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Tag: Leadership Skills

  • Do You Know What Your Team Needs? Here’s How to Find Out. | Entrepreneur

    Do You Know What Your Team Needs? Here’s How to Find Out. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Do you really know what your team needs? You may sometimes struggle to determine what motivates your team and how this affects their performance. The good news is that simple techniques give you a pretty good idea of what makes your employees tick. Here are five simple ways to find out what your team needs.

    1. Look for the telltale signs

    If you are unsure what your team needs, look for the telltale signs. Are they working long hours? Are they stressed? Are they not participating in office talks? Are they complaining about something in particular? If so, it might be time to take a closer look at what’s going on with your team.

    It’s important to remember that every team is different, and many factors contribute to each person’s happiness on the job — which means you need to figure out what makes each tick.

    Related: To Build a Strong Team, You Need to Address All of Your Employees’ Needs

    2. Take a pulse check

    One of the best ways to know if you have a healthy team is to take a pulse check. Set aside time for a team meeting, and ask each member to share what’s going well and what isn’t. It’s important not to criticize but rather listen and ask questions that help your team members share their perspectives without feeling like they are being judged or criticized.

    And then, take a look at what’s happening in your organization right now, and ask yourself: What do we need right now? Then, think about how that need was met in the past; if it wasn’t met, why not? If it was, how did it happen?

    Once you’ve done this introspection, you’ll have a clearer picture of your team’s needs and why they need it. This will help guide your next steps — whether hiring new people or making changes within existing roles — and help keep everyone on track with their goals!

    3. Look at your metrics

    You can’t figure out what your team needs if you don’t know how they perform. That’s why looking at metrics is so important. You can track things like employee churn and productivity, which will help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team.

    If you want to try this out, here are some quick tips:

    • Figure out which metrics are important to your business and how to measure them

    • Set up a system for tracking the data regularly

    • Make sure everyone knows about it

    Related: Your Employees Want to Be Heard — Listen to the Details That Matter

    4. Listen to cues

    Your team might not be the most vocal bunch, but if you pay attention to their behavior, you can learn much about what they need from you. If you’re constantly getting interrupted or having trouble getting your team to complete their tasks, it could be that they’re feeling overwhelmed. If they’re always late to meetings or don’t seem like they’ve got their heads in the game, it could be that they need more direction.

    Whatever the case, listen to cues and try to address them with empathy and compassion.

    5. Create a culture of feedback

    It’s important to provide your team with clear, constructive feedback that helps them grow and improve. However, it’s equally important to allow them to give you feedback on how they feel about their work and what they need to be more successful.

    One way you can do this is by creating a culture where it’s okay for people to share their thoughts — and not just when things go wrong. You might start by encouraging everyone to give feedback on each other’s ideas and projects or even just ask for direct feedback every day at the end of meetings or strategic points throughout the project cycle.

    You can also create an open forum where people can anonymously share their concerns or ideas. The key here is creating an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings, so they know they’ll be heard and respected no matter what they say!

    Related: How to Motivate Your Team Members by Putting Their Needs First

    Well, well, well, if you’ve made it to the end of this article, then you must be serious about being a great leader. And let me tell you, great leaders don’t just assume they know what their team needs — they take the time to find out.

    By implementing the five strategies outlined in this article — listening, observing, asking, testing and reflecting — you’ll be well on your way to understanding the unique needs and desires of each member of your team. And when you can meet those needs, you’ll be able to create a workplace culture that fosters growth, productivity and overall happiness.

    So, to all the bosses out there, stop thinking you know it all, and start taking action to truly understand your team. By doing so, you’ll earn their respect, trust, and loyalty — and that’s the ultimate power move.

    And never forget: The best teams have strong dialogue, rapport and trust. Because when team members know their goals and challenges, they can adjust their behaviors accordingly to meet their expectations.

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    Chris Kille

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  • How to Effectively Lead Through Uncertain Financial Times | Entrepreneur

    How to Effectively Lead Through Uncertain Financial Times | Entrepreneur

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    Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners.

    Uncertainty is not unusual in business. In fact, it can be seen as one of the defining features of life as a business leader. Indeed, the combination of domestic issues — from inflation to supply chain disruptions — and global tensions suggests that the level of uncertainty is likely to remain high over the coming years.

    According to KPMG’s 2022 CEO Outlook, which speaks to CEOs about their current and future strategies, 86% of these global company leaders anticipate a recession to hit in the next year, and 71% expect the recession to cause a 10% shift in earnings. With uncertainty looking more certain than ever, how can leaders begin to get a grip on future business challenges?

    Related: How Startups and Investors Can Thrive in the Current Economic Environment

    How is economic uncertainty affecting how leaders plan for 2023?

    The first thing affecting leaders right now is the fact that they exist and work within a “poly-crisis,” facing numerous challenges to their profitability and security at once. Operating in crisis mode inevitably affects a leader’s ability to plan ahead and adapt to changes in a business environment.

    Many businesses already had to make significant changes to their organizational, operational and financial structures in order to survive. These businesses face extra challenges now while high prices, tightening monetary policy and weak demand persists — with 90% of economists predicting that tempered demand will be a significant drain on business activity.

    A knock-on effect of this period of crisis has been an increase in anxiety around work, performance and money among employees. Leaders are not immune from this stress, but the pressure is high to remain calm in order to retain the best employees. And yet, any attempt at stasis is likely to be thwarted when organizational restructuring necessitates layoffs and downsizing.

    The implication for business leaders is that they need to be more flexible in adapting their strategies. In fact, even large firms need to think more like smaller startups, which focus on agility to survive and thrive. Alongside lingering anxieties and monetary restrictions, leaders face new obstacles left over from the Great Resignation and Reshuffling. The move to remote-hybrid work environments means that leaders’ usual methods of making decisions are no longer available to them. They need to find much more resilience and adaptability in order to lead through uncertainty.

    All of these factors will be especially impactful for startups and smaller businesses. Newer businesses may not have even established a status quo of reliable processes before the pandemic hit; now, they need to raise their baby in a recession.

    As leaders try to navigate growing their businesses and retaining their teams, what should they be focusing on in early 2023? Here are three considerations to keep in mind:

    1. Reaffirm the purpose of the organization

    When leading a startup, a sense of purpose is vital. Leaders may begin by describing how their ideas are going to make a dent in the universe and why they matter in an attempt to instill this into the organization and create a purpose-driven business.

    Leaders should ask themselves and their teams: “What do we offer the world that no one else can deliver? What is our reason for being?” Bringing clarity to purpose will strengthen the bonds between teammates and re-center people’s vision on the horizon rather than on the chaos that surrounds them.

    According to a recent survey by Deloitte, 43% of surveyed business leaders said their company views organizational purpose exclusively as a marketing and brand play. That’s not the smartest approach, as customers aren’t satisfied when companies speak empty words about purpose. They expect to see action.

    Related: 6 Key Tips for Leading Transparently in Economic Uncertainty

    2. Build trust by celebrating integrity

    Integrity should be the last quality to fall by the wayside when times get tough, but it’s often one of the first. Integrity can be incredibly motivating; it can inspire a team and keeps members focused on what is important.

    If leaders make promises they will be unlikely to keep, short-term wins will be overshadowed by long-term damage to trust. Both integrity and transparency should enhance trust in leadership, which is important if the organization is heading into the unknown.

    According to Deloitte’s The Future of Trust report (2021), “trustworthy companies outperform non-trustworthy companies by 2.5 times, and 88% of customers who highly trust a brand will buy again from that brand. Furthermore, employees’ trust in their leaders improves job performance, job satisfaction and commitment to the organization and its mission.”

    3. Don’t forget the positives

    When challenges abound and the world seems chaotic and uncertain, leaders can often get stuck in a negative thinking pattern. This, coupled with the calamity language of news programs and social media, can be devastating for employees’ anxiety levels.

    In a 2022 study by the American Psychological Association, 73% of people from the United States who participated in the study reported being overwhelmed by the number of crises happening in the world. Nearly nine out of 10 participants also reported that they felt crises had been occurring in a constant stream.

    Leaders will be wise to remember that optimism is still valid and possible. Highlight that times will get better, eventually. Offer some assurance that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

    Economic uncertainty, which continues to unfold and evolve, has the potential to derail even the largest and most well-organized companies. For smaller companies and startups, uncertainty can be destructive and formative at the same time. It’s their nemesis and the water they swim in. Leaders need to be able to incorporate uncertainty into their futurecasting to grow despite the obstacles it presents.

    Related: How to Prepare Your Business For Economic Downturn

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    Markus Baer

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  • How to Prepare for Unforeseen Problems in Your Business | Entrepreneur

    How to Prepare for Unforeseen Problems in Your Business | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Preparation is an investment, and it will be your greatest ally when issues come up in your business. Business will always have a human element, and because there is no perfect human, it’s guaranteed that businesses will encounter unforeseen problems.

    The best way you can solve these problems is not to be reactive after the issue takes root, but to be proactive by preparing for these problems in advance. Here are some of the actions I’ve witnessed in my own business that not only helped keep things running smoothly when hurdles came up but even helped to bypass issues entirely and ensure the success of our business.

    Related: 5 Effective Ways to Prepare for the Unexpected

    1. Pair starters with finishers

    One of the unexpected difficulties as a business leader is being strategic in how you formulate your teams. Not only does a team’s chemistry come down to background and personalities, but the effectiveness of a team is determined by the skills of the people paired together. Some people are great starters — they are always willing to step up to bat and take on extra responsibilities. They’re not afraid of an increased workload. However, because of their nature, they could struggle with finishing projects, or they could be spread too thin to follow through.

    On the flip side, while finishers won’t be the first to raise their hand at taking on an extra workload, they excel at following up and following through. They’re the people who are great at executing and making sure a project is completed by a deadline. Rather than punishing starters and finishers in the areas that need improvement, an effective business leader will pair starters with finishers on a team. This takes time and observation to get to know your employees and how they work, but it makes the perfect recipe to avoid problems down the road.

    2. End meetings with an action item

    Meetings aren’t effective if they don’t have a solid structure to follow. We noticed a lack of measurable progress coming out of meetings at our own business. I realized we needed to be more intentional with these meetings, so we formulated a plan: Cut the meetings to 30 minutes maximum, assign one person to lead the meeting, and assign another person to email a summary afterward.

    The most important change we implemented? Each meeting needed to end with one action item to make the business a little bit better. The action item needed a timeline and designation about who would be responsible for the action item. We didn’t restrict them on what the action item needed to be — the action item could make the business run more profitably, make a process faster or smooth out a recurring issue.

