Just because you have a leadership title, doesn’t mean that people are entitled to follow.

Here are 5 points I’d like you to consider as you sharpen your personal leadership skills as a family business owner. 

Good Family Business Leaders;

  • Need to be Lifters: In tough times, not only is it hard for the leadership of a family business, but it is very hard on the team that follows. They also feel the pressure to be better performers, especially when they have to step up due to shrinking staffs & resources. Leaders need to always be an encouragement to those who follow. They need to put special attention on lifting their spirits, providing hope and encouraging them to “stay the course”.  As a leader, what you say and what you do will provide either confidence or catastrophe to those that follow.
  • Need to be Learners: Good family business leaders are always studying – reading books, audio books, blogs, conferences, industry associations, etc. We live in an age of rapid change and if you do not have a process in place which enables you to keep learning about the changes, you will find yourself behind the times in a blink of an eye. Create yourself an easy to follow a process that allows you to keep your ear to the ground and your business moving forward.
  • Need to be Listeners: There is an old Native American Proverb that good leaders should reflect on –“Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf. “The best way to increase your business is to give your customers what they want not what you think they need. Stop TALKING at your customers and start LISTENING to them. You will be happier and wealthier in the long run.
  • Need to be Liberators: A good family business leader is always looking for ways to remove the roadblocks that limit the productivity, efficiencies, and effectiveness of their team members. If you identify and remove the shackles off of the people that perform for you, you will enable them to be more effective producers.
  • Need to Let Go: ”Empower your people and you will add power to your business”. Good family business leaders go beyond micro-managed delegation, they provide their team with real opportunities to step up, be innovative and add value. Family members and other staff members perform better when they feel needed, valued and empowered.

 

As a member of a family business, in your opinion, what other leadership skills should a family business owner have? Please share in the comment section.