The silent yet big mistake most business leaders make that’s hurting their business… Lack of self development.
Even if this doesn't apply to you at this exact moment, I guarantee there has been a time or there will be a time that this will hold you and your business back. Your leadership development, your own personal growth and progress as a leader is critical to running a successful business. You set the tone and the expectation for every single other person in your company both directly and indirectly. Remember you are the decision maker for your business and as the leader of your company you are constantly under a magnifying glass. Everything you do and say is being carefully watched and analyzed by your team and employees. They take notice and for better or worse will follow your lead. When you are the leader of a company and there is no one above you giving you feedback, holding you accountable and observing how you show up you can start to lack awareness about how you occur for others and how your behavior is impacting your business results. In your mind you may seem to be well liked and a team player while others may see you as unapproachable and closed minded to new ideas. You may think you are innovative and compassionate while your teams see you as an insensitive no it all who has a “my way or the high way attitude.”
Developing ourselves as leaders can be very challenging as we cannot see ourselves the way others see us and it is often challenging to see ourselves objectively. There could be a very minor behavior you have established that is negatively impacting your results and you may not even know it and for the most part we don't know it. It’s not to say that any of this is actually true about who you are however we must grasp that perception is reality and if this is how you occur for the people in your business you will not progress the way you want and you will not be able to retain and engage the right people to scale and grow your business. People are what generate your results and you cannot do it all yourself nor do you want to. You want profitability, sustainability, and freedom but where do you start. Start with yourself by asking your team how you occur for them and what their experience its like working for you and your company. Here are a couple questions to get you started and remember if you have not done something like this before you will want to communicate to your team whats happening and why. It may be best to distribute this as an anonymous survey so that people feel more able to answer honestly. If they don't feel like they can tell you the truth you will get no where.
- What do you think my strengths are as a leader?
- What do you think my weaknesses are as a leader?
- What do you appreciate about me as a leader?
- What do you find most challenging about working for me?
- How do you see me spend my time? Do you believe that’s beneficial to the growth of the business?
Don’t wait on this, even if you don't think this is an issue for you do it anyway. It takes little time and will only positively impact your employees and therefore your business. If you need additional support please follow this linkhttps://meetme.so/NicoleWiegreffCoaching to schedule a capability debriefing with me.