    This was when we started to see notable improvement coming from these meetings, and it’s one of the most proactive measures we’ve taken in anticipating possible problems in the business.

    Related: How to Prepare for an Unexpected, Unwanted and Unwelcome Business Setback

    3. Provide clear guidelines and benchmarks for your employees

    Create a culture around winning. People feel good when they accomplish things, so it’s your job to ensure there’s a structure for getting the work done. For every position you create, outline responsibilities and guidelines that fall upon the employee, and establish benchmarks that will help measure your employee’s accomplishments and growth. Clarify what skills and requirements it takes to get the job done in the job description, and make sure they have a robust understanding of this when they start the job.

    Connect regularly with employees, and give them feedback on how they’re performing compared to the job requirements. You could use metrics like sales numbers, customer satisfaction, the scope or quality of a project’s completion or how well they respond to deadlines. Highlight their wins, and emphasize what they’re doing well.

    People want to get things done simply because it makes them feel good; develop a winning culture by setting reasonable expectations instead of repeatedly dumping tasks on your employees without clear guidelines.

    4. Keep open transparency and communication with your team

    The single most important thing any business can do to prepare for unforeseen problems is to keep a clear line of communication open. Ask your employees, “what can I do better? How can I make your job easier?” Be open to criticism and willing to act on what they say.

    Odds are, this will make your employees more willing to listen and accept criticism from you. If you’re showing them you want to improve for their sake, they’ll do the same for you. The entire business will function better if everyone is helping each other strive to be the best they can be for the improvement of the company.

    Consider asking your employees: Are they in a role that they enjoy? Are they spread too thin to perform? Being transparent in your communication will help take your business to the next level by fixing existing problems and avoiding future issues simultaneously.

    Related: 4 Ways to Prepare Now so Your Business Survives the Unexpected Later

    Preparing for unforeseen problems is a critical aspect to running a successful business. No matter how well-funded your business is and how well-rounded your systems and processes are, unexpected challenges will come up.

    Anticipate growth and potential problems by rethinking how you run meetings, being intentional in how you formulate teams, and providing clear guidelines and communication with your employees. If you’ve pre-scaled for growth, you’ll confidently navigate these hurdles.

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    Trevor Cowley

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  • 8 Leadership Skills That Seem Obvious But Still Aren’t Being Practiced | Entrepreneur

    8 Leadership Skills That Seem Obvious But Still Aren’t Being Practiced | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Leadership is a vital and all-encompassing skill set for professionals at various levels, whether you have a C-suite title or are just starting to climb the corporate ladder. However, it takes more than just ambition and experience to be an effective strategic leader.

    In addition to having the necessary technical skills and knowledge, business leaders must also possess specific qualities that will enable them to inspire and motivate others, make smart decisions and navigate complex business environments.

    While some lucky people are born to lead, most of us need to make an effort to strengthen these qualities through practice. In fact, only 10% of people are considered natural leaders, and an additional 20% are considered skilled enough that they have potential to become high-quality leaders. So, unfortunately, most professionals are working against the odds if they want to become influential leaders.

    Related: Master These 5 Leadership Skills to Increase Your Results Tenfold

    As of 2023, only 48% of employees consider their organization’s leadership to be high-quality, mostly due to the lack of investment in leadership-building initiatives. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to be an impactful leader. With the right training and dedication, CEOs can polish these qualities and improve their rank as a leader.

    If you are new to the C-suite or aspire to be there within the next five years, my advice as an experienced CEO is that you start working on developing the following qualities now:

    1. Visionary thinking

    CEOs are responsible for setting the direction and long-term goals of their organization. A key leadership quality, therefore, is the ability to think big and envision the future. To have a clear and compelling vision of where they want to take the company, leaders must be ambitious, imaginative and unafraid to take risks. At the same time, they must be able to plan realistically based on given circumstances and understand that turning vision into reality is a step-by-step process.

    Leaders who can manifest this type of innovative mindset are better able to anticipate trends and changes in their industries and develop strategies that help their organizations stay ahead of the curve. They are skilled at thinking beyond the immediate challenges and considering the long-term goals and objectives that will ensure strong performance and progress. Visionary leaders are also better able to inspire their teams, build trust and create an environment where everyone is encouraged to contribute to the company’s big-picture success.

    2. Strategic decision-making

    Business leaders are responsible for making strategic decisions that will guide their organization toward success. This means that they must be able to analyze complex information, weigh the pros and cons of various options and make decisions that are in the best interest of the company. Strategic decision-making is a crucial leadership quality that requires a combination of analytical skills, business acumen and emotional intelligence.

    3. Adaptability

    If there is anything we’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that any unforeseen event can disrupt the world as we know it at any time. Businesses were forced to halt completely and reassess everything amid the global pandemic in 2020, and several never recovered. This was not due to a lack of effort, but because most businesses were ill-equipped to deal with something so drastic and unexpected.

    Leaders who were able to adapt quickly were able to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and even thrive in some cases. Similarly, changes in consumer behavior, technological advancements and political and economic uncertainty can all require leaders to adapt their approaches. By being adaptable, organizations can navigate through these changes and emerge stronger. This requires not only a willingness to pivot but also a mindset of continuous learning and improvement, as well as the ability to lead and motivate teams through change.

    Related: How to Quickly Adapt to Change and Future-Proof Your Business

    4. Emotional intelligence

    As a CEO who has managed over 1,500 people during my career thus far, I can tell you that emotional intelligence is a game-changer when it comes to connecting with your employees. It’s also the most difficult quality on my list to influence. Some leaders have it, some don’t. Those who have it are better able to build impactful relationships that drive unity and alignment among a team.

    The ability to cultivate emotional intelligence as a strategic leader encompasses other vital skills — including self-awareness, empathy, and social skills — to enable leaders to build a culture of trust, collaboration and innovation within their organization. By being attuned to the emotions and perspectives of others, leaders can foster a positive and supportive work environment and be better at managing conflicts by navigating interpersonal dynamics to find win-win solutions.

    Of course, understanding others is only part of the relationship-building equation. The other part is the ability to appeal to others with effective communication, which I’ll discuss next.

    5. Effective communication

    Ideally, an organization is aligned by its leader’s ability to clearly communicate the organization’s values and goals to employees, stakeholders and customers. Leaders should be able to take their vision and distill its complexities into simple, easy-to-understand strategies for their team so that all employees know what goals they are working toward and why.

    Unlike emotional intelligence, communication can be easily improved with practice. I believe it starts with listening. Encouraging employee feedback and acknowledging their ideas and opinions shows employees that their input is important to the company’s success. As the leader, you can benefit from this feedback loop by practicing both 1:1 and 1:many communication habits, while learning how to appropriately respond to both positive and negative feedback. The communication loop that results from an open dialogue is sure to prompt stronger relationships and improved business performance.

    6. Accountability

    CEOs are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of their organization. This means that they must take accountability for their decisions and actions, and they must be willing to accept the consequences of their choices. Leaders who can take ownership of their mistakes and failures — and learn from them — are more likely to earn the trust and respect of their team members and stakeholders.

    Accountability is a trait that becomes more effective when cascaded from the top down, so it must start with the leader. In a fast-paced and well-oiled organization, all team members should be held accountable for their actions and responsibilities. I emphasize this to help fuel a culture that values transparency, teamwork and productivity. Granting employees ownership of their priorities and tasks reiterates that their contributions matter to the success of the company and motivates them to put in the work to exceed expectations.

    Related: 5 Keys to Promoting Accountability in Your Business

    7. Team-building

    Building a successful team is not only about hiring the right people — it’s about creating a culture that will make your employees excited to work there. At Align, all new hires must go through at least three rounds of interviews with multiple team members to ensure they are a good culture fit and that the other employees can envision them working well together.

    A strong team is the foundation for any successful organization, and it is the responsibility of the CEO to facilitate team-building activities and establish clear goals and expectations for the team. A CEO who values team-building demonstrates a commitment to creating a positive work environment where team members feel valued, supported and motivated to do their best.

    Additionally, team-building can help identify the strengths and weaknesses of team members, which can be leveraged to create a more cohesive and effective unit. Ultimately, team-building is not just a one-time event, but an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and attention from the CEO to ensure that the team remains aligned.

    8. Strategic networking

    Networking is essential for all professionals, regardless of having a C-suite status. While face-to-face connections are ideal, the great thing about networking in 2023 is that you can essentially do it from your couch or home office. LinkedIn is a great hub for like-minded professionals if you can find the right groups to join. Also, joining local business organizations and attending both in-person and virtual networking events can help grow your network substantially. These are ways to connect with other business leaders, share insights and build relationships with potential customers, partners, investors and mentors.

    Ultimately, my job as a CEO is to provide my team with the resources and experience they need to succeed, and strategic leadership is at the root of it all. With the right guidance from the top down, CEOs have the power to drive change in their organizations that help pave a brighter future for the company and its people.

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    Doug Walner

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  • How to Master the Art of Delegation and Overcome the Urge to Micromanage | Entrepreneur

    How to Master the Art of Delegation and Overcome the Urge to Micromanage | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Mastering the art of delegation is a critical aspect of leadership; it can improve efficiency, empower your team and ultimately drive your company toward success. But managing the balance between control and delegation is tricky. In fact, many leaders struggle with letting go and controlling their urge to micromanage every aspect of their company. Overzealous micromanagement often results in under-developed teams, inefficient processes and a lack of company-wide advancements, hindering a company’s progress.

    As an entrepreneur, I can relate to the struggle of handling every aspect of a business on your own. Moreover, I can relate to wanting to handle many aspects on your own. However, as a business grows, this approach becomes unsustainable, and the need to be involved in everything becomes our own worst enemy.

    My “A-HA!” moment came when I hired my first executive assistant and realized that 80% of my daily tasks did not require my skills, knowledge or expertise. Rather, I learned that by investing a little time and effort into training and trusting someone else to handle things for me, I could free up a lot of my time to focus on what really matters: growing my business. Although the “I know how to do it, and they don’t” mentality is an obstacle that regularly gets in the way, leaders should try to remember that at some point, we were taught what we know by somebody else, and in the same way, we can teach others.

    Related: The Art and Science of Delegation (Infographic)

    Delegation is a powerful tool for business growth not only due to its benefit to leaders. It requires investing in the development of other team members, which pays off in more ways than one. By upskilling and training team members, not only do you free up time to focus on critical aspects of the business, but you also empower your team to contribute to its overall growth and success.

