5 Essential Leadership skills we should develop for running a Small Business.

Not everyone is a born leader, but it is one of the essential criteria required to make your entrepreneurial dream a success. As a small business owner, it is necessary you possess certain leadership qualities to get through all the challenges that you face.

There are multiple skills you should exhibit to make your dream a reality. From creating a ‘we’ culture in your office workspace to being a helpful leader, you’ll have a lot of responsibilities. Here are some essential skills that you must have to lead a healthy and successful business.

 1. Having a Strategic Vision

If you are visualizing a successful future then you need to have a vision for your small business. If you need to learn something about the vision then it’s about what you want your business to be in a certain time.

Let’s say you started an e-commerce business and now you have a goal to gain certain percentage in the market.

Again, there is a rule. You cannot blindly make a vision. It should be realistic, credible, inspirational/motivational, and futuristic. For instance, it looks unrealistic if you plan to overtake Amazon in less than a year. Your team may not support your vision. For the reason, you should have a right, strategic vision that attracts more people and helps you make informed decisions.

2. Be an Organized Leader

As a small business owner, you may have many tasks to manage. This doesn’t mean you somehow manage and leave the things like that. You have to address the tasks efficiently and effectively.

If you have good organizational skills, your multi-tasking efforts will be successful. Suppose, if you are a disorganized leader, then even searching a small sheet of paper will be challenging for you. You might spend half of your day looking for a sheet of paper rather than focusing on your business. Even your employees would feel stressed and least productive working under a disorganized leader. In addition to that, there are a lot of other things that will suffer. Your disorganized behaviour may affect your finances. You lose track of invoices or bills that are to be paid and you’ll be in a complete mess.  

Being organized helps you manage time. Making decisions for everyday problems will be much easier. Your actions will motivate your employees to stay organized and help them give their best to your organization.

3. Be a Good Listener & Great Communicator 

    (Motivate & Mentor)

When someone says a good leader should have great communication skills that mean he should possess both speaking and listening skills.

Listening to your employees will make you more productive. That’s because, you’ll take their inputs, acquire information that may prove beneficial to your business. When you implement their feedback, you’ll not just gain their trust but make valuable changes.

Also, when you want to communicate something, appear more affirmative in your words. Your employees should not feel that you just rambling some motivational words. If your team has overlooked something, identify how you can improve things and attain mutual growth. Offer constructive criticism. Let your words give room for improvement. 

4. Good Decision-Making Ability

You’re the boss and you have the final word on everything and that means the health of your business depends on what you say.

It can be as simple as choosing the supplier or deciding on a concept for your business marketing strategy. But each of these tasks will come with different challenges. However complex the process may appear, a good leader (always) avoids making a last-minute gut decision. Instead, he relays on facts and factors before taking any step for his business. Your employees or team will have more confidence in your words and actions.  

5. (Always) Take Ownership & Responsibility

“True leaders always practice the three R’s: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all their actions.”

A small business owner becomes a true team player when he takes responsibility for the all the actions of his team. Learn to trust your team. Rather than throwing the blame around, sit and address the issue.

Put very simply, by showing them you’ll be there even when things are not working, you will lead by example. Integrating the same qualities in your team will be easier. You’ll be helping them contribute better to your business vision.