Entrepreneur's Tip of the Week: Be a Leader
Posted by Vicki Donlan on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 @ 12:00 PM
Leadership programs are being offered everywhere: colleges, organization and chamber meetings, and Fortune 100 to 1000 companies. There are leadership coaches for entrepreneurs, small business owners, senior and middle management executives and for college graduates. You, reading this blog, most likely consider yourself to be a leader because it is part of your marketing literature and pitch to get new business. The question I ask you, seriously is "What is a leader?"
The words to describe leadership that I hear in answer to this question are as follows: listener, compassionate, organized, resource, honest, integrity, dependable, loyal, character, values, good natured, approachable, visionary, adventurer, well-connected, connector, self-confident, self assured, self reliant, self starter.
The statements I hear are: someone others want to follow, someone who behaves the same in front of you as well as behind you, someone who walks the talk.
Take a moment and ask yourself what the definition of being a leader is to you. How many of the above words and statements describe you?