    By no means am I saying that this process was or is still easy; it requires constant effort and is almost never comfortable — until you see the results. The efficiency that you’ll achieve by handing off tasks is something you will never be able to achieve on your own, and that in itself is reason enough to start delegating work to others.

    Nevertheless, there is a time and place for everything. You can’t delegate every task, and in fact, you shouldn’t. Rather, before handing something off, you need to consider a few things which will help you determine when it is or isn’t appropriate or effective.

    1. Confidentiality: The sensitivity of the information involved

    Sensitive information — such as certain financials, legal or HR records — and personal information must be handled with the utmost care and caution. If you are entrusted with sensitive information (such as that of a client), it’s your responsibility to maintain its confidentiality and not delegate it to others without explicit permission. In some cases, such as handling payroll in a small, close-knit team, you may want to keep your employees away from sensitive details for the sake of privacy; however, even in this scenario, you can still delegate the task to someone outside of your team, such as an external bookkeeper. In other cases, where the task is sensitive but relatively simple and doesn’t concern the team itself, it may be appropriate to delegate it to members of your team.

    2. Repetition: Evaluating delegation based on task frequency

    Tasks that are repetitive, straightforward and lack any confidential information are often prime candidates for delegation. However, it’s important to also assess the frequency at which this task will arise in the future. If the task requires a significant investment of time to train someone else and is unlikely to recur for an extended period, it may not be the best use of your resources to teach/delegate it. Rather, in this case, it may be more efficient for you to complete the task on your own for the sake of getting it done and moving on to bigger things.

    Related: How to Delegate Better and Become a Great Leader

    3. Resource management: Delegation for time and cost efficiency

    Occasionally, you may be handling tasks that fall beneath your experience level or skill set. If the task was assigned to you by a client, supervisor or investor who believes you are the best person for the job, it’s important to communicate your perspective. Explain that your skills, knowledge and expertise are best utilized elsewhere, and remember the financial impact of spending time doing things that could be done by lower-cost resources. As a leader, you are responsible for promoting smart and cost-effective decision-making to foster the success of your company and/or clients. Even if you end up doing the work yourself, it’s important to regularly assess your priorities and ensure that your time is being utilized effectively.

    4. Intention: Balancing delegation and personal involvement

    It’s perfectly okay to occasionally take on tasks that don’t really require your abilities when the intention is beneficial to you and your company. Taking on smaller or mindless tasks can provide you a (sometimes much-needed) break from demanding daily responsibilities and a welcome change of pace. Some tasks can help you stay connected to your team’s work and consequently manage it more effectively, while others are just fun and enjoyable. Engaging in “smaller” tasks doesn’t have to be detrimental, especially when done with a deliberate intent of furthering the company’s success and long-term goals.

    When planning for effective delegation, leaders must look beyond the present moment and consider the impact on future growth and success. While it may be tempting to take on tasks ourselves, it’s essential to push beyond our comfort zones and focus on tasks that align with our unique experiences and abilities. By doing so, we can optimize our time and energy, avoiding the trap of wasting resources on tasks that could be handled by others. Careful consideration of how leaders allocate their time and effort is a fundamental component in their ability to grow.

    Related: 10 Successful Entrepreneurs on Why Delegating Effectively Is Difficult But Necessary

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    Adi Vaxman

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  • Here’s How a Lack of Inclusivity Can Create a Toxic Culture | Entrepreneur

    Here’s How a Lack of Inclusivity Can Create a Toxic Culture | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    MIT Sloan found that employee perception of company culture is ten times more predictive of attrition and turnover than compensation. The message from that research is clear: Employees don’t want to work in a toxic company culture.

    But what exactly is a toxic culture? Most of us tend to think of it as something so extreme that it couldn’t possibly describe our organization or us as leaders.

    However, one often-overlooked factor plays a bigger role than many suspect: inclusivity. Laura Wronski found that workers who are satisfied with their company’s efforts on DEI issues are actually happier with their jobs. A toxic culture, conversely, is often one in which employees don’t feel their voice is heard. In fact, more than half of the employees who left organizations during the recent Great Resignation did so for that reason.

    Clearly, inclusion is becoming a priority for employees. And it needs to be a priority for companies, too. We can’t hide our corporate culture anymore in this world of online reviews. If the candidates we’re trying to recruit are searching for information about our culture — and at least 70% are — they’ll quickly find it.

    Company culture is one of the most difficult things to change. Yet, effective change in the area of inclusivity is achievable for any company from startup to Fortune 500 … if they know where to start.

    Related: Why You Need to Become an Inclusive Leader (and How to Do It)

    Developing the skills for inclusivity

    As it turns out, two-thirds of all leaders hold an inaccurate view of their own inclusive leadership capabilities. This causes a myriad of problems.

    On one end of the spectrum, a third of leaders do not feel skilled in the area of inclusion, many of whom succumb to the temptation to do nothing. They’re afraid they might do more harm than good by stepping out of their comfort zone.

    Alternatively, they may want to be inclusive, but they don’t know where to start. Consequently, they may not prioritize inclusion in their own leadership approach, much less attempt to lead a company-wide effort. In such cases, well-designed learning and/or coaching can help them gain enough confidence in their own skills to begin taking steps that characterize an inclusive leadership style.

    However, a leader can’t address a lack of inclusivity in their organization if they don’t know it exists. Such is the case when there’s an “Inclusion Delusion.”

    Combatting the “Inclusion Delusion”

    The other third of those who hold an inaccurate view of their inclusive capabilities skew in the opposite direction, thinking they’re more inclusive than they really are, as rated by colleagues and reports.

    This is a complex phenomenon referred to as the “Inclusion Delusion,” where tendencies for leaders to over- or underestimate their inclusivity capabilities create perceptual vulnerabilities in how they see and express leadership. Similar to how the tendency to overestimate one’s driving skills can create trouble, this perception gap poses a barrier to companies in creating an inclusive culture. One reason for this is that leaders who see themselves as more inclusive than they really are may not recognize the impetus to change, improve or learn to behave differently.

    Closing this perception gap requires a healthy dose of self-awareness and input from others in the form of data. For some leaders, getting that data might be as simple as asking direct reports questions in one-on-one interviews, such as: “To what degree would you say we’re an inclusive work environment?”

    This, however, requires a high degree of trust and openness. If employees think the wrong answer might be held against them, they may not answer honestly, perpetuating the delusion. In that case, it might require a more formal evaluation or anonymized input, conducted internally or by a training partner.

    Related: How to Create a More Inclusive Workplace

    In devising such an evaluation, remember that inclusiveness is not an inborn trait — it’s a skill that can be grown and measured. In developing my own assessment method, I evolved the approach from one that asked “Am I inclusive or not?” to one that asks “What are my strengths and stretches when it comes to being an inclusive leader?” Then I broke that question down into granular behaviors that can be observed and mapped to specific competencies proven to move organizations toward an inclusive culture, such as:

    • Openness to divergent ideas, perspectives and processes

    • Flexibility to change opinions, plans or decisions based on those ideas

    • Curiosity to seek out the perspectives of many others, not simply a select few

    • Humility to acknowledge one’s limitations, vulnerabilities and tendencies

    • Active self-management of one’s biases

    • Empathy to seek to understand others’ thoughts, feelings and experiences

    An approach based on observed behaviors empowers leaders by taking them out of their own heads. It’s no longer about how much they may want to be inclusive or how inclusive they feel they are — it’s about how much others perceive that they are modeling inclusive behavior. And I find that by looking at inclusion through this lens of outward behavior, leaders are often a degree more self-critical. This, in turn, creates a highly effective opening for discussion, self-awareness and the leader in the driver’s seat of their own growth.

    Inclusion starts at top leadership

    I’ll write in future posts about how creating an inclusive culture involves addressing inclusion at various organizational levels. Suffice it to say, however, that none of it will make a difference if top leadership does not fully embrace inclusivity in their day-to-day interactions.

    And let’s be clear: Even those who aren’t in the “inclusion deluded” category still have perceptual vulnerabilities when it comes to inclusive leadership.

    To compound the challenge, organizations are not directly supporting leaders as much as they need to. Only 1 in 3 organizations as of 2021 were designing a strategy to develop inclusive leaders.

    Consequently, many leaders silently flounder as they attempt to increase inclusivity in their organizations. They may earnestly intend to be inclusive, but in leadership, it’s not our intentions that count — it’s our behavior.

    By following an assessment-based approach designed to help leaders identify their inclusivity perception gaps, along with a skills-based approach that allows them to develop inclusivity competencies (where they personally need them most), leaders can align their behaviors with their intentions. And in doing so, they lay the foundation for a truly inclusive culture within their organizations.

    Related: 4 Commitments All Inclusive Leaders Must Follow

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    Rachel Cubas-Wilkinson

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  • How to Lead With Emotional Intelligence in 2023 | Entrepreneur

    How to Lead With Emotional Intelligence in 2023 | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    With Covid-19 firmly in the rear-view mirror in most parts of the world, entrepreneurs are now developing creative ways to mold inclusive and healthy work environments for employees. Rocky economic forecasts make this even more vital as companies double down on profitability overgrowth. Stay caught up; join the wise employers who swear by leading with emotional intelligence.

    What is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence is the ability or quality that enables leaders to confront challenges with patience, insight and control. Through emotional intelligence, leaders achieve a higher level of problem-solving in the work environment. The ability to identify and monetize opportunities is also improved through emotional intelligence. Here are a few ways to pivot 2023 output by leading with emotional intelligence.

    Related: Use These 7 Emotional Intelligence Tips to Be a Better Leader

    How to lead with emotional intelligence

    1. Embrace diversity:

    Diversity in the workplace is synonymous with variety in the human body. We each rely on copious amounts of biological systems, cogs and energy to stay alive and thrive. Every cell in your body varies slightly from the next, and so does the workforce. Each employee is different in their unique way. As a leader, it is important to embrace each employee with their eccentricities without judgment or victimization.

    2. Prioritize the needs of your employees:

    The best way to create a positive work environment is by considering your employee’s needs at every step. Employees are more likely to perform exceptionally in 2023 when they feel their needs are being met.

    3. Practice self-awareness:

    Self-awareness is recognizing how your emotions impact your behavior, particularly toward your employees. Leaders who lack self-awareness often have a high employee turnover. According to a study performed by Georgetown University, the average employee lost commitment to their jobs due to low emotional intelligence displayed by leaders.

