Are you looking to move into a management position? Or perhaps you are currently a new manager looking to build your skill base. Skills and lessons to practice and learn lessons for small business owners should be a priority, yes?
While there is always the argument about the differences between management and leadership, management, leadership, and teamwork go hand in hand, don’t they?
So to build a strong team you need to be the type of manager that will measurably help others succeed, don’t you think?
Small business managers certainly need to grasp this fact and understand the concepts of the best management and leadership qualities and attributes don’t they? Spot on.
I have been in management and leadership positions in the military and business world for forty-five years and I often get asked what the best lessons for future business managers I have found. Surprisingly (or not) my list of lessons probably have varied to a degree, depending on when in my career it was constructed.
It can be hard to make the most of your time when you’re running a business, especially when you’re wearing a lot of different hats and trying to complete a lot of different tasks.
There are others who have been there, and they’ve found some methods to improve productivity.
The list of lessons is based on real-world experiences as well as managers and leaders I studied (including many bosses). For example, Dwight Eisenhower was only one of many I studied over those many years.
Being such a business manager is a lifelong learning process. You are never done learning and renewing lessons you have learned. Every great manager always looks for ways to improve their ability to improve their leadership qualities and attributes.
Here is a favorite example of mine. Anthony Trollope was in the business of writing books and writing a book is a big project. It is not the type of task that you can complete in a day. In some cases, merely writing a chapter is too big a task for a single day.
However, instead of measuring his progress based on the completion of chapters or books, Trollope measured his progress in 15-minute increments. This approach allowed him to enjoy feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment very quickly while continuing to work on the large task of writing a book.
I have found this second point, the speed with which you complete your first task of the day, to be of particular importance for maintaining a highly productive output day after day.
Related: The Zen of Distinguishing Your Leadership Behaviors
If you read 10 books on business management, you could
easily build a checklist of 50 or more management lessons for future business managers.
But more is not necessarily better for the best lessons to study and apply.
The following lessons represent my favorite 13 lessons on business
management that I believe could make the biggest impact. If I was starting my
career over and could take 13 leadership lessons back in time with me, these
are the ones I would choose:
Create an environment of continuous learning
It is absolutely necessary that business managers be good learners. They need to instill this in all their teams. They must learn from their mistakes.
To be most successful, managers must acknowledge, understand, and improve on their shortcomings. And they must encourage their team to also focus on continuous learning.
Be a multiplier
Be a multiplier.
Multiplier business managers know that at the
apex of the intelligence hierarchy is NOT the lone genius. Rather, it is the
genius who knows the importance of bringing out the smarts and capabilities in
everyone in the team.
Build connections
Both managers and leaders know their job with
their teams is about building lots of connections. They make people feel they
have a stake in common problems.
Encourage feedback
It is vital that you let your team know you are
interested and will listen to their concerns and ideas and contribute to
solutions to any and all problems.
Focus on building team confidence by publicly
recognizing their efforts and achievements. Think of it this way; anything is
possible if you share the glory. Giving others a chance to claim credit is an
easy, and effective, way to magnify results.
Communicate clearly and often
Language is a manager’s most powerful tool,
whether it is written or oral. Always keep your people informed of team goals,
priorities, and schedules. Without the ability to communicate, managers can possess
all the other attributes and still fail to have an impact.
Be decisive
One of the key jobs of a manager is to be an effective decision-maker. Employees are never comfortable with managers who make slow decisions and they frequently change their minds. Quality managers make decisions quickly and stick with them.
Provide sound guidance
Be available with your staff members and show
interest in their career development within the business. Don’t hesitate to
offer guidance along the way.
Building and maintaining trust
Always do what you say and set good examples.
Demand from yourself the same level of professionalism and dedication that you
expect from others. Trust, once broken, is seldom restored to its original
state. It is the most fragile yet essential attribute of leadership and
management.
Present the big picture
Consistently show the team how their projects
fit into the larger goals and objectives of the business. You can never be too
detailed on communicating the big picture.
Be patient but persistent
Delivering strong managerial skills takes time
and practice. Seek guidance from mentors, colleagues, your boss, and your
network.
Deliver confidence
Having and being able to deliver confidence counts. Most managers are self-confident. The real skill and ability are to extend faith to others. They must be good at recognizing and believing in the talents of others.
Accept learning is never done
You have worked hard to get to this point. Rely
on your experience but accept there is still much to learn. Learn from
everywhere you can, including your own team
The bottom line
The moral of this
story is that the best leadership lessons should have a great influence on team
development and teamwork. If these different thoughts are possessed by your
current management or leadership team, or your emerging leaders, you will be in
a good position for the road ahead.
Which of these leadership lessons stand out to you like the most critical? Do you have any other thoughts of effective leaders worthy of mention? Leave a comment and share your insights with us and other readers. We would be most interested in your thoughts.
All you get is what you bring to the fight.
And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be,
what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovating your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your
advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or
comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service
agency. With 45 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to
improving the performance of your business. Find them on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your
thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun
and inspiration along the way.
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
