To become a successful entrepreneur, you need to adorn the position of a great leader well. Leading a team of professional individuals isn’t an easy task and one needs to work hard in order to become a successful leader.
Here are 8 ways in which entrepreneurs can become great leaders:
1. Servant leadership
The style of authoritarian leadership has worn out with time. Now, leaders are more situational and the concept of servant leadership is slowly catching on in the entrepreneurial scene. The idea is to ask all individuals in the team what they need to get a piece of work done and listen to them. By listening to their needs and demands, you could learn a lot from your team and help in building a stronger one.
2. Communicate with your team
It is important to regularly meet up with your team and take feedback from them about how the work is progressing. Fix a time weekly and during the meeting, recognise what one has done publicly and listen to concerns of your team and try to solve them. Also, explain the goals to your team and tell them what you aspire to achieve. In this way, they’ll feel like a part of the organisation and the planning process.
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3. Make realistic promises
Don’t make promises based on assumptions because chances are that you won’t be able to fulfil them timely. Instead, be honest to yourself and your team and make realistic promises which you know you’ll be able to keep. If you make a promise which you can’t keep, you’ll be perceived as inefficient and unable by your team and they’ll start losing trust in you.
4. Ask for feedback
Don’t wait for your employees to come to you and give you feedback; go to tem and ask them for it in a nice, friendly manner. If they feel comfortable, they’ll give you honest feedback and through their comments, you’ll be able to identify what you’ve done wrong and change accordingly. The feedback might even result in changes in strategies for the better.
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5. Treat your employees with utmost respect
No one likes working under a brash, rude and inconsiderate leader. You should treat your employees with utmost respect and listen to their concerns and their ideas. No matter what their designation is, take everyone’s input. Treat them like you would treat a customer and don’t lose your temper unnecessarily on someone.
6. Be assertive in making decisions
At some point all discussions between the team needs to cease and you need to make a decision. Don’t hesitate to make one; measure all the pros and cons and take one and stick to it. If you constantly keep taking inputs even after the decision is made, you’ll never reach to a final conclusion. Hence, the final call should be the leader’s and nobody can have a say after that.
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7. Know your team members
Try and get to know each of your team members personally. Someone might be going through some crisis but be too shy to admit it. In that case, his work will also be affected. Be sensitive towards your team’s feelings and if you think they need a break, give it to them timely. Build a firm yet friendly relationship with the employees for a better understanding.
8. Stimulate professional growth
If you’ve watched an inspirational video or read a book you want your team to read as well, let them know with tiny rewards like a free lunch packet whoever finishes reading it first. Also, in the professional model, make sure your team isn’t affected heavily by failure and isn’t too elated by success as both the feelings could affect willingness to work further. Motivate and inspire your team at every step.
Follow these steps and you will find that you’ve become a great leader in no time.
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