    The best way to develop self-awareness is by closely examining your behavior and attitude toward employees. How do you react when slighted? Are you calm and collected, or do you fly into a rage? Introspection will open your eyes to your flaws; if it does not work, you can always ask your employees for feedback.

    3. Keep emotions in check:

    Let’s face it, life is not always a walk in the park, especially when running a company. However, when dealing with employees, you must keep your emotions in check. A huge part of emotional intelligence is learning to identify different emotions you are experiencing. If you notice you get angry often, try and deal with the situation without reacting emotionally. Instead, employ facts and empathy to deal with the situation and see how it goes.

    4. Learn new concepts:

    Learning is a lifelong journey for everyone looking to keep growing. Learning new ways to manage situations as a leader is a fantastic way to keep your employees satisfied. Show your subordinates that you are making an effort to change, and they will be grateful and more cooperative in their daily tasks. Some new concepts you can pick to help with emotional intelligence include the art of meditating and empathy.

    5. Journal:

    Journaling is a fantastic way to express your thoughts and emotions, giving them form. Through journaling, you can identify wanting behavior and also learn about critical triggers in your daily life. Once you know where you are going wrong, you can swiftly devise a plan of action to improve your behavior for the company’s sake.

    6. Learn to communicate effectively:

    Excellent and practical communication skills are among the more positive byproducts of emotional intelligence. However, excellent communication skills can sometimes be used to achieve higher emotional intelligence. As a leader, your communication skills must always be on point. When it comes to communication, everything from the tone to how you say something matters. When it comes to communication, it is not always one size fits all, so you need to learn how to approach each employee for maximum impact.

    Related: Emotional Intelligence is the Secret to Leadership in Times of Crisis

    The benefits of emotional intelligence

    1. Reduced employee turnover:

    Emotionally intelligent people can maintain a level head in high-stress situations. They can see the reality for what it is by reading through numerous guises employees put up. In the highly competitive business industry, employers struggle to keep good talent, and emotional mastery is one of the top tools to achieve this goal.

    2. Improved output:

    A leader with high emotional intelligence can make all employees feel like they belong. When employees feel a sense of fitting in, they are more than likely to put in extra effort toward daily tasks. In the current challenging economic times, companies are placing more value on output and profitability, which makes this benefit even more valuable to your business.

    3. Better teamwork:

    Like other forms, emotional intelligence can be transferred through practice and teaching. Showing your team emotional intelligence will likely rub off and create better teamwork. People with high emotional intelligence communicate better within their teams, making them work better together.

    4. Creates a healthy working environment:

    In a work environment where leaders have high emotional intelligence, the employees enjoy a healthy work environment. Employees are also more likely to enjoy longer and more fruitful careers. A leader with a high emotional quotient (EQ) can maintain excellent relationships within the company, encouraging teamwork and innovation. Employees also enjoy growth opportunities with the support of said leaders who nurture and support the employee’s interests.

    The data is in, and the numbers strongly suggest that leading with emotional intelligence allows you and your company to identify and grab more opportunities. 2023 is the year you should add emotional intelligence to your wheelhouse, for posterity’s sake. Harness the exponential potential hidden in emotional intelligence, and make 2023 your best-performing year yet.

    Related: How to Raise Your Emotional Intelligence in 3 Steps

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    Steve Taplin

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  • Why You Must Focus on Your Culture Amid Economic Uncertainty | Entrepreneur

    Why You Must Focus on Your Culture Amid Economic Uncertainty | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Amidst today’s market uncertainty, some organizational leaders feel they don’t have to focus as much on their workplace cultures now that power dynamics are shifting from employees back to employers. The real or anticipated labor market corrections suggest to them they can devote a significant portion of their time and attention elsewhere.

    They couldn’t be more mistaken.

    Economic downturns represent culturally critical times for organizations, especially those that rely heavily on their people. The threat of layoffs, compensation reductions, reorganizations and other internal changes all serve to severely depress morale. And while the anxieties that permeate such workplace events can drive some people to work “harder,” these efforts don’t usually result in better outcomes. Instead, underlying fears hinder connectivity and collaboration, preventing teams from driving value and achieving ambitious goals.

    What’s more, organizations that fall into this trap often suffer more when markets recover. Even brief cultural lapses make it extra challenging for them to engage in successful culture-building in better times, keeping them from capitalizing on new opportunities. Eventually, they lose out to the competition.

    Related: What Makes a Great Company Culture (and Why It Matters)

    The importance of culture building

    Workplace cultures — meaning the encouraged behaviors that, ideally, have been intentionally shaped to help employees reach and exceed big-picture objectives — are critical to the health of organizations. As an advisor who has facilitated hundreds of culture-building initiatives, I have seen firsthand how the strength of a business is usually directly tied to the strength of its culture.

    To illustrate, a long-time client in the highly competitive health technology space decided to invest in culture building in 2019 as a means of differentiating itself and preserving the organization’s legacy. This work helped it attract and retain top talent and instill a highly collaborative mindset, such that when the CEO explored a sale in 2021, valuations experts made specific reference to the company’s culture and put premium placement on its value.

    Simply, culture serves as an organization’s very foundation. And just like physical foundations, a culture’s real value and potential are often revealed when calamities strike.

    Related: Company Culture Is Everything

    What should leaders do?

    Leaders who are currently facing or anticipating challenges would thus be wise to keep culture efforts front and center. At a minimum, they can clearly and consistently reinforce their established mission, vision and values as a way to maintain teams’ sense of purpose and belonging. For organizations that have yet to put in place a mission, vision and values, conducting this very exercise is an ideal first step toward culture-building.

    Leaders can also embrace cultural norms that have been shown to consistently help organizations weather challenging environments. To illustrate, while every culture sits in a unique spot on various behavioral spectrums, those that lean toward greater transparency in their communications usually do better maintaining their people’s trust in challenging environments. Similarly, organizations that are more collaborative, innovative, inclusive and relationship-oriented, and those that take a longer-term view when it comes to how to measure returns on time investments, typically come out of downturns in stronger shape — both financially and culturally.

    Embracing these norms often requires leaders to give up some level of perceived or real control. It’s fairly common for top executives to seek control over not just systems, processes and messages, but authentic human responses that naturally defy top-down domination. They should consider letting go of this need and make space for their people’s messy, complex individuality in order to achieve greater transparency and build engagement and trust.

    In addition, leaders would be wise to reject any hint of the misguided notions tied to “capitalizing” on employee fears and anxieties for the good of their enterprises. This might mean bucking the emerging trend of walking back popular workplace policies, like flexible or hybrid work arrangements. Unless there’s a well-communicated strategic need to do away with such programs, employees will register such changes as calculated, punitive, traditional and unnecessary. They will impact the level of engagement and productivity teams bring to their work and inform their thinking when they have more employment options. Of course, employees are much more open-minded about in-person work when it’s directly tied to objectives such as team building and brainstorming.

    Related: 5 Ways to Turn Your Company Culture Around

    Rise to the challenge

    Rising to the challenge of organizational leadership requires top executives to constantly wrestle with the tension of doing the best for their people while doing the best for their organizations, keeping in mind opportunities and consequences that can impact both individuals and the collective. This means placing real value on team members’ high performance along with their humanity, accepting the challenge of prioritizing both simultaneously even in challenging times. While leaders might need to make difficult decisions, which, of course, can include letting people go, they must not lose their sense of empathy and compassion in the process —and not just because it represents poor corporate citizenship. It’s also a strategically bad move that will prove unwise sooner or later.

    The more leaders rise to this challenge, prioritizing their people’s humanity alongside their high performance, the more they’ll see their culture improve and serve to brace their organizations against whatever lies ahead.

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    David Eaton

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  • Entrepreneur | ‘You Have to Learn How to Say No’: The Founder of the ‘World’s Best’ Whiskey on What It Takes to Be a Real Leader

    Entrepreneur | ‘You Have to Learn How to Say No’: The Founder of the ‘World’s Best’ Whiskey on What It Takes to Be a Real Leader

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    The long and winding road to success is filled with challenges and stumbling blocks. There’s so little room at the top — and the climb to get there can change people. A once powerful visionary bends to the will of his or her investors, losing sight of his or her narrative and purpose in the name of profitability. It’s a common story.

    But Fawn Weaver, CEO of Grant Sidney Inc. and Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

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    Nicklas Balboa

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  • Entrepreneur | Elon Musk Got it All Wrong. Here’s Why Effective Leaders Need to Loosen the Reins

    Entrepreneur | Elon Musk Got it All Wrong. Here’s Why Effective Leaders Need to Loosen the Reins

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    In a flexible, hybrid and remote work environment, many leaders have failed to let go: The Elon Musks of the world are demanding their people come back to the office or else. These leaders worry that without the ability to look over everyone’s shoulders, their employees aren’t working, are quietly quitting or aren’t working on the right things.

    They may feel the need to babysit because they don’t trust their team. But threats and micromanaging don’t work. They haven’t empowered their teams or inspired them with a shared mission. Maybe it’s on them for not building that initial foundational trust.

    It may seem that some jobs “need a babysitting culture,” where people show up, punch a clock and spend the day waiting to leave. They’re just picking up a paycheck. But the reality is that the promise of weekly payments alone can never buy loyalty, nor can it build a team passionate about working together on a shared mission. To create an environment where people love to come to work, leaders need to empower their teams, give autonomy and build a workforce prepared to take on responsibility.

    Related: Empower the Employees Who Will Build an Amazing Culture

    Letting go is more productive

    Giving people the space and autonomy to succeed fuels their fire to achieve more. My first experience with this was with a boss named Ryan in my first post-college job. I still tell him that he was the best boss I ever had. From day one, Ryan would simply ask me to get something done. Then, when the deadline was approaching, he would ask if I had finished. He gave me complete freedom not to do the right thing. I probably could have done the job better, especially with more guidance, but I got it done, and it felt empowering. The experience grew my confidence.

    People want the freedom to be empowered and create success. That’s why people come to work at Quantum: They want that autonomy, and we give it to them. Our people are passionate about their work and have ideas to drive the company to success. I have made the mistake of being involved in the middle of a work task, and I’ve gotten lots of feedback on it. They would rather me just tell them what I want them to achieve and let go. When I empower my team members to rise to their best, they learn to trust me and work harder to achieve our goals in return.

