Disturbing Numbers:
- an increase in the number of businesses folding
- a decrease in the number of new ones opening
- a decrease in the life span of current businesses
We can’t finish this discussion without questioning the impact of poor leadership. Whether a large corporation or a small start-up, every successful business has leaders with certain traits:
1. Vision — If you can’t see where you’re going then you won’t need anyone to join you! The best leaders see, go first, then convince others to go along.
2. Commitment — If you’ve ever remodeled a room or a home, you’ve learned this lesson:
it’s always more difficult than you expected, costs twice as much and takes three times as long. With every goal you desire to achieve, this is the pattern. Too often, a person in a leadership position finds and follows a path of least resistance resulting in a derailed vision.
3. Resilience — A successful leader will have courage, strength, will-power and stamina to see the vision realized. Resiliency is the ability to weather storms without sinking. When you think you can’t get up one more time, a successful leader gets up and goes again.
4. Focus — The word leader implies moving people in a certain direction (see #1). Management is about results. Too many leaders spend their days focusing on results only. That may keep the boat afloat, but is it moving forward? Management alone cannot create and sustain an enterprise – it will always need leadership.
5. Strength of Character — There is no substitute for honesty, wisdom, courage and compassion. People expect leaders to do the right thing, to be a man or woman who does what they say they are going to do, who are motivated by a vision greater than themselves and care for both the mission of the organization and the people who are committed to that mission.
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