Jun 21

Master Self-Discipline To Become A Better Leader

According to this study, people with a lot of self-control are happier. They spend less time debating and are able to easily make positive decisions. They don’t let their feelings and impulses become factors in their decision making. Instead, they make level-headed decisions and tend to be more satisfied with their lives. If you apply discipline to leadership, it creates power. The power to be more flexible. The power to have more control over your life. Great discipline creates great leaders and as mentioned before, can contribute to your overall happiness.

When running a business, big or small, it is essential that you have a good sense of discipline. A company or business is like a manufacturing machine. It has different parts with specific functions that work together to create a product. If you want your product to be the best, then you need to make sure that those parts are performing at their top capacity. Now think of those parts as people. People working together to achieve a single goal. Part of being the leader is to set an example and to inspire the people around you. There is nothing that can inspire more than a leader that shows great discipline. This will encourage them to become more disciplined themselves and in turn, perform better at their tasks. Overall, having good discipline creates a positive domino effect on the company.

Master Your Mood

Do what is right even if you do not feel like doing it. There is no place for being “not in the mood” in business. Practice this by starting with simple habits like waking up early. Do not press that snooze button. Instead of thinking “I don’t feel like getting up today” or “ One more minute” think “I can get more things done if I just get up”. Start small and work your way up.

Acknowledge Your Weaknesses

We all have our flaws and weaknesses. The key to fixing them is to accept them. You cannot overcome something if you don’t acknowledge them. Again, you can start small. You can start with maintaining your diet to stay healthy and you can work up to business-related skills.

Set Clear Goals And Execute

Get a clear vision of your goals. Plan how you can achieve them. Execute your plan. When doing these things, make sure you have a clear understanding of what success is to you. Know your destination before starting your journey. Execute your plan and stick with it. Focus on your goal and don’t get sidetracked.

Jun 07

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Key Leadership Qualities

By James Short Blogpost, challenges, Entrepreneurship, excellence, Goals, inspirations, Leadership, management, mindset, Success

A leader’s job is mostly about managing people, and a good business owner should also be a good leader. He or she should be able to effectively connect with his or her employees and be able to lead them down the correct path to achieve the company’s goals. The business owner might have great ideas and the passion to succeed but if the team or the staff are not willing to follow then the business won’t go far. As mentioned in my previous article, your top sales guy might not be a good leader. This also applies to business owners.

Running a company does not only mean implementing brilliant ideas and having the passion to run it. Managing people is also an integral part in running a company. Your staff is what keeps your business running on a daily basis. As the business owner, your staff looks up to you for guidance. Weak leadership can lead a company to ruin while a strong one leads to success. Just like implementing a leadership development plan for an employee, as a leader yourself, you can look to working on your own leadership skills to be able to properly connect with your team and efficiently run your business.

Communication

A leader should foster open communication with the team. Your staff or employees are the front liners of your business and they see things that are not seen by the upper management. You need that valuable information to be able to properly plan things out for your business. Allow your staff to speak out to gain insight at the base level. When communicating with the team, be as honest and clear as possible. This will help you gain their trust and confidence which in turn would also encourage them to be just as honest and clear with you. The key here is that excellent communication allows you to gain valuable information from the front line.

Live What You Preach

One great way of connecting with your team is to have strong ethics and living by them. This is all about earning your team’s respect. You can talk all day about doing the right things – but you need to walk the talk, and your subordinates will follow your example. Once you have their respect, they will stand by your every business decision. The less second guessing on every decision, the better chances of positive results.

Ask For Advice

It does not matter how well you know the industry, change is constant in business. Set your ego aside. You do not know everything. Ask for advice if you are not sure of something. Great leaders are always willing to learn new things and the easiest way to learn is to learn to ask questions.

Jun 04

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Developing Leaders In Your Company

By James Short Blogpost, challenges, Entrepreneurship, excellence, Goals, Human resources, Leadership, management, opportunities, purpose

As your business grows, you need to hire new people to sustain that growth. You need to build new teams or departments to handle the specific areas of the business. The hiring process itself can be challenging. This is especially true if you are looking for leaders to manage the teams. The hiring process when it comes to looking for leaders or managers can be more tedious compared to the hiring process for regular employees. This is because managers have bigger responsibilities within the company. They are responsible for the people under them and have to answer to the people above them.

To save time and resources, one approach that you can take is to hire within the company. The ability to hire homegrown talent can give your company that competitive edge in the market. But you just can’t give anyone the responsibilities of a manager or a leader. Most employees are often promoted because of their excellent performance with their jobs and not their leadership skills. What I’m saying is – your top sales guy might not be a good leader.

Recognize Potential

Keep on the lookout for individuals who go the extra mile. Leaders want to see how far they can go. Push people out of their comfort zones and see who will stand out. Great leaders can adapt to any situation and would still succeed or make the best out of the given situation. Do not forget to observe beyond their job related skills. Observe their behaviours and attitudes. Do they have the right mindset to manage a team? Do their colleagues look to them for advice? How are their people skills? If you can see the potential then you are on your way to finding a homegrown leader.

Opportunities for Development

If you are looking to grow your business, having a leadership development plan as part of your strategy is a good idea. A leadership development plan does not only involve training but hands on experience. Giving out challenging tasks and rotating jobs can help develop skills, improve confidence and will give a deeper insight into your business and your business goals. Get this plan started as early as possible because you’ll never know when you might need someone to manage a team.

Coach

As a leader yourself, impart your knowledge, values and experiences to the potential leaders in your organisation. Since they are part of your company, that knowledge will not go to waste and would not only benefit them, but also your business. Think of this as another type of investment. But remember, as the leader and the business owner, live what you preach and be honest when interacting your team.

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