How to become an effective small business leader

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How to become an effective small business leader

Ros Taylor, top executive coach and business psychologist, looks at the typical leadership pitfalls of entrepreneurs and explores ways that they can become effective leaders.

I'm the owner/manager of a small business. I've taken on several members of staff but I still seem to be working all hours - what's going wrong?

A: Let's look at the whole picture to get an idea of what might be happening. Over many years of working with entrepreneurs I've noticed a number of common pitfalls in terms of the way they typically run their businesses:

Entrepreneurs are usually big on ideas, but not good on detail and process. They're always chasing the next big thing - that's what being an entrepreneur is about after all!
They very often don't think about how to structure their company and so it grows in a topsy turvy fashion.
There's frequently a complete lack of structure in their work processes too: they typically don't have proper meetings and often don't work to deadlines.
Entrepreneurs are so used to doing things themselves, particularly if they've grown their business from scratch, that they're often not very good at delegating. Inevitably the entrepreneur herself will do things faster than her employees by virtue of having been involved in her own business a lot longer - but then might beat employees over the head for doing things slower.
Entrepreneurs often don't utilise the team they have fully. They're often so busy rushing around and trying to be all things to all people that they never even know what strengths they've hired and what talent they have right under their own noses!
Many entrepreneurs are charismatic in the outside world but don't feel they have to be charismatic internally with their staff. This is a mistake: unless you're charismatic with your staff they won't follow you and they're not going to perform for you. In fact, they might start actively working against you (stealing is an example of this).

Did you identify with any of the above? If you did, you might find some of the tried and tested solutions I've developed with clients useful:

Benchmark your own strengths. You may need somebody external like a coach to help you do this.
Then benchmark the strengths of your team. Make sure you've selected a top team around you and also make sure you understand their strengths so you get the most out of them.
Work with the team as a whole to get some team-building going. One-on-one encounters aren't enough beyond a certain size of business.
Think about the structure of your company. In corporate life you inherit a ready-made structure which can be useful, but if you run your own business you will have to create one yourself.
You will need some sort of line of command so that all you have to influence is the top layer.
Have some coaching on how to run team meetings:
- make the meetings short (maximum an hour)
- use agendas
- time the meetings and don't run over
- have a rotating chair
- Include at least 15 minutes of creative brainstorming in your meetings so that you ensure your always moving the business forward. Business today is all about being different but entrepreneurs often assume that no-one else has any ideas except them!
You need to make sure that your team really understands you: they need to clear about delivery and clear about deadlines.
If you don't want to do all of this management stuff, then hire somebody to do it for you - an office manager for example, who will make sure everybody (you included!) is on track. In my experience entrepreneurs are often so busy getting onto the next big thing that they need to make sure they have "sweepers" behind them.
Be as nice to staff internally as you would be to clients externally. Being friendly doesn't cost anything and and makes for a much happier environment.
Remember that the culture of any business is really just an extension of the person at the top. If you own and manage your business, there's no getting away from the fact that it will be your personality that sets the tone: if you're punitive and denigrating in your dealings with your staff, that will be the culture of your business. Equally, if you're appreciative and warm, so will the culture of your business be.
Do a 360 degree appraisal on yourself - be brave, find out what your staff really think of you!
Then benchmark your leadership style and be objective about what's working and where there's room for improvement.
Go for one-to-one leadership coaching or go on a course where all of the above elements are covered. The everywoman Leadership Development Programme is specifically designed to enable female managers and leaders to channel their skills and creativity into an effective leadership style.
And while you're at it, why not bring your new office manager on the course with you to make sure you're both singing from the same hymn sheet!