    Related: Why You Need to Stop Micromanaging Your Team and Learn to Let Go

    Put guardrails in place

    Of course, I can’t just let go of every project and hope that everything will be fine: There must be some frameworks and guardrails in place to help, and sometimes we need to get a little closer to the fire. Balancing how and when to step in is critical, especially when things get tough. There have been moments where I have taken tighter reins — a 30-minute daily call to get feedback and adjust. But I asked everyone to let it happen because rarely will I be that leader who gets so deeply involved every time, and they know it. That’s not my management style, so when I have to step in, they know it’s a higher priority and a working discussion that fuels the need to get my hands dirty.

    Elon Musk, on the other hand, is surrounded by smart people passionate about their mission, but his management style is the epitome of a leader who can’t let go. It’s worked for him because he’s detail-oriented and gets minutely involved in everything to ensure success, but micromanagement doesn’t work for most people.

    Instead, we can provide rails or infrastructure to make sure everything is happening as it should. Ensure everyone understands the mission and is aligned around the core objectives before they take off running in the wrong direction. When we know everyone has their sights set on achieving the right outcomes, it’s easier for us as leaders to step back and give them the autonomy they need.

    Related: What Happens When You Empower Employees Instead of Micromanage Them?

    How to build a workforce in a more flexible world

    Especially with so many people working from home, it can be challenging for leaders to know that they’re building the kind of workforce responsible enough to take on autonomy. Creating a workforce that wants to wake up daily and work towards the company’s mission requires certain personal attributes. At Quantum, we look for three core values:

    1. Passion: It’s hard to motivate someone to be passionate, so find people who already love their work. Ask them: “Are you passionate about what you do? Would you push me out of the way and get this done?” I want people who wake up passionate about our company’s mission, and if they ever lose that feeling with our company, I would hope to help them re-ignite that passion or help them find their next job where they could find it again.
    2. Persistence: People can be passionate but not persistent enough to take something across the finish line. A friend of mine is passionate about art, an incredible artist who could be famous, but he struggles with rejection and the persistence needed to keep driving forward. Someone ready for autonomy must be willing to take on rejection, failures and “no’s” to get across the finish line. It’s a top attribute of an entrepreneur, and to have a team of 500 entrepreneurs that will fight through any obstacle is amazing to see in action.
    3. Integrity: If I can get people who are persistent and passionate but can’t act with transparency — being honest with themselves, their peers and our customers — it doesn’t matter how much we win, it won’t be enjoyable. I want to come to work because it’s fun, and when people aren’t telling the truth, I don’t enjoy it; the work becomes much less meaningful.

    Passion, persistence and integrity — I interview every prospective employee and have them tell me what those words mean to them. Their definition and embodiment of those words get them a job at our company, and it becomes an unspoken contract: If they lose any of those values, I would rather they leave and find a place to rediscover them all.

    Elon Musk has the right concept — only work here if you can love my vision — but his “my way or the highway” approach may not work for everyone. Instead, leaders should nurture the trust and autonomy needed to build a team that loves what they do.

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    Mario Ciabarra

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  • Why Aligning Your Leadership Style and Values is Critical for Leadership

    Why Aligning Your Leadership Style and Values is Critical for Leadership

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When you hear the word “values,” you probably think of some personal examples, such as discipline or perseverance. Go one step further and consider leaders you admire. What values were behind the notable decisions they made or memorable actions they took? Were those values in alignment with their choices?

    As a leader, I firmly believe that aligning your management style with your values is critical. Otherwise, you will come across as disingenuous. If a leader says they value trust but is constantly micromanaging the team, are they really trusting? You’ve likely considered this type of alignment when looking at your career moves or choosing a candidate at the polls. What about within yourself? Let’s explore how you can understand your values and align your leadership style accordingly.

    Related: Do Core Values Still Matter Today?

    Understand your values

    To align your leadership style with your values, you must understand them first. Most of us have several core values that we live by. Of course, some may change over time, but you likely have a set of values that never change. These values guide you in decision-making, solving problems and building relationships. Core values also shape how you approach your work.

    Examples of core values include honesty, integrity, commitment, respect, trust and communication. While individuals live by their core values, as many as 80% of companies and organizations have them. It’s up to leadership to carry out an organization’s core values, which affect employee behavior and company culture. Employees will see the misalignment if the company values state one thing and leaders behave differently.

    Next, you’ll need to understand your leadership style.

    What’s your leadership style?

    The better you understand how you engage with others, the easier it will be to align with personal and company values. There are eight different kinds of leadership styles:

    An autocratic leader takes control. Key characteristics of an autocratic leader include being results-centered, efficient and micromanaging. This type of leader wants to ensure employees abide by company policies and rely on leadership for instruction. An autocratic leader can be helpful in emergencies when less-experienced employees need clear instructions to reach a solution.

    Charismatic leaders have a charming and magnetic management style. They are highly persuasive, committed to their cause, and interested in building relationships. A charismatic leader takes pride in rallying the team to achieve a goal. This management style often results in helping employees feel engaged, supported and motivated at work.

    Democratic leaders are collaborative and experimental. A democratic management style promotes creativity, engagement and teamwork. A democratic leader enjoys getting input from the team before making decisions. This management style can lead to bonds between leaders and team members.

    Laissez-faire or a “hands-off” leader promotes trust and growth among the team. These leaders encourage innovation, have confidence in their employees, and want independent staff. This leadership style works best with highly experienced professionals. When self-disciplined employees have more autonomy, they often demonstrate initiative.

    Related: 7 Leadership Styles on Television Entrepreneurs Can Learn From

    Leaders who utilize a coaching style of management may remind you of a sports team coach. Coach-like leaders can identify what motivates each employee and are dedicated to their team members’ development. Leaders with a coaching management style often encourage their employees to develop their talents further and create new opportunities.

    A pacesetting leader creates high standards for the team and is always looking for ways to be productive. This type of leader has high expectations and overwhelms employees with demands. This management style can help build trust among employees who recognize their manager adheres to the same standards they set for their team.

    Leaders with a bureaucratic management style utilize a well-defined hierarchy for tasks. A bureaucratic leader is focused on following rules, is less concerned with collaboration and assigns each employee responsibilities and tasks. This leadership style is helpful in heavily regulated industries but less effective in creative environments.

    Transactional leaders improve employee performance via rewards, such as incentives and monetary bonuses. A leader with a transactional management style acts as a mentor for employees, provides detailed instruction to ensure expectations are met, and responds to adverse outcomes with disciplinary actions. This management style is highly effective in helping teams hit sales and revenue goals but less helpful in leading teams or departments focused on driving innovation.

    Now that you’ve identified your core values and leadership style, it’s time to get them in sync.

    Align your values with your leadership style

    1. State your intentions

    Kick things off by formally defining your values and purpose in a written statement. Your purpose is what you want to accomplish, for whom, and to what result. Your values will precisely guide how you tackle the goals outlined in your purpose.

    Then, share your purpose and values with your team. Your purpose can be an evolving document that changes with experience, but you’ll hold each other accountable as a team.

    2. Behave consistently

    Now it’s time to act on the standards you’ve set. Look at actions, decisions, and plans through the lens of your purpose and core values. If there’s any misalignment, talk to other leaders you trust within the company. Each day, strive to go home knowing you did your best to stay aligned with your values. If you retroactively catch yourself misaligned, ensure you take proactive action the next day to remedy the decision or action.

    Related: This Is Why It’s So Important to Articulate Your Brand Values

    3. Seek feedback

    Stay true to your word by encouraging honest feedback. Make it clear that you’re trying to act in alignment with your values regularly.

    Structure your feedback discussions and ask how you can do better. When the conversation ends, genuinely thank them for taking the time to help you understand their viewpoint.

    In addition to seeking feedback, regularly check in to refine your purpose and values and share it with your team.

    Understanding your values and aligning them with your leadership style takes time and practice, especially in an evolving company setting. Be open to change and feedback to adjust your actions accordingly.

    Related: 4 Ways to Balance Company Rules With Values

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    Vanessa N. Martinez

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  • The 5 Steps to Building a Culture of Success in a Startup

    The 5 Steps to Building a Culture of Success in a Startup

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Any article you read, podcast you listen to, or founder you talk to will tell you that “startups are hard.”

    I couldn’t agree more, but what does “hard” mean? Hard because you work long hours? Hard because you have little money? Hard because you have so many competing priorities? Hard because it is lonely trying to look successful to customers, partners and staff while struggling to keep it all together?

    The answer is a resounding YES to all of the above. Startups are hard. But they are also just the right thing for people who want to learn and grow continuously. And they are the right thing for people passionate about establishing a unique company culture that reflects their values. Being intentional about company culture can be a make-or-break factor for any startup.

    I spent over 20 years with a successful career at a Fortune 100 technology company. I worked in small subsidiary offices in remote parts of the world and at corporate headquarters. I had stable, sometimes very large, budgets and teams in both settings. I knew the corporate values, understood and lived the company culture, and knew precisely how to manage the systems, processes and policies to support my area of business and career. I moved fluidly between headquarters and field roles. No matter where the office was located on a map, there was a consistent corporate feel and “type” of employee. This was true for fewer than 20 employees and offices of thousands. No matter where I was, there was structure and the security of a well-known logo on the door and systems and processes to connect with the larger corporate, sales, marketing, financial and HR systems.

    Related: 5 Must-Haves for Entrepreneurs and Their Startups to be Successful

    When I stepped into my first role leading a startup, I was certain that all my time working remotely in field offices had prepared me to lead a small organization. I understood how to motivate and manage a team, talk to customers, create a killer PowerPoint presentation and back it up with a slick Excel financial forecast. I didn’t count on a company culture’s role in a successful business. I took that for granted because my career had been steeped in an already-established business culture.

    Like most startup founders, my priorities were laser-focused on how to make money, how to achieve the holy grail of product market fit, where the first tranche of funding was coming from and how much runway we had. I put my head down and drove hard to succeed. I failed. I spent all the money in ways that didn’t make sense in hindsight. I never found the right market fit and failed to dig deep enough into the customer’s pain point. And I never really thought about the type of company culture I wanted to build. I stepped into a position with a team in place and never really questioned what type of company that group of people added up to and how significantly this would impact the product we offered to the market.

    Related: Go Hard, Or Go Home: A Game Plan For Startups Wanting To Survive An Economic Downturn

    Not being one to give up easily, I took the lessons I learned about spending and saving money, understanding a need before developing a product and even how to pitch and raise more money, and started another business. This time, I decided to put the company mission and culture first. My co-founder and I come from very different business backgrounds but share the feeling that culture is one of, if not the most important, element to success. This approach has paid off, and we have attracted and formed a team deeply committed to our business mission: creating economic gender equality.

