Good leadership – defined

Are you a leader just because you run a small business? No. But you need to be.

The role of leadership in business is indisputable. Great leaders create great businesses. Mediocre leaders create mediocre businesses. Without business leadership, a business will circle around aimlessly until it eventually runs out of power. For a business to succeed, effective and active leadership is needed.

But what is leadership really?

The definition of good leadership in the modern day is much different to the traditional concept of being a directing chief at the top of a hierarchy. More importantly, good leadership requires attitudes and behaviours which characterise and relate to humanity.

Good leadership involves serving the organisation and group of people within it. Ineffective leaders tend to invert this principle and view leadership as an opportunity to acquire personal status, advantage and gain at the expense of others. Good leadership is in fact the exact opposite.

Good leaders are followed chiefly because people trust and respect them. Gaining the trust and respect of employees in the work place can be easy if approached in the right way.

A good leader will:

• make an effort to know their staff, their personal needs, their goals and their desires;

• provide the team with direction;

• keep the team focused;

• help each team member to give their best efforts;

• ensure the team has the resources they need to complete tasks;

• step in when they see that things could be done more effectively;

• take charge when an emergency situation arises;

• provide encouragement and feedback;

• deal with customers in a service capacity and not just as an order taker;

• strive to deliver sterling results;

• get in and give a hand;

• make sure everybody counts and everybody knows they count;

• know when to meddle and when to let go;

• know their objectives and have a plan on how to achieve them;