills and wisdom.

Intelligence

The need for an entrepreneur to have good communication and people skills cannot be overlooked.

Assertiveness, approachability, conflict-resolution skills and so on all go a long way towards effectively managing employees, service providers and customers.

It’s essential they realise the importance of how they deal with their own emotions and relate to others. But gurus will tell you that this human touch, also referred to as emotional intelligence, can set a business apart and increase their competitiveness.

Ben Bierman is a managing director at Business Partners Limited