The majority of small business owners focus their time, attention and energy on “putting out fires” and just getting through another day….In other words they are in reactive mode all day.
They are leading their people down the path of jut doing work…they may be doing good work…but each day just feels like the last…more work for both the owners and the employees.
The most successful business leaders focus their time, attention and energy on the future – where the business is going and how it will get there. Choosing a direction and then guiding the company.
Specifically we have notice these four traits in the most successful leaders:
- Clarity – they know what is important to them (their ideals) and they have a vision of where the business is going (they are focused on the future: setting the direction, guiding the company to where it is going, know why they are going there, and are working on how they will get there.)
- Planners – they are intentional, good at organizing, prioritizing and assigning accountability for what needs to get done to reach the envisioned future. They are good at translating what needs to be done into specific actionable steps
- Execution – they are detailed oriented, they track their progress, are good at making course corrections and relentless at getting things done (resolute, determined, firm).
- Communication – they repeat themselves a lot, they ask questions to make sure people understand, they have good relationships with their people, and they use every interaction as an opportunity to coach (give feedback) to employees. They are not flamboyant speech “givers”…just regular and on-going communications.
Leadership is a learned skill. It is not an event but a process. Successful business owners actually have a teachable leadership POV, that they do teach their next generation of leaders.
