BY: Dave Balter
No matter who you are, or the type of company you oversee, there are some universal ways you can be better at it.
Strong leadership is a lifelong pursuit that requires continuous
evaluation and improvement. Every leader has his own style, and every
company needs a personalized approach.
That said, there are 10 things any entrepreneur in any organization can do to deliver results:
1. Don't try to get stuff done.
That's not your job. As CEO, your job is to get others to execute
for you. A leader is the only one who can drive the big strategy, so
being caught in the weeds will only undermine the ability for everyone
else to win.
2. Forget about democracy.
You want to be a supportive, open-minded autocrat. If you make soft
suggestions and ask for input, you create a lack of confidence among
your subordinates. Be assertive; lead by unwavering decisiveness.
3. Never say 'start small.'
Seek out the big ideas and drive your team to achieve them. If you start small, you succeed small.
4. Make time your enemy.
The best CEOs move faster, get to scale sooner, and make things happen now. Impatience is a critical tool to motivate results.
5. Tell exciting stories.
Having a vision and strong direction is only as good as how well you
convince others to believe in what you're saying. Not much is as
important as being able to relay--in person, or on paper--through
stories that inspire others.
6. Deliver finished materials.
Any document that feels raw and rushed was not thought through
carefully, and won't be taken seriously. Pay close attention to typos,
punctuation, page breaks, headers, and footers. Perfect formatting and
proofreading are essential elements to sell your ideas.
7. Prepare extensively for every meeting.
The more structure you can create as CEO, the more your team will
know how to deliver results. You want to write crafted agendas, and
make employees accountable. Provide clear roles and clarify
expectations in advance, and oversee meetings by deliberately pacing
each section.
8. Remove staffers who don't crush it. Immediately.
The only route to success is getting great people to achieve
greatness. The clichés are true: few get better at hiring; many get
better at firing. Being one man down is better than having an
underperformer.
9. Don't turn "off"--ever.
If you're going to inspire a team, you must avoid blackout periods,
and communicate more often and more clearly than anyone else. Silence
results in complacency, so always respond. Weekends and nights are just
as important.
10. Behave like your company is publicly-traded.
What would you do if you knew that every decision you made would be
visible to shareholders, affect share price, and put your job on the
line? Operate from this perspective and your biggest ideas will rise to
the forefront.
SOURCE: www.inc.com
No comments:
Post a Comment