    Here are the top 5 steps to building a culture of success:

    1. Communicate!

    Prioritize communication. Do it regularly and reinforce the company’s core mission, values and direction. Share the status of business deals, your financial position and short-term goals and long-term aspirations. Seek input and feedback on business status and how the team feels about the direction, product and place in the market.

    Related: 6 Communication Tips to Strengthen Your Company’s Culture

    2. Make hard choices

    A small startup team can become like a family. You depend on one another and often have a close, beyond-professional relationship. This makes it difficult when things go sideways with one of the family. But as a leader, you must keep your eye on the mission and remember why you are in business. Making a hard decision to let someone go, while painful in the short term, is better for the team and will reinforce the culture of building for the long term. It could also lead to amazing, unexpected opportunities.

    3. Reward the work

    I am not a big believer in compensating teams with free drinks or a foosball table at the office. The best way to reward your team is to pay them a salary or with equity or both. Continuing to invest in building the business to enhance their stake in the company speaks louder and is more beneficial than superficial, short-term entertainment perks. And don’t forget to celebrate the wins, even the small ones.

    Related: How to Reward Employees in Uncertain Times

    4. Tell the real story

    When things go wrong, and they often do in a startup, own it. Talk about it and learn how to improve and not repeat mistakes with your team. Optimism is a hallmark of startup founders and teams, but not acknowledging when things go wrong likely will harm your business, or at the very least infuse a superficial element to your company culture — and create distrust.

    5. Enjoy the work you are doing

    You and your team are working hard to grow a business. You can never forget the drive and passion that attracted you and the team to get started in the first place. No matter how successful or large the organization becomes, if you don’t have a culture where your team feels invested and enjoys their contribution to the mission, you won’t have a sustainable business.

    So yes, startups are hard. But when you are intentional about creating a healthy business culture that reflects your company’s mission and values, startups can be just a bit easier — and a lot more fun.

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    Kate Isler

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  • How to Deal With Pushback on Technology Initiatives

    How to Deal With Pushback on Technology Initiatives

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Change in all aspects of life is as inevitable as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west — nothing stays the same. Although technology uptake has increased over the last few years, management and tech companies still have their work cut out for them. Championing changes is no walk in the park, and the same goes for leadership. So, here are a few ways tech leaders can deal with pushback on diverse technological initiatives, as well as a few signs to help leaders identify pushback on these initiatives:

    1. Create strong foundational data

    When making changes, most company executives are looking for foundational data. This kind of data shows what tech is, what it does, how it does it, and most importantly, what the favorable results are. Foundational data should be well formatted and easy to interpret.

    Related: Change Is Good. Now, How to Get Employees to Buy In

    2. Lean on your soft skills

    IT leaders may rely on something other than their soft skills to get the job done, but these skills are vital in establishing productive discourse. A conversation ensures all parties feel heard and decisions are not one-sided. Effective communication and attentive listening can make technology initiatives succeed.

    3. Cut out the long speeches; for the most part

    The thing about speeches is that they could be more interactive. This one-way flow of information can backfire as the audience may feel alienated from a process they are expected to partake in. The best way to combat this is by making the entire process as interactive as possible. Let every stakeholder interact with the new technology at their own pace. You will likely get unanimous cooperation from multiple echelons if each can realize the benefits firsthand.

    4. Impromptu problem-solving

    Patience and fortitude are not virtues associated with most mega-companies and industries. What people want are systems that work with minimal effort and accurate results. Any tech initiatives that have a hard time taking off are less likely to get adapted into regular use. The pushback will likely be at its worst when something fails during implementation, so fast response time is crucial to implementing tech initiatives.

    5. Actively campaign against false assumptions

    Your staff may face unfounded rumors and assumptions about tech changes that can destabilize the initiative. Some obvious fears your employees may face include:

    During such times, it is essential to discredit each individual’s worries using proven facts and recorded data. Ensure employees don’t think the employer’s new tech initiative is directly against their collective well-being.

    It’s not always about the money, so proving to stakeholders that the technology initiative can produce more profits is only sometimes the right move. Some might consider an attempt to buy in proof that the product will face opposition from employees at different levels.

    Related: How to Become a Successful Change Leader

    Identifying pushback against technology initiatives

    One of the most damning mistakes people in a crisis make is not realizing they are in one. The fastest way to break up technological dissent in any setting is by realizing it is happening. Here are a few ways you can identify pushback in any backdrop:

    Denial:

    Most people’s first reaction to sudden and unexpected change is denial. Employees and stakeholders may declare new technology redundant and argue for the logic that “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” It is up to the tech companies and top company management to prove to the employees that the new system is beneficial in multiple aspects.

    One way to combat denial is to clearly illustrate the benefits of tech initiatives by displaying them in a common language for everyone to comprehend. Feedback channels are critical during this stage because they give you an action plan for implementation. For example, creating company groups online allows employees to ask questions and receive information in real time.

    Disengagement:

    Denial and disengagement often go hand in hand. In this phase, employees will quickly adopt a nonchalant approach toward any changes in the company. This behavior is more prevalent when technology initiatives are shoved down everyone’s throat. This approach can make getting anything done in the workplace challenging and tedious. The perfect way to tackle disengagement is by incentivizing goals like giving bonuses, rewards and allowances for employees that excel at adopting new technology.

    Derailment:

    This is the “what, you think we don’t have other/real problems?” approach usually adopted by people in an organization who feel disadvantaged by the new changes. These groups often exaggerate the importance of more straightforward tasks to invalidate changes. The best way to combat this symptom of technological decent is by ensuring that no duties will be neglected through proper scheduling and resource allocation. One way to schedule effectively is by making the schedule visible and easy to interpret, like by placing it on a notice board or sending it to individual employees’ work emails.

    Related: How to Manage Resistance to Change Within an Agile Organization

    A lack of motivation:

    You may notice that employees are less willing to go about their tasks, especially if they use new technology. This is often the case if the tech is not fully functional or needs to be equipped to handle the current capacity smoothly. Employees may also act unmotivated if the new technology brings extra work and the company is unwilling to compensate.

    One such trend is the quiet quitting trend, which is motivated by a similar trend in numerous industries. Demotivation may seem harmless at first but may end up hitting the company with a reality many companies have realized too late. Having employees willing to go the extra mile gives a company a competitive edge, and the opposite could lead to a company’s rapid decline. The best way to deal with demotivated staff members is to incentivize tasks. Creating a competitive workplace culture can also help if the winner gets a coveted prize.

    Do not expect all employees to join the bandwagon with a smile. The most important thing when implementing technology initiatives is to keep communication channels open. The flow of information vertically and horizontally across different organizational levels can create a better working environment and smoother tech integration. Implementing technology initiatives can avoid opposition, especially if you build trust and ensure open feedback channels.

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    Steve Taplin

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  • Leaders: Stop Micromanaging and Do This Instead

    Leaders: Stop Micromanaging and Do This Instead

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    One of the most common complaints of entrepreneurs is, “I’m doing everything and can’t get it all done!” I’ve been there, and I know just how easy it is to take everything on yourself until you end up completely overwhelmed.

    But there’s no glory in being an entrepreneurial martyr, and certainly no business sense in it either. It’s time for entrepreneurs to stop thinking it’s their job to pile on the hats, despite the costs. Here’s what to do instead.

    Related: 8 Secrets to Success in Business

    Prioritize to protect your brand

    As a business owner, there are certain things you and you alone should own. Namely, the big-picture tasks of setting your company’s vision and protecting your brand. This has always been hugely important to me, to the extent that some might say I’m territorial about it. But you have to be.

    You created your brand, and you know it better than anyone else. You know what products or services will align with your mission and vision and what could threaten what you’re trying to build. As the business owner, you might choose to retain ownership over partnerships. This way, you ensure any partners you engage with have the same commitment to quality you do so that joining forces with them will strengthen your brand rather than weaken it.

    Related: 5 Ways Your Business Can Protect Its Online Brand

    Hire for your weaknesses

    To stop taking responsibility for every single part of your business, you need a team to support you. What is the best way to create one? Don’t hire to replace yourself; hire for your weaknesses. In other words, don’t hire people like you who share similar strengths. Hire folks with wildly different skill sets and even opposing perspectives, so you can have a robust team that fills all your gaps.

    If you’re unsure of your strengths and weaknesses, it’s worth taking the time to figure them out. First, consider what areas of the business only you can handle. Maybe it’s strategic planning, forming strong vendor relationships or managing production. Also, think about the parts of the business you enjoy. Your strengths won’t always magically line up with the fun parts of entrepreneurship, but there’s a good chance the areas where you naturally excel are also the areas you’re drawn toward.

    Next, consider where you’ve had hiccups in your business. Even if you’re a young company, the odds are that you’ve encountered friction at least a few times. Was it when you tried to handle customer service? Did you flub a technical matter? Being honest in conducting a self-assessment will help you determine the exact types of people you need most.

    Related: 4 Reasons Why You Should Always be Hiring for Your Business

    Trust your team

    This will help you create a more functional business and prioritize properly to protect your brand. Of course, there’s one major caveat: none of this will work if you insist on micromanaging. You have to have enough trust in your team to give them the autonomy to execute their roles.

    As a business owner, you shouldn’t be the one stepping in to comment about the color of a banner ad in a newsletter or weighing in on email copy (unless graphic design and marketing are your strengths). The little things should be left to the people you hired to own them. If you can’t trust them to make decisions, you need to hire new people or do the hard work required to relinquish control.

    Wearing all the hats as an entrepreneur is unsustainable and not in your business’s best interest. It results in burnout and pulls you away from the areas where you contribute the most. By prioritizing, hiring for your weaknesses and trusting your team, you’ll go much further and faster.

    Related: What Happens When You Empower Employees Instead of Micromanage Them?

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    Clate Mask

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  • 3 Ways to Meet the Needs of a Divergent Workforce

    3 Ways to Meet the Needs of a Divergent Workforce

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Mental health, well-being and stress management will rise to priority status as workers demand a work-life balance. This is good news for disabled employees, but how will business leaders rise to meet this need? Executives will work harder than ever to create a more inclusive, welcoming, and accommodating environment to attract and retain these creative and productive workers. Learning to listen, communicate effectively and make changes in how teams work together can go a long way in creating an environment where everyone feels safe and respected.

    Rather than a “sink or swim” approach, leadership can meet workers where they are. This is where a business leader with a limitation can use intuition, see areas for improvement and change the dynamic in the workplace so that needs are understood and met. Business leaders should focus on three main areas to meet the needs of a divergent workforce.

