How good leadership impacts company growth

The business world is full of leadership and decision making strategies. Being a good leader involves gaining the trust and respect of your coworkers and employees. People need to trust you in order for them to listen to you. Being a good leader is an important part of company growth. Employees often leave their employers because they are unsatisfied with their managers. If you want to keep the good employees that can help your company grow, you need to start with your leadership skills. Here are some things you can do to work on your leadership skills:

Step # 1 - Trust and Respect
Establishing trust is one of the most difficult things a small business leader will face. Trust involves feeling that you can depend upon another person to achieve a common goal. You know how people feel about you and how you feel about them. If you have had past incidences with employees and they have formed a negative opinion of you, it will be difficult to change their minds. Change the way you treat people and start pointing out their achievements and telling them why you appreciate them.

People will know they can rely on you if you show qualities of integrity and consistency. So how to you build this trust? Start by listening. Bring each member of your staff into your office and talk about their needs and concerns and what they think you can do to improve the office environment. You might be surprised at some of the "little things" that will make a world of difference to a person. Give each employee your full attention and make an effort to get to know them. Practice memorizing your employee's names and at least one or two things about them such as their favorite sports team or their family. This way when you pass them in the hallway you can call them by name and coin in a personal phrase that shows you take the time to get to know who is working for you.

Empathy is another big factor in establishing trust. It puts you and your employee on the same "playing field" and you work together to resolve a situation. This goes along with listening. Without showing empathy, people will look at you as a "cold hearted" individual who only cares about the money, not the people.

Step # 2 - Create Goals
Once you have established the trust of your employees, you need to give them a reason to follow you. Leadership skills are not obtained overnight and require a lot of effort on your part. First, develop a business plan for the future and make your staff excited about jumping on board to achieve the goals. Show your employees how you are going to achieve financial success. Discuss how you will take steps to improve quality, productivity, innovation, and revenue. Talk to your staff about how you plan to lighten the load in certain areas that may be overwhelmed.

Small business owners have to take on multiple responsibilities and manage several different personalities. It can be extremely challenging for some people. If you are trying to establish yourself as a leader, remember to trust yourself. This may sound cheesy, but you need to believe in yourself if you want other people to believe in you. Confidence is the best way to earn the trust of others. You also need to be organized and prioritize the different decisions that are placed before you. Once you make a decision, stick to it so everyone knows you support your decision. If you make a mistake, suck-up your pride and admit to it, then implement a strategy to fix it.