If you want to really grow your business this year, you need to answer one important question:
Are you a Manager or a Leader?
A manager does things right to facilitate a process.
A leader does the right things to create growth.
Do you increase the effectiveness of the people around you and see growth as a result?
That’s the mark of a good leader.
Most business owners go into business and most employees become managers because they do their job well.
They may have been the best widget maker on the team, so when the vacancy for widget manager came up or the chance to open their own widget company, the choice was obvious.
But as new managers and business owners quickly find out, being a good leader takes more than being a good worker or subject matter expert.
Your top performance may have drawn you into your role. Now you need to develop your leadership skills to grow the business.
Managers keep their business running, but leaders keep their business growing.
So which are you? Here’s a quick checklist to see.
Which of these business growth leadership behaviors do you do:
– Facilitate your employees’ learning
– Coach your employees
There’s a big difference between providing learning and coaching, and a good leader needs to do both well.
– Provide vision, direction and inspiration
– Spark, encourage and implement ideas from your team
– Hold off relying solely on your own ideas or history of success (even though we know you’re good!)
Businesses, like living things, that fail to evolve and adapt become stagnant and eventually die
– Involve your employees in the business planning and decision-making processes
– Create an environment of collaboration and within it, foster healthy competition
Of course not every decision should be heavily weighed in on or debated by employees, but people are generally motivated and successful when they see they’ve been heard, are a member of a team and a community, and are a part of creating and executing a plan.
– Know when to ask rather than answer critical questions of their team
– Give your employees empowerment and certain levels of autonomy
Your staff can grow to make better, faster decisions when they are given the support to learn and opportunities to take initiative… and at times to fail.
– Know when and how to apply different leadership techniques:
Macro-managing, micro-managing, teaching, coaching, asking, mandating, rewarding, reprimanding, collaborating, appeasing, avoiding, challenging, encouraging, and many others should be ready and in your toolbox…
Your management style should be consistent enough to provide stability and predictability to your employees, so they can learn what to expect and how to act, but also adaptive and fluid to the many needs of the people you’re leading, the nature of the situation, and desired outcomes for your project, initiative or strategy.
And always remember….
Learn from the people around you in order to formulate and implement the best strategies, foster growth, share the work and the recognition, and move your team and business forward.
Your friend and coach,
Jason Rosado
Want more growth? Schedule a short chat to see your business grow faster this year:
https://calendly.com/distinctive-coaching/15min-business-success
“Helping business leaders grow revenue by 50–300%, create a thriving organization, a proud legacy and financial security.”
Jason E. Rosado
Business & Executive Coach
Distinctive Coaching for Business Success
Certified Big Money Business Coach
