Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I just finished commenting on the new SUN "10 Steps to Growing Your Business" checklist.....which I think is well done.....however the one area I thought needed a bit more focus was the area of leadership. You can read my post there so I won`t repeat it here but my question for the "Nation" is:

If leadership is the single most important variable in business growth, and the skills for starting a business are in most cases not the skills for growing a business. Then:

• How do you develop your leadership skills?
• How do you know which ones you need help in?
• Where do you go for development?
• How do you make sure you are making progress?

Thanks

Steve

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Peersight, the Nation`s first e-enabled CEO Membership organization for Small Business. http://www.peersightonline.com None of us is as smart as all of us. Come watch us grow at http://blog.peersightonline.com

• How do you develop your leadership skills?

I read business related articles online, in the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, etc. 

• How do you know which ones you need help in?

In the past I used a personal coach to help me identify my strengths and weaknesses.  Now I use statistics from my business endeavors to identify my strengths and weaknesses. 

• Where do you go for development?

Where I go for development depends on the development need.  Sometimes I can find the answer in a business book or online.  Other times to develop new skills I need a contuning education class from either a professional organization or college/university.

• How do you make sure you are making progress?

I measure my efforts in comparison to the return on investment.  For example, if I am spending "X" number of hours at a specific task then the "desired outcome" should be increasing.  If it isn`t then either I am measuring the wrong variables or I am in need of specific training to strengthen my competencies. 

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Nicole Champagne
Email: influencialexpectations@gmail.com
Cell: (734) 262-3730
Soar With Influencial Expectations!

I`m doing some consulting work (writing/editing) for a large multinational, and they`re fond of tossing around terms like "leadership skills." Nobody bothers to ever define what it means, and everyone is supposed to "just know" (sorta kinda) what it means. Now here`s someone who actually wants to know, what exactly are leadership skills, how do I get them, and will I know if I have them. :-) What an interesting question!

It`s like defining "charisma," or "the groove," or "being cool." Why do some people have the ability to persuade, or why do they inspire confidence to where others will follow their....lead?

I`d propose that leadership rests on certainty. I think the abiding cause of almost all fear in anyone begins with uncertainty. So the more certain you are, the more you begin to appear as a leader.

The second aspect is confidence, but what`s that? Confidence is the certain knowledge that your thoughts about action, leading to your actions, match reality. Competence is to demonstrate that one`s actions produce intended results, measured by how few errors take place.

So to develop leadership skills, one must first develop certainty. That certainty inspires us to act. The more we act to produce specific, intended results, the more competent we "feel" and the more confidence we develop. With certainty, competence, and confidence in our abilities, we take on an aura of leadership.

The problem, of course, is that when starting a new business we draw upon skills that haven`t been tested, in an arena we`re unfamiliar with. We might be producing something never-before seen, and moving into relationship circles where we`ve had no previous experience. Talk about an uncertain environment!

Of course, being a philosopher, I`d say that before anyone can become a leader or develop confidence, they need a consistent philosophy---an organized view of reality. That presupposes they "believe" that reality exists.

CraigL... I completely agree. I would also add a few things that make up “leadership skills.” Today there are 100 different ways to execute a task. For some, it’s a pencil and paper. Others may choose a computer using mouse, or keyboard function keys. In other industries it may be the use of a sledge hammer VS a saws-all. The point is, the job must be executed on time and with great results.

Many times results have so many variables controlling them that everyone will end up with a different result. Some results are clearly better than others, while it is possible for a less than stellar result to achieve greatness through time. A very simple example of this might be a technique for varnishing a door. When completed, one door may appear aged while the other looks fresh and very attractive. Through time, the first door, appearing aged, may not change much in appearance. The second door starting as a fresh and very attractive look, may pass through phases ending in a worn and undesirable finish, which eventually needs re-varnished.

That leads me to the leadership question. If I am “leading/directing” others in executing a task, I will not just provide the list of instructions for the execution of the task, but will also provide well-defined (experienced) reasons for the chosen path. This builds confidence in the people you are leading and through time opposition to your leadership will diminish due to a high level of confidence.

Along with all the “explain your reasons for the direction or actions taken,” you also need to track your results. Tracking is where organizational skills come in handy.

There will come a day when a competitor or associate has a better method or better execution than you. In that case you must have a record of why you chose the path you eventually took. Everyone has a boss, therefore providing a “report” addressing all the potential pitfalls of the project and the reasons you took a specific course of action… or didn’t take any action… will directly impact the “bosses” sense of your leadership skills.

If you are a good leader your “reports” and end results with prove your choices are worth following. The goal is to have a higher success rate with small and large projects than failure rate.

So how do I develop my leadership skills?
I watch others who are doing what I think is right. When they succeed, I have provided myself and education. When they fail, I am also educated.

I also gather information from the internet and SuN contributors. It is difficult to be a better person (leadership or otherwise), if you are not following other’s (grander than you) examples.

How do I measure my leadership skills?
I attempt to lead. When I fail. I have to understand why and resolve my misstep. When I succeed, I look for a larger issue to tackle.

Thanks for listening… I hope it makes sense to at least 90% of you.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

Vincent, you do bring up a good point about how to develop skills, and leadership in particular: watching. I tend to look at the definitional aspects, then break out the process, then work out the action points.

But consider Harry Truman and George W. Bush. Both men have been routinely dismissed as mediocre, but then were pushed into extraordinary times and situations. Did they develop leadership skills then lead people? Or did the situation force them to act on initiative and take personal responsibility, then they became leaders?

You`re right that quality of output matters, and a leader is the person who makes the decisions about quality, then tests those results. But more importantly, the leader takes responsibility, as in "the buck stops here."

Leadership can come from an org chart, through direct and secondary reports, based on authority. This is the military leadership model. But I think when we speak of "leadership skills," we`re using the sense of others wanting to follow that leader out of personal respect. Leadership skills include the aura of "follow me and things will always turn out for the best."

The way I see it, doctors routinely exude this aura of leadership, yet few doctors ever concern themselves with developing leadership skills. Ergo, to my way of thinking, those leadership attributes and skills must also be something that "just happen," based on other things people do.

It`s the doctors` skills, competence, and above all, sense of certainty, along with their being ultimately responsible for life-and-death decisions that makes them appear to be leaders.

Hey common CraigL don;t tell me you know nothing about leadership skills

If you want to have some online good matter you can check leadership, leadership principles and leadership skills on this link, do check it out.

Its a good one and has audio and video also to support you. Leadership comes from within from faith and belief in oneself and ability to fight not only for yourself but also for your team.

That's very hard to solve this problem just by serval words because there is many factor influence whether you can lead your team well.

And I think Leadership require a leader to have good communication with employees.

It is necessary for a leader to have good skills. This post is very helpful for those who want to develop their leadership skills which are required in any organization.

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