    1. Empathy

    When a worker with a limitation applies for a job in the business world, they often fear the staff will not accept them. They are often worried they will not be heard if they ask for an accommodation. They may be concerned that what seems easy for everyone else will be difficult — or impossible — for them. Empathy is the quality of compassion that allows us to feel what it might be like to be in someone else’s shoes. It is the action-oriented part of compassion.

    It’s not about the number of divergent employees a company has on the roster; it’s about the employee work experience. Executives can show they are aware of the unique needs of the staff and are willing to meet those needs. Managing with empathy means understanding that someone in the office or on the other end of a remote call might have a disability or a limitation they are unwilling to share. It means taking the time to get to know the staff member on a more personal level and responding to their needs in a meaningful, timely way.

    Related: Why Empathetic Leadership Is More Important Than Ever

    Being open about diverse abilities begins with the company website, the company’s reputation on the web and the interview process. From the beginning, a potential candidate with a limitation can tell whether a company will be open to discussing their needs, the accommodations that might be required, and the way a limitation might change aspects of the work experience. A leader with a disability intuitively asks the right questions. Does a new employee need to communicate differently than other employees? What about physically navigating the building? How can the team best work with a staff member’s condition?

    For executives without disabilities, learning to be open and accepting of workers with limitations, striving to communicate more effectively and helping staff members feel safe will benefit not only disabled workers but will also improve the work experience for everyone.

    As an executive, you may feel uncomfortable asking questions or looking for feedback from disabled employees. The truth is that empathy is as uncomplicated as being a good listener, a good observer and a good mentor. When you create a culture that celebrates workers’ contributions with limitations, they may open up about their needs. An employee with dyslexia might need a team member to enter data on an excel sheet. A staff member with PTSD might have to schedule telehealth visits on breaks. If these workers are hiding their needs from you, the cost can be overwhelming stress for them. The company’s stakes are also high: rising turnover, absenteeism and low productivity.

    Related: 5 Ways Employees With Disabilities Help Maximize a Company’s Growth

    2. Accessibility

    A business leader with a disability has the edge when it comes to creating an environment that is equally accessible for everyone. Chances are that a wheelchair-bound executive has circled the parking lot looking for a ramp or dealt with oncoming traffic in a parking garage attempting to make it to the elevator. A legally blind business leader has experienced more than a few meetings where important information was presented only on PowerPoint. If you are an executive without a disability, you may have never considered how many potential candidates might have found your building or information inaccessible; they may have made it to the parking lot, quietly leaving without pointing out how their lack of access left them feeling helpless and excluded.

    A leader with a limitation will look at the corporate space from a perspective of challenge. A disabled executive will ask, “What hurdles will a disabled person meet attempting to work here?

    Do your meeting spaces accommodate divergent needs? Ramps, elevators, the width of doors and aisles between desks, lighting and closed-captioning are just the beginning. If an employee with anxiety issues needs a peaceful place to calm down, or if a worker needs to keep moving to improve chronic pain, is there a place for them to go? What about transportation? Could the company offer a car service or a monthly stipend to cover a ride share?

    However, it isn’t just about disabled staff. The need for accommodations can arise at any time. Workers without disabilities can break limbs, have painful surgeries, be wheelchair-bound or use crutches. Leaders can anticipate how the workspace might become a burden for staff and make adjustments.

    Beyond the physical environment, corporate heads can embrace technology to assist divergent employees in reaching their potential. Technology has moved beyond closed captioning and voice accessibility. Consider how you can make technology more accessible for your staff. A simple solution might be making transcriptions of meetings. These could be emailed out to staff, including those who are hearing impaired.

    Some apps allow people to take pictures and have documents read to them. There are apps that magnify text for those with impaired vision. Young engineers are working with AI to create more effective communication between the hearing impaired and people without that limitation. Executives can fund training and innovations that meet employees’ needs. Both staff and business leaders will be challenged to find different ways of doing things, working together to find solutions so that everyone can be more productive. Simply delivering material and information in a variety of ways will enable everyone to have better access.

    Related: Employers Need Workers. Now They’re Realizing The Untapped Talent of These People.

    3. Team building

    Even if business leaders grow in their understanding of divergent staff, the next step is even more critical: Management can bring employees together to learn from one another. If staff members hide in cubicles or a remote office without fellowship, mutual understanding can’t occur. One of the most innovative ways to find common ground in the workplace is to use team-building exercises.

    What if the office meeting wasn’t just the usual grind? What if part of that time was spent on team building? This can be done online or in the office. A manager can help staff clarify the team and individual goals. Employees can share their hopes or their vision for their lives. Leaders can go around the room, asking the same question, such as, “What are you most proud of?”

    Another option is to bring in a corporate trainer to build synergy. This can be done across departmental lines to bring a fresh perspective. Trainers may give the teams “assignments,” such as a project to complete, a problem that needs solving, or a set of tasks that force them to rely on each other and pull their own weight. Members of the team are pushed out of their comfort zone. They learn how to accommodate diverse abilities in their group using resourcefulness, recognizing strengths and weaknesses, and filling in the gaps when needed.

    A corporate retreat is a chance to get workers out of the office and into an environment where they can open up and share things they wouldn’t ordinarily reveal in an office setting. Staff members can relax, share their fears, and get vulnerable. Whether the retreat lasts a couple of days or a week, they can get to know each other. After a retreat, employees often feel they have gained trust, respect, and a sense of purpose where they work. They may feel they have a better grip on leveraging their team and workplace’s diverse abilities.

    Final thoughts

    An executive with a disability may have the edge in anticipating the needs of staff members with diverse abilities; however, leaders without limitations can find ways to maximize the potential in all staff members by making empathy, accessibility, and team-building a part of the corporate culture. Celebrating your team’s unique skills while working to meet their individual needs will create the kind of environment where the most talented candidates will thrive.

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    Nancy Solari

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  • Why Every Employee You Hire Should Have Leadership Qualities

    Why Every Employee You Hire Should Have Leadership Qualities

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Leadership is about mindset, not a job title. And it is arguably the most important attribute to the success of any company or organization. Yet, many managers seeking to fill entry-level positions often pass on candidates they feel are “overqualified.” They do this for a variety of reasons, all of which seem counterintuitive to creating the best possible company.

    For every manager, there are countless employees. This is true in nearly every profession. Professional sports teams are a great example of this process and represent something very similar to many companies. They have an owner. That owner hires a general manager. That general manager hires assistant managers, directors of personnel and marketing, a head coach and so on. Each of these directors hires a staff, and the head coach hires assistant coaches, trainers, etc. And the players are hired in cooperation with the management and coaching staff to represent the organization on the field, much like the employees who are hired to have direct interface with customers. Even the players hire their own support staff.

    Related: 3 Ways to Empower Everyone to Lead (and How to Do It)

    How leadership shows up at every level

    It can be argued that customers, whether it is fans watching a sports team on television or in person or patrons who go to a restaurant, are the most vital part of keeping a company viable. Without them, there is little to no money being made. Yet, interestingly enough, this most precious cog in the overall sustainability of a company most frequently engages with representatives of the company who, on paper, have the lowest position of leadership.

    However, if you look at the basic infrastructure of the most successful teams and companies in the world, the most important and influential leadership does not simply come from the top down, but instead, it emanates from each faction within the organization. And, in fact, the top-level leadership generally has the least direct leadership impact over the majority of the employees, let alone the customer base.

    This illustrates several important points. First, entry-level employees serve a hugely influential role in most companies. Second, nearly every position in a company plays an important role. Lastly, leadership can and should happen in all areas. All this inevitably means that everyone should have the training, encouragement and expectation to lead within their respective roles.

    Related: 6 Leadership Best Practices to Empower Your Workforce

    Why you should encourage everyone to be a leader

    While there is no doubt that there are natural-born leaders, it is also equally true that a leadership mindset can be cultivated. While this takes time and resources, the benefits to an organization are quantifiable. Take the example of the professional sports team. Players on the field represent the lowest level on the rung in terms of decision-makers on behalf of the team’s management structure. Yet, they arguably have the most influence on the perception of the team and the fans’ (customers) willingness to invest their time and money.

    On the most basic level, a player’s job is to perform their duty to the best of their ability. But does it help the team and organization if they show up on time or early? Does it help if they sign autographs and engage with fans? Does it help if they have a great attitude and model a great work ethic? All of these things represent leadership traits that impact the bottom line, yet the players are not in what would be considered a traditional leadership role when we look at the managerial infrastructure of a team.

    Now take the employee working at the cash register of the local grocery store. Their job is to efficiently and effectively perform transactions with minimal arithmetic error. The store manager may wander around a bit, but certainly doesn’t directly engage with a fraction of the customers that the cashier does every day, thus having a far smaller impact on the direct lifeblood of the store’s financial success. Yet, we perceive the manager as a leader but not the cashier. Does it matter if the cashier smiles, makes eye contact and greets each customer? Does it matter if the cashier has a great attitude and helps bag if their lane is clear? Of course!

    Related: 4 Leadership Methods for Empowering Employees and Building Strong Teams

    And these things not only impact the store’s bottom line by creating happy and appreciative customers, but they are certainly impactful leadership qualities. The store owner, who is in the most powerful position, isn’t able to have this type of impact on the customer base. Neither is the store buyer, regional manager, general manager or store manager. In fact, every single position of authority above the cashier has less direct contact with and less direct impact on the customer experience than the cashier. And if the customer is happy, the store does well.

    The point is simple: One, hire the best possible people; two, encourage everyone to be a leader; three, recognize that the value, influence and importance of a leader have nothing to do with their job title or position, but about the impact they can have on the people with whom they engage.

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    John Peitzman

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  • 5 Internal People Every CEO Needs

    5 Internal People Every CEO Needs

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Every leader knows the phrase, “It’s lonely at the top.” It’s true that leaders often experience loneliness. Many times, they are the only one who knows everything about every person and situation in the company.

    When a leader has no one to share their personal troubles or triumphs with, it can drain their energy and lead them to make poor decisions. They have no one to expand their thinking, share their ideas with or from whom they can receive insights and inspiration.

    No leader should ever find themselves alone in their struggles and decisions. Leadership is about having a team of people to provide help and support through the difficult moments of the hour. Here are five internal people every CEO needs on their team:

    1. An excellent executive assistant

    One key person that a leader needs on their team is an effective executive assistant. Executive assistants help executives by supporting the CEO with critical tasks and responsibilities and acting as an extension for information for the organization’s leader. Trust and effective communication are essential attributes of this person on the team.

    Many business owners can be tempted to forgo hiring an executive assistant because they would prefer to put those resources in other parts of the business. However, when the leader produces, the organization produces. The executive assistant enables the leader to be more effective and productive.

    Related: 5 Tips For Building a Strong Leadership Team

    2. A capable and prepared second in command

    A powerful benefit of having a second in command is that they can take the reins when needed. By nature, most leaders have a deep drive to create a better company but are often frustrated by a lack of time, people, or resources to help make their plans a reality. A second in command or an operations person can help bring continuity to the operation and insight into many parts of the organization.

    The leader should find responsible people who will help them think intentionally about the next steps of the organization. When leaders have people they trust to make decisions and lead well, it enables the top leader to spend their time working on the business and not just in the business.

    3. A strategic numbers person

    Every CEO needs a person close to them who understands and can interpret numbers. Numbers don’t lie, and numbers tell a story. Many business owners and CEOs are not gifted with the ability to know and understand the truths or the story that the organization’s numbers tell. Every CEO should manage by a few key numbers in the organization.

    Many businesses struggle to make and keep a profit. A strategic numbers person will help the CEO to manage key metrics and help the leader to make wise decisions that will ultimately make the company more profitable.

    Related: Why Entrepreneurs Should Choose Insights Over Instincts

    4. A operational and process expert

    Every business will have processes. The growing business will have a clear understanding of the critical processes that will set them up for success. These critical processes could include processes around payroll, customer and team members onboarding and offboarding and systems around procurement.

    One way to grow the organization’s processes and systems is by onboarding an operational expert to your team. This person might perform as a general manager or as an operations manager. Their primary task is to examine how things are done and work to improve efficiencies throughout the organization.

    5. A high emotional intelligent people person

    In business, it is always about the people. People will propel your organization forward or consistently bring it down. Working with people is difficult because people often are not a finished product. People need to be trained, developed and invested in to reach their peak performance. Having someone in the circle of the CEO with an eye for bringing out the best in people will be a key to achieving the business principle of “improve your team to improve your organization.”

    The people person will have a high emotional equivalent and be able to see multiple sides of an issue. People in life deal with a multitude of issues. Often those issues can be brought into the workplace, and good people can be left to underperform without a person who can walk them through how to overcome their problems and improve themselves and their personal performance.

    As companies grow, they will often develop an HR department. As the CEO continues to expand their team, they need to consider having a people person close to them to help them discern who can be trusted, how to handle difficult people issues, and what people policies will be necessary to build a robust team culture.

    Your team can make you better

    The CEO Team is critical to the leader’s success and the organization they lead. Many business owners understand the value of their team as it relates to their business but can neglect to build a personal team around them to help them achieve breakthroughs, uncover blind spots, and wrestle with day-to-day decisions professionally and personally.

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    Ken Gosnell

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  • The Key Strategy to Building a Winning Team

    The Key Strategy to Building a Winning Team

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Business leaders young and old face the same problem — how to form a solid team that will work hard to promote the business’s success. Whether it’s a new business or an established one, the people you recruit will be crucial to your survival. If you select them strategically and mindfully, in theory, your business should be stronger and more prosperous. But what does that mean, exactly? In my case, it means surrounding myself with people who have different skills than I do — a strategy I highly recommend in any type of business.

    There’s no place for ego in business

    From a young age (and without even knowing it), I started forming a habit of surrounding myself with people who have different skills. In high school, I worked at Dunkin’ Donuts from 6:00 a.m. to noon on the weekends. It was a hectic shift, but I loved it because it was fast-paced and there were a lot of hands on deck. I usually worked the window with one other person, and I always chose a partner who had a strength I didn’t. At this particular Dunkin’ Donuts, there was no intercom before you got to the window, so all orders were taken at the window. I was really good at remembering orders and making them quickly, so I always partnered with someone who was good at handling money, because I wasn’t as quick at making change as some of my coworkers were.

    Fast-forward to when I was in college. We had a lot of team projects, and I would take a similar approach to choose my group. I would partner with people who were better writers and not as good at presenting, strategizing, organizing or big thinking.

    I carried this habit over into my career, and it is what makes my relationship with my business partner so solid. He and I have the same ethics, values and philosophies, but our strengths are very different. He is more analytical and methodical. I am more creative and strategic. He digs into the finer details, while I tend to focus on the big picture. We rely on each other and are open about our strengths and weaknesses. Neither of us is shy about what we need. We leave our egos out of it, and that can be a problem for so many leaders, who have a hard time admitting they are weak in certain areas. So, instead of asking for help, they “fake it ’til they make it.” I have never been the type of person to do that because I recognized early on that pretending to be good at everything will only lead to disaster.

    Related: 6 Steps for Hiring the Right People to Build Effective Teams

    You never want to be the smartest person in the room

    It might be cliché, but it is sound advice. Seeking out people who know more than you enriches your own experience. When my partner and I formed our marketing agency, we made it a point to hire people with specific strengths, surrounding ourselves with people who are smarter than we are. Some leaders are intimidated by people who might be more skilled or knowledgeable than they are, and their egos just won’t allow them to see the benefit of having friends and colleagues who can contribute more than they can. We actually seek out these people, and in doing so, we are open about our goals and why we want to add them to our team.

    I specifically hire people to poke holes in my strategies. I need people who have different skill sets to make me and the agency better. This benefits our clients and ultimately our business because we never have to fake anything.

    Taking advantage of others’ knowledge and skill is not a weakness — it’s a strength. Your clients will see better results and be more satisfied with the products and services you provide. Your business will build a reputation of being reliable and trustworthy, which can be a rarity in today’s environment. Your team will be more cohesive and willing to work together because each member knows where they fit in and why they are valuable. Overall, having a team of people with diverse skills and knowledge is a winning strategy for everyone.

    Related: Want to Build a Great Team? Never Be the Smartest Person in the Room

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    Jackie Cullen

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  • Are You a Winner? How to Truly Define Winning in Your Business

    Are You a Winner? How to Truly Define Winning in Your Business

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Businesses gauge their performance typically with dozens of goals and metrics. But you can’t do everything at once. The challenge is to get people focused on the one thing that’s most important right now. If it moved in the right direction, it would eliminate a weakness (or capitalize on an opportunity) and improve financial outcomes. You improve that, and you win.

    However, not every company clearly defines winning. A catalog of goals can pull the organization in multiple directions and stretch finite resources. Numerous goals can inherently be at odds, working against each other and for conflicting purposes. For example, a cost reduction goal might undermine an innovation goal requiring a significant investment.

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    Andrea Olson

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  • 5 Reasons Why Effective Delegation Is Crucial for Successful Entrepreneurs

    5 Reasons Why Effective Delegation Is Crucial for Successful Entrepreneurs

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Being an entrepreneur is challenging and requires a wide range of skills and abilities to be successful. One of the most crucial skills entrepreneurs must possess is effectively delegating tasks. This means identifying the right tasks to delegate, selecting the right people to delegate them to and providing clear instructions and expectations.

    This article will explore why entrepreneurs need to be great at delegating tasks and how it can help them achieve their business goals while scaling their companies.

    Related: 7 Rules for Entrepreneurs to Delegate Effectively

    1. Focus on your core capabilities

    One of the main reasons why entrepreneurs need to be great at delegating tasks is that it allows them to focus on the most critical aspects of their business. As an entrepreneur, you are responsible for various charges, from managing employees and finances to developing new products, features and services. It is impossible to do everything yourself and still be effective.

    If you do that, you will soon hit a ceiling of productivity and be unable to scale. By delegating tasks to others, you can free up your time and energy to focus on your business’s essential and strategic aspects, such as developing new ideas, expanding into new markets, and building relationships with key customers and investors.

    2. Allocate work efficiently for better outcomes

    Another important reason entrepreneurs need to be great at delegating tasks is that it allows them to build a more effective and efficient team. If you concentrate all the necessary work on yourself, you preclude yourself from doing more of what you are best at and spending time on things others could do faster and better.

    By delegating tasks to the right people, you can ensure that the right skills and expertise are applied to the right tasks. This can help improve the team’s overall performance and productivity and increase job satisfaction and employee engagement. Additionally, delegating tasks can help develop team members’ skills and abilities, providing them with new opportunities for learning and growth.

    Related: Why you can’t delegate — and how to fix it – BBC Worklife

    3. Delegation is the essence of successful teamwork

    Great delegating also builds trust and confidence among your team members. When entrepreneurs delegate tasks, they demonstrate their faith in the abilities and capabilities of their team members. This can help build more robust and more effective relationships between your team members and between you and the team.

    Additionally, by delegating tasks effectively, entrepreneurs can help create a culture of accountability and responsibility within their organization, leading to better performance and higher levels of employee engagement. A great example of this principle can be observed in professional sports: A coach never steps onto the field to play but leads the game from the outside, trusting the team while the team trusts the coach.

    4. Effective delegation can lead to better decision-making

    Entrepreneurs often face many decisions which require a great deal of expertise and knowledge. By delegating tasks to others, you can tap into the expertise and knowledge of your team members, who can help you make more informed and balanced decisions. By delegating tasks, you can benefit from your team members’ diverse perspectives and ideas, leading to more innovative and creative solutions. In addition, by being less inundated with work, you will have more bandwidth to think deeply about problems and challenges. Having extra time to think is essential to making solid decisions.

    Related: Should You Delegate That? A Comprehensive Guide

    5. Make yourself obsolete

    Finally, effective delegation is essential to scale your business exponentially. As your business grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage all aspects yourself. By delegating tasks to others, you can ensure that the company continues to run smoothly and efficiently, even if you are unavailable or unable to perform at total capacity. Also, delegating tasks can create new opportunities for growth and expansion as team members take on new responsibilities and develop new skills and capabilities. While it might sound counterintuitive, the best leaders don’t work much. You would have all the people needed to run your business in an ideal world without you.

    In conclusion, entrepreneurs must be great at delegating tasks to achieve their business goals and scale their companies. By delegating tasks effectively, entrepreneurs can free up their time and energy to focus on the most critical aspects of their business, build a more effective and efficient team, build trust and confidence among their team members, make better decisions, and scale their business without being the bottleneck to growth. Effective delegation is a crucial skill that entrepreneurs must develop to succeed in today’s competitive business environment: Mastering task delegation will enable you to step back from day-to-day operations and focus on strategic thinking.

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    Roland Polzin

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