Stop Being A Nice Boss

Stop Being A Nice Boss

DARE to be a Great Leader instead

It always amazes me the number of small business owners who call me in to solve their 'people problems' which is code for:

it's them, not me.

And yet, upon further discussion and investigation, it is clear the staffing issues are a result of the lack of simple systems and the Owner being 'too nice'.

This is because instead of dealing with any issue as it arose, they either didn't know how to manage it or didn't want to; so they ignored it, in the hope it would resolve itself on its own or just disappear.

Sound familiar?

Then please read on to see why always being a nice boss isn't helping you, your team or your small business.

Side issue:

If you run the small business on behalf of the Owner or report to a Board, then this blog is still worth a read – just please change the word 'Owner' with your position title.

FOCUS: EMBRACE YOUR ROLE

Now I'm not saying every Owner should do a complete 360 and become tyrants instead.

But there is a reason why you own the business.

Because it's your business.

And if you truly want to be the successful Small Business Owner and not the Reluctant Small Business Owner I refer to my in book, then there will be times when you have to have hard conversations with your team.

In my book, The Five Little Business Pigs, I outline the 5 Steps to getting CLEAR on your Business, People and Systems.

Step 2 is about whether you DARE to Lead.

DARE is an acronym for:

D irection
A ccountability
R esponsibility
E xample

Here's a snapshot of what I mean by DARE to Lead.

DIRECTION

Leadership begins with Direction so what direction is your small business taking?

Do you have a clear vision and strategy which you've articulated to your team in words they understand?

Does your strategy need to change due to market shifts, the economy, legislative changes, technology or innovation?

Are your team onboard with the strategy or do you need to communicate it differently?

ACCOUNTABILITY

Unfortunately, I see too many people, with the best of intentions, missing the Accountability step.

Mistakes happen and I get that.

As I often said to my girls when I coached junior netball, 'stuff happens. It's about what you do next that matters'.

If they've had an uh-oh moment because they missed a shot or threw away a pass, I needed them to quickly refocus, switch back on and get the ball back.

Unfortunately, I see too many owners and their team spending energy on blaming each other or not addressing accountability at all.

Stuff happens so we need to own it.

Focus on what you can improve and avoid the mistake next time. It will be a much better use of your time and energy rather than playing the blame or ignore it games.

RESPONSIBILITY

This goes hand in hand with Accountability.

I get frustrated when people don't take Responsibility for their own work and own decisions, and the subsequent consequences.

In this age of technology, it seems people have lost the art of remembering to do the things they said they would do.

Instead of this responsible behaviour, the trend I'm seeing involves excuses like, 'You didn't send me a text message reminder', or 'You didn't send me an email about that', even when both people were at the same meeting.

So take responsibility for what you've agreed to do and write it down in a notebook or on your phone and stop waiting for someone else to remind you.

EXAMPLE

We all know great leaders walk the talk and empower their staff so what's your Leadership Example?

I'm sure you have your own way of describing leadership but a simple definition is 'the activity of leading a group of people or an organisation'.

Simon Sinek, in his book The Infinite Game, says

Leaders are not responsible for the results.
Leaders are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results'.

I love this quote.

Not only because I agree with it wholeheartedly, but it's an opportunity for anyone who's got the top job (aka Owner/CEO/Manager) to ensure they provide their team with the tools to succeed; as well as the support and clarity needed to undertake their role quickly and easily.

I also believe EVERYONE in a small business is a Leader.

All that changes is the level of responsibility and delegation.

3 Key Questions For You and Your Team

If you're not sure what you and your team's Leadership Example is or if you want it to change, here's 3 key questions for you and your team to ask each other to help this process:

1. What type of Leader am I now?

2. What type of Leader do I want to be?

3. How do members of my team Lead?

What's Next?

Many small business owners are great technicians in their industry or field of expertise and have a passion for that; but they are not always the best leaders in their business.

Why?

Because they don't want to have hard conversations with staff (or themselves) and deal directly with the issues and problems.

Doing this means you need to DARE to Lead and demonstrate leadership in everything you do.

They also have a belief that what they feel would be difficult conversations will always result in conflict. And yet, most of the time they don't especially if you address things when they happen.

And here's my final thought:

Remember, fixing other people's mistakes without telling them, doesn't teach them the knowledge and skills needed to do their job, let alone the much needed traits of Accountability and Responsibility.

So DARE to be a great leader instead of just a nice boss, and you'll find you can have your cake and eat it too (and your staff will thank you for it).

Cheers

Tamara

P.S Wondering how you can work with me or book me to speak at your next event?

Then let's have a chat by booking your FREE 30 Minute Zoom Session with me here.

And if you're saying you don't have 30 minutes to spare, you really need to book in a session with me because I can easily create at least 1 simple strategy to save you 30 minutes a day.

Author: Tamara Simon

Tamara Simon uses the world of sport to coach people to grow their small business.

For over twenty-five years as a Speaker, Author and Coach, she's been providing much needed support to small business owners, CEOs and their teams so they can build, manage and grow a simple profitable business.

So if your organisation's members are small businesses or you're a small business owner who is...

- ready to GROW but not sure where to start

- overwhelmed with managing your GROWTH

- looking for possibilities to GROW further

Then check out her website to find out how to work with Tamara, and book Tamara to speak at your next event.
www.tamarasimon.com.au

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