LEADERSHIP & SMALL BUSINESSES: HARNESSING THE PRIME-MOVER FOR OPPORTUNITY CONVERSION.

In order to compete favourably in today's business world, smaller firms must overcome their inherent inertia, grow beyond the curve, play smart, and start to adopt strategic, long term plans, that are capable of sustaining the core values and the strength of their business offerings through investment in their people (employees). In other words, smaller firms and their owner/managers must begin to look inward to create and cultivate smart leaders that can help them crank the wheels of their vision and mission in order to quickly attain a self-sustaining and self-propelling speed in tandem with today's fast paced, information/knowledge-based economy.

A very simple way of accomplishing this is for small businesses to assume the humble and basic tasks of deliberate cultivation of leadership candidates who are not afraid to fail, nor to take risks. Small business owners must never resist change, but they must challenge their workforce to promote teamwork, encourage innovation, and place premium values on creative thinking and effective communication that fit the narratives of a 21st century and industry 4.0 compliant organization.

It is a known fact that any organization, small or large, where all operational and management responsibilities/authorities are centrally retained at the apex position of the organization's pyramid alone is a disaster in the making. Such organization is already doomed for failure. On the flip side however, when you find an organization that has some key responsibilities and authorities invested at the lowest possible level, you will surely find excellence. We can assert that more benefits and values that customers can see, feel and quickly buy into in such organizations must have been greatly influenced by the genuine input and creative thinking of their staff strength and sense of inclusion thus generated. In such situations, everyone in the organization will have a piece of the action and the big picture thinking will surely be evident in all categories of workers. Such organizations are said to be smart in taking advantage of the avalanche of opportunities that today's 21st century business ecosystem has been able to bring their way curtesy of all dedicated and motivated workforce. 

In this new age of information and knowledge-base economy, business owners must ensure the creation of enabling environment for enterprise innovation to thrive and foster among all rank and file of employees. The role of a leader in this new age of knowledge-base economy has evolved beyond the symbol of a person with position of authority to the symbol of a person with the authority of positioning. Great leadership helps in fostering the creation of visionary scenarios that will help to drive the formation and mobilization of a strong team with a supporting cast of interdependent team members having great commitment to enact the vision for the achievement of strategic value creation.

It has been said that effective leadership also entails delegating. However, delegating isn’t just about transferring your to-do list to someone else. Also, delegating is not giving up control, rather, delegating is about giving up on the execution of details. It’s also growing your staff by giving roles, responsibilities and authority for actions that may be outside their normal day-to-day scope. People grow by attempting to do what they have never done before, not in engaging in routine activities that can drain their energies and thought processes. Going forward therefore, a true leader will not fear to delegate, and a true leader will not be consumed in the execution of details.

When you delegate, you help your staff to grow and take business risks and initiatives. As such, you also give your staff members the opportunity to try new things, to build new networks or connections, and to grow their self-confidence and experience through the various perks of failures and successes they'll encounter.

A Successful entrepreneur is a true leader that can effectively delegate and maximize the valuable inputs of his/her employee, enhances the value offerings of the business, and increases the values that the business as a whole brings to the community and the industry.

When the marketplace is being disrupted, the after-effect is that it will introduce a freezing temperature into the mold of the old value offerings, and further help to create a paradigm shift for new sets of opportunities that can only be harnessed and converted into thriving enterprises by entrepreneurial minds. Such entrepreneurial minds are molded and well-rounded in both technical and business sides of their enterprise, always balancing their entrepreneurial equation with a recurring factor of transformational and change leadership.

Leadership, like many other intangible assets is invisible on the balance sheet but are essential to the creation of value in the new economy.

Leadership helps bring to bare the energy that is required to work long hours without burning out. Leadership gives the reliable jolt that any entrepreneurial venture can count on to get them started on new tasks, and new challenges.

Leadership is that power supply that helps an organization to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for its teams and workgroup. Leadership is also the theme that keeps both the tangible & intangible assets of an organization moving and yielding superior values.

Leadership enlists the virtues and the unique characteristics of both the tangible and intangible assets of an enterprise to create a superior value offerings (products, services or solutions) that are greater than the arithmetic sum of the individual assets of the system.

We can say that leadership is what helps to generate the motive forces that can be deployed in driving the entire system and operations of the enterprise. Leadership is therefore the PRIME MOVER for successful business and it's a very critical key for identifying, harnessing, and converting inherent virtues and potentials of both tangible and intangible assets of an organization. 

Ayodeji Onabanjo