4 Simple Leadership Steps to Lead Your Team, And Yourself.

Many entrepreneurs hone in on business 101; sell for more than buy and keep the most profit you can.

Nothing wrong with this approach until you become so focused on this alone that you become blind to everything and everyone else.

I have worked with a good number of business owners who are so fixated on the bottom line that they have a complete disregard for their staff, customers and even themselves.

One of the first questions I ask them relates directly to what’s most important to them (the money), “How much money could you be losing by running your business this way?”

The words “losing money” are often enough to get their attention and start them thinking about more effective ways of doing business, for their sake and their business’s.

Whether you’re running a business alone, have a co-founder or team, leadership begins with one person, you.

This article shares 4 simple strategies to dramatically enhance your leadership and translate this development into income.

How Not To Lead

I recently spent considerable time with two clients who surprisingly had a lot in common:

both are restauranteurs from the same city and both run their businesses with an iron-fist.

The younger ignores his staff when he arrives at work while the elder shouts at them.

One tracks every single detail in his business while the other tracks nothing.

One manages 19 restaurants and the other, 1.

They are both stressed, frustrated and while financially successful, internally unfulfilled.

These business owners, like many others, take an autocratic approach, dictating how their business should be run and as soon as something isn’t executed exatly as they wish, conflict is created and stress levels soar.

These types of leaders have high expectations and low demonstration. By demonstration, I’m refering to leading by example which starts on the inside.

Lead Yourself To Lead Others

Leadership begins on the inside. If you cannot lead yourself, you cannot lead others.

Raise your own standards

Recognising what is and isn’t acceptable to you is one way to start to raise your own standards, across all areas of your life, especially how you treat yourself.

Are you nourishing your mind, body and heart every day?

Are you constantly developing and honing your skills?

Are you taking on new and diverse challenges or ways of doing and being?

If you are not committed to developing a constantly better version of yourself, how can you expect others to contribute to your business’s growth?

Everything you are Being is reflected back to you in the people and environment around you.

Being moody or pretentious. No coincidence your staff are being the same.

Optimistic and inclusive? No wonder those around you are coming up with fresh ideas and new possibilities.

Integration over separation

Human-beings tend to compartmentalise different areas of our life. It helps us manage each compartment, at least in our minds. However, when we create compartments, we create separation and separation often leads to witholding and distance, on all levels.

Owners who realise that business is just another part of their life (rather than their whole life) are better able to bring all of themselves, to each commitment without fear of sacrificing another.

When we are able to appreciate that family, well-being and work all cross-over and impact each other, we allow empathy to enter our leadership, for ourselves and others.

In practice, this looks like more open conversations with spouses about work and appreciation for colleagues’ personal or social life.

We essentially remove the conflict of splitting our time, energy and other resources between different areas as we begin to experience everything as one.

As a result, we start to relax more and bring forth a more proactive and productive version of ourselves.

Leading Others

When we have a firm foundation is constantly developing ourselves and our own leadership, only then are we capable of leading others in some capacity.

(Hire to) Admire

You co-founder, staff and everyone you surround yourself with, should be people whom you admire and inspire you.

When creating a team for your business, hire above you, not below. Onboard people who have the skills, knowledge and energy you don’t which creates an opportunity for you to learn from each other.

With both of my clients, they hired well “below” them and then criticised their people for not being good enough or motivated enough. They are looking down at them.

Show vs tell.

It’s easy to tell someone what to do or how and then expect them to do it as well as you.

Remember when you were at school and your teacher explained a concept that left you confused and ashamed to ask for an explanation? That’s how employees can feel when you tell them something new rather than show them.

Lead by example and demonstrate what you expect of them. Show them how the specific is task is performed, guiding them to do it for themselves with supervision initially.

Reward or celebrate their progress together and create a true sense of connection and team.

Change from talking the talk to walking the walk.

Action

This is an opportunity for to reflect on your own leadership, and not just in your business, but in your life too. Be the CEO of your personal life as well as the business.

(I dedicate an entire chapter to this concept in The Successful Solopreneur”.

You have an opportunity to make a positive impact and contribution to your life and the life of everyone around you. Seize it.

Wishing you the absolute very best,

Stefano