Are You A Leader?

[dropcap style=”2″ color=”#f50a0a” text=”O”]ne important part of being a business owner is being a great leader. This is essential for any business, since a well functioning company is essential to success. In other words, if you are not a good leader, your business is going to suffer, and word of mouth will destroy you business. This is not exaggeration. If you are unsure about the most cutting edge leadership methods, then you will need to catch up. If your business is not being run by dedicated employees who are as concerned with the success of the venture as you are, then you are going to be limiting what you can do. You can find plenty of factually correct information in books and business magazines about how poor leadership skills have destroyed potentially successful businesses. In this article, you can learn a little bit about what it takes to be a good leader.

[blockquote style=”quote” align=”” author=”- Lao Tzu”]A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. [/blockquote]

This may be in part our opinion, but it seems that the best leaders are not those who rule with an iron fist. It seems like conventional wisdom says that the best leaders are those who will not budge when it comes to their workforce. These leaders wear the faces of stoics and punish their employees when they do not excel in their duties. They keep most of their employees at bay and only reward the chosen few. This is not the best way to lead. There have been new studies with an interesting result that makes people think that the best leaders are those who actually bond with their workers.

In order to be the best possible leader, you should begin to encourage participation among your workers. Let them know that they are part of the team. Talk to them about their lives and their job satisfaction. Remember that you are relying on these people to represent your business. If they think that you are a mean person, then they are going to be a lot less likely to be enthusiastic about your business. In those cases when you find that an employee is doing the wrong thing, you should give them useful tips. Guide your workers who are having trouble and reward those who do their jobs well.

This last point may confuse many of the old-fashioned leaders. What is this idea of a reward? The truth is that when you reward your employees for even doing small tasks correctly, you will encourage participation and enthusiasm. If they know that there is a good thing waiting for them when they work to the best of their abilities, they will go out of their way to always work at the optimum level.

[blockquote style=”quote” align=”” author=”Leaders are made rather than born. —Warren Bennis”]The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. [/blockquote]

If you are keeping up with current trends and using the most cutting edge leadership tactics, then you should be aware that bonding with your employees is essential. This is the means to a happy end. You will be creating a new kind of workplace in which everyone’s opinion counts. You will also be getting a lot of new input from your employees that you yourself would never have thought of. You never know where there is undiscovered talent. When it comes to dealing with your employees, you should not be thinking, “How can I show them who is boss?” You should instead be thinking, “How can I get my employees involved so they help us raise our credibility?” These are the thoughts of a successful leader.