I speak with existing business owners every day and one of the things I hear often is that they have a “people problem” and it’s hurting their business…but there are always at least 2 sides to every story.
Although every business is unique, I would question if some businesses really have “people problems”, despite being one of the most overstated reasons for lack of performance in a business. When we methodically peel back the layers far enough, the root is often connected to leadership. That’s not to say that you don’t or can’t have the wrong people in the wrong seats on the bus, but those kinds of problems are usually a symptom of leadership challenges.
Leadership is critical to business success and although it feels intangible, it can be measured. Excluding uncontrollable events such as acts of nature or unforeseen economic turmoil, the bottom line results of your business are the direct numerical indicator of your ability to lead. When you lead effectively, you set the stage for the rest of the business, your employees and your customers. When all of these things come together, the numbers reflect your success.
The good news is being an effective leader is not as hard as it is often made out to be. That is not to say it is easy or happens without purposeful intention. There a few simple steps you can take to help you get well on your way to raising your leadership bar.
Without question, most of us have some leadership abilities. If you own or manage a business it is safe to say you have already proven your ability to lead at some level. Great businesses and great business outcomes will come from strong leadership. Leadership skills can be improved.
How do you know how well you’re doing other than by the bottom line? Try this short 3 question quiz of your current leadership skills in action:
#1: Same Page Test
Ask your top 3 employees to list their top 3 priorities. The owners/top leadership should do the same. If they all match, congratulations, you passed Test #1 with flying colors. If they don’t, your employees are telling you they don’t know what you expect them to do. One of the biggest reasons employees pass off responsibility is they don’t understand what you really want them to do. Get everyone on the same page.
#2: Train the Trainers Test
If something happened to any of your key employees is there someone besides yourself who could step in and seamlessly fill that role? If you have anyone who is irreplaceable (including yourself) you still have work to do.
Depending on the size of your company, having depth in different positions can be challenging, but the message is you must constantly be training. Cross-training is invaluable when unplanned interruptions happen in business. A simple way to start laying the ground work for this is to have each employee create a step-by-step document defining what they do in their position. It creates great opportunities for discussion to improve processes, create a scalable model for growth, and insulate your business from unexpected events or key employees leaving without anyone knowing how to accomplish their work.
#3: Authority and Empowerment Test
After your next manager/staff meeting, where plans for the day, week, or project are discussed, start a timer and see how long your business can function without you having to provide additional input or make a decision. The rule is you can’t initiate any communication. If you can make it at least 24 hours, then you clearly have delegated some level of decision making duties to your employees/staff. The advanced version of this test is to be able to go a week or two without input and still have everything function smoothly.
Depending on your business size, this same process can be replicated with department managers and their employees. This is a great exercise to help reevaluate spending limits for purchased items, authority to grant warranty or sales discounts and any number of questions routinely channeled through upper management for approval. The inability to “let go” is one of the biggest obstacles that prevents a business from being able to grow. You can’t do everything and you shouldn’t if you want to grow sustainably.
How did you do? As a business owner or manager, your ability to lead ultimately determines the success of your business. Leadership is more complicated than a 3 question quiz, but hopefully you discovered a couple of areas where there are opportunities to improve in your business and improve your employee’s view of you as their leader. As always, feel free to call to schedule a time to chat. I look forward to hearing from you.
