Service Business Leadership Isn’t About What You Do (It’s About Who You Are)

People don’t get inspired by strategies and processes but by the people behind all of that stuff. When it comes to being a good service business leader, who you are makes all the difference.

What does service business leadership mean to you?

For many, the answer probably relates to what you do inside your business. A good leader creates systems and processes to keep the business running efficiently. They put together teams and tell them what to do.

Leadership is all about these little systems and processes, right?

If that’s the case, why do your best people leave?

Now, I’m not saying that the systems and processes aren’t important. Of course they are! But when it comes to service business leadership, they’re not the biggest factor by a long shot.

You are.

If your people keep leaving, that’s a wake-up call for you. It shows you that you need to work on yourself to be the inspiring service business leader that they need.

I’m going to explain what makes a great leader in a moment. But first, I want you to take a look at a magical place…

Why Do People Stay at Disneyworld?

I love Disneyworld.

And when I say that, I mean I love to look at Disneyworld through the business lens. I love figuring out what Disney does that other companies don’t.

They certainly don’t pay their people tons of money. Or at least, they’re not shelling out the big bucks for the guys operating their theme parks.

And yet, Disneyworld still manages to attract people from all over the world. College kids will even move overseas just to get a chance to work there.

Why?

It really is the happiest place on Earth.

The leadership at Disneyland understands that people aren’t motivated solely by money. It’s the culture and the people who lead them that are often the biggest motivators for most employees.

So, what can you do to emulate Disneyworld in your service business? I have four tips for you.

Tip #1 – Stop Thinking That It’s Hard to Find Good People

I hear so many service business owners say that it’s hard to find good people. And it gets me so cranked up because it’s completely wrong.

It’s actually only a challenge to find one person who needs to be in your business.

And that person is the leader inside you.

That is a super hard thing to find. However, managing to find that person will transform your service business.

When you unlock the leader that lives inside you, people will follow you. Suddenly, you’ll get to find all of the good people that you didn’t think existed before. And the main reason is, these people are now drawn to your business because they want to follow you.

So, I want you to change your thinking here. 

If you ever find yourself complaining about how hard it is to find good people, take a look in the mirror. Maybe you’re the reason why good people aren’t coming to your business.

Tip #2 – Real Leaders Have a Vision (And They Know How to Make it Real)

Let’s say I tell you we’re going to climb a mountain and hunt a grizzly bear.

You’re going to have a ton of questions, right? 

What mountain? 

How high is it? 

How are we going to get there? 

What do we do when we find a bear?

As a leader, I need to have answers to all of those questions. If hunting a grizzly is the vision, I need to be able to map out the steps that will make the vision real.

If I don’t… well, somebody’s getting eaten by a damn bear!

Having a vision of what you want to achieve isn’t enough to be a great leader. You also need to know what steps you and your team have to take to make that vision real.

Tip #3 – You’re Here to Remove Suffering

Strong leaders remove suffering, which is why they achieve such amazing results.

I used to tell people that a leader’s only job is to build other leaders. I got that completely wrong. A leader does so much more than that.

The problem with that idea is that weak leaders will always build weak leaders. They’ll create this cycle of suffering that goes on and on. 

Your first job is to build the very best version of you that can possibly exist. Then, you’re going to use that version of you to remove suffering from other people’s lives. It’s that version of you that will clear the path for the next generation of leaders.

Tip #4 – Set the Example for Your People

How you show up and when you show up are both really important things. Your people watch you constantly and they’re going to follow your lead.

For example, let’s say I have a training session scheduled at 9am. The registration for that training is at 8am.

You can bet your bottom dollar that I’m showing up to that training before 8am. I’m going to show up first and I’ll do it right. 

That sets the example for the people who will attend the training. They’ll see that I am the sort of person who does what he says he’s going to do. And now, they’re inspired enough to follow me into battle and learn from my experiences.

Figure Out Who You Are

So many people think that they’re born service business leaders. They know all the technical stuff and the systems. So, they assume that they have this leadership thing down.

The unfortunate truth is that they probably don’t.

Who you are determines your success as a leader far more than what you do in your business.

You’ve got to be the leader who shows up and sets the example. You’ve got to remove suffering and change how you think about finding people for your service business.

Finally, you’ve got to be the sort of person who has a defined vision.

It’s these things that inspire other people to follow you. However, this is only one small part of running a service business.

Are you ready to discover more? Then I just have one question for you…

Has success been elusive and you feel stuck? If your answer is yes, book your FREE Strategy Session NOW!