Managing and leading in a small business

I was stunned while reading this article about Managing and leading in a small business. Here are some of them:

When we think of leaders and managers,?we often only think of large companies. It's important to remember that most small businesses also need both leaders and managers. Not everyone is a natural leader or manager, but there's a lot you can do to create a positive and productive culture in your business.

Management and leadership complement each other, but they have different functions:

·??????Leaders encourage and inspire employees to achieve the goals of a business.

·??????Managers manage employees and activities to achieve these goals.

Both roles are necessary. A leader can only inspire a team to success if there's a management structure that ensures the necessary tasks are being done. Likewise, a leader who wants to be effective should not spend too much time managing and not enough time leading.

In most small businesses, managers also tend to fill the leadership role. Unfortunately, not all managers have the right leadership qualities. Employees often only listen to, and follow, a manager's direction or requests because of the manager's title or level in the business.

Being a good leader

Good leaders play a critical role in?setting business vision and values ?and inspiring employees to adopt and support these. They also motivate and guide employees to achieve business goals. Good leadership skills can help a business:

·??????make more effective decisions

·??????focus on their vision

·??????reach their goals.

People often link leadership to a specific position in a business, but there's no single position, characteristic or quality that defines a good leader. As a business owner, you'll need strong leadership qualities, but leadership can also come from your team leaders, managers and employees.

Characteristics of a good leader

Motivating people towards a common business goal involves a mix of styles and strategies.

Different leadership styles can be used at different times in a business, but some character traits are important for all leaders. There are also characteristics that any successful leader will avoid, for example:

·??????poor communication—can lead to misunderstandings, errors and poor cooperation

·??????reluctance to delegate—leads to resentment and inefficiencies

·??????favouritism among staff—leads to resentment.

Being a good manager

Management is about supervising, supporting and overseeing employees to ensure the job gets done. The focus is on achieving business goals by planning, organising and controlling business tasks, functions and resources.

Management styles

As a manager, how you handle different situations in your business will depend on the management style you're using.

It's important to be aware of different management styles, their impact, and their advantages and disadvantages. Also be aware of which management style you tend to use. Consider adopting different styles depending on the situation, the task being completed, and the employees involved.

The following management styles are frequently used in small businesses. Democratic management is often the most successful style, but there will be times when other styles can be useful.

Delegating

At some stage as a business owner, you might find that you're not able to do everything yourself and that you need to start delegating.

Delegation involves passing the responsibility for a task or role to someone else in the business. Entrepreneurs and people who start their own businesses can often find this hard to do. However, delegation is a very valuable skill for all business owners, leaders and managers.

Want to know more? Head on over to the full article here for more ideas and perspective. Afterwards, why not drop me an email to share your thoughts at [email protected]; or call me on 0467 749 378.

Thanks,

Robert