Article

Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas covers small business topics on the web.



Dave Thomas has written 101 articles for SB Informer.
View all articles by Dave Thomas...

Does Your Small Business Have Proven Leaders

Dave Thomas

July 29, 2016


Not rated
Rate:

How do you know if you truly have leaders in your small business?

Sure, some employees stick out for all the right reasons, yet you may not feel they are quite ready to take that next step.

Others, meantime, may be great employees, but you know in your heart of hearts that they just would not make a good manager or supervisor in your office.

So, the dilemma then becomes, do you handle the job of overseeing all of your workers, or is there someone (maybe more than one) capable of handling some of the leadership responsibilities in your office?

At the end of the day, ask yourself, does your small business truly does have proven leaders?

 

Where Will Leadership Emerge?

When looking to add some new leaders to the fold in your small business, here are some key pointers to remember:

  1. Skillset – First and foremost, do you have one or more people in your ranks that have the skillset to lead? Being a great employee is of course great, but being able to lead other employees is something else. In many instances, just watching and listening to current leaders in a company can propel others to pick up some of the necessary skillset to one day lead themselves. Others, meantime, will end up taking college coursework in this area, helping them grasp what it will take to be leaders. If you target your leadership, you can typically get the best leaders in the best positions, essentially like placing people in a large firm in the right positions of authority. One word of caution; never force an employee into a leadership role. While you may think they would be great in the position, only they truly know if they are cut out for the role;

  2. Personalities – Face it; not all of the personalities in your office will mesh with one another. Unless an employee is downright incompetent or turns out to be a problem child around the office, you’re most likely not going to part with them. As a result, your leaders (he or she may be one of the people with a less than stellar personality) will need to be masters at making sure personalities at worst tolerate one another for the good of the company. Remember, you are running a small business, not a dating website. Your workers do not always have to love each other, but they do need to co-exist peacefully so that your business can reach its full potential. An effective leader gets the best out of his or her employees by reading their personalities, knowing which employees are best suited for which tasks. For example, a shy employee is not going to be the best of choices to head your customer service department, especially given how many interactions they are likely to have with customers. A leader will pick up on that, knowing he or she is better suited for a less direct role with customers;

  3. Dedication – Finally, do you have one or more employees that just can’t get enough of the workplace? These types of individuals are typically what one might label a workaholic. He or she could be a proven leader in one of your departments, though you may worry about employee burnout at some point and time, especially if they take on the add role of being one of your leaders. That said you would be perfectly within your place to reward them with a leadership role for all of their hard work and dedication.

 

Knowing which of your employees might be best suited for a leadership role within your company can of course be tricky at times.

The best way to go about the process is by putting everyone on an equal billing (that is for each department).

Over time, a leader or two will likely emerge, allowing you to give them a little more responsibility in their daily day-to-day affairs.

Remember, you can always change your leadership roles at any given time, so don’t worry about feeling locked-in with someone if they are not working out.

At the end of the day, your proven leaders will emerge, giving you and your company all the more firepower to go after more business.


                   



Add comment Add comment (Comments: 0)  

Advertisement

Partners

Related Resources

Other Resources