What Would a Better Business Leader do?
A successful business leader in the heart of a company.
As presidents or chief executive officers, they are responsible for all policies and procedures that determine how their company operates. These leaders are expected to be honest, respectful, and humble in their approach – knowing when to lead by example and when to allow others to take the initiative themselves. Developing this kind of leadership style can require training, experience, or even education beyond high school.
If you have never learned what it takes to become a better business leader, you might want to know about some different qualities that set great bosses apart from just good ones. Here are four examples of what would make someone a better business leader:
A better business leader will put their employees before profits. Putting the success of a company ahead of the well-being of workers is never a good idea, and you can see that in some companies where employee turnover has been too high to be considered a positive indicator.
Recognizing that your employees are human beings with lives outside of work means putting their needs first on certain occasions. When major life events happen – such as a death or marriage – it’s important for them to know they have support from you as an employer as well as from their colleagues at work. Providing some flexibility around working hours during those difficult times shows employees your willingness to fight for the company together, rather than against each other.
Another important aspect of having employees before profits is showing consideration for their health and safety on the job. A company might have a competitive edge if employees are able to work faster or cheaper, but any gains from this will hardly be worth the costs in compensation or emotional wellness if the environment becomes detrimental to workers.
If your priority is profits before people, you’ll struggle to retain employees for long. Even if they are fairly compensated, there is still no way to put a price on the psychological damage that can be caused by someone who only considers the best interests of ‘the bottom line’. Workplace morale will plummet and even those with high emotional intelligence may struggle to respond appropriately.
Trust But Verify… Often
Trusting others goes hand in hand with being humble – the more you trust others, the less opportunity there is forego to sneak in. However, there are some bosses that are perhaps too willing to allow their employees to get away with mistakes or even outright bad behaviour. Some managers are even willing to look the other way when they see something unethical happening right under their noses!
It’s important for business leaders to be transparent about what they expect from their employees and how they want things done around the office. For example, if you have a ‘no personal calls’ rule while on work time it should also extend off-hours as well… unless of course your employee needs to make an urgent call regarding a family member during non-work hours. As long as there is room for negotiation, there should be no problem.
Many companies have employment policies in place stating what sorts of behaviour can get employees in trouble – and naturally, what would lead to their dismissal. When you trust your people but verify that they are actually living up to the standards set out by your firm, you’re taking care not only of the company’s interests but also those of the individuals who work for you.
If you take away an individual’s sense of personal agency when they’re at work (i.e. when they feel like everything is micromanaged), it will inevitably take a toll on their self-esteem and motivation levels over time. Nobody wants to feel like nothing matter or is even appreciated; if that’s how your employees feel, they’re likely to start looking for other opportunities in no time.
What would a better business leader do? They’d trust their employees without giving them too much leeway when it comes to upholding the company’s interests.
Offer Regular Feedback and Make It Clear When They’ve Messed Up
If you want your employees to get better at what they do, it makes sense that you should provide them with regular feedback about their performance – both good and bad. Unfortunately, this is something many managers fail at doing because of how uncomfortable it can be for them! After all, few people look forward to hearing that they need to improve in some aspect or another.
Being able to provide opportunities for your people so they can develop new skills or even climb up the corporate ladder is often considered by many managers to be one of their top responsibilities.
Unfortunately, there are some bosses out there who interfere with this process because they either don’t trust their employees to grow independently or think that pushing them too far beyond their current skill set will cause problems down the road.
The reality about providing employees with opportunities is that you can’t always predict where it will lead. Sometimes, pushing an employee to expand their horizons means they’ll leave the company for greener pastures. However, there are many instances when employees come back later on because they loved what you had to offer them in the first place!
What would a better business leader do? They’d trust their people enough to provide them with opportunities without completely micromanaging things – and then take responsibility for issues that result from their choices.
Prioritize Teamwork Above All Else
The workplace culture within your organization obviously has a huge impact on how well employees get along together – but sometimes, even the best of ideas about teamwork falls apart when certain individuals start playing dirty.
Whether it’s trying to make another person look incompetent and hoping they’ll leave the company as a result of telling lies about their coworker, this kind of behaviour is unacceptable in any working environment. If you notice things like this going on between your employees, it’s time to step in and put an end to all of the backstabbings!
What would a better business leader do? They’d promote teamwork among everyone in the company by stepping in when problems start happening – but not before talking with both sides involved to figure out what really happened. Of course, if one employee has been consistently doing something negative without remorse, then there are few options besides letting them go.
Sponsor Employees That Show Promise
It’s a tough task trying to decide who in your organization has the best chance of being promoted if you don’t have any solid evidence. Sure, some people will volunteer because they see it as a good way to prove themselves worthy of climbing up the company ladder – but not everyone is so selfless.
If you have questions about which employees are most deserving of a promotion, then one solution is to simply test them out before making any final decisions. Hiring a mentor for a promising employee and putting them through intense training can help both parties discover whether or not they’re really meant for greater things at your company!
A successful business leader in the heart of a company. As presidents or chief executive officers, they are responsible for all policies and procedures that determine how their company operates. These leaders are expected to be honest, respectful, and humble in their approach – knowing when to lead by example and when to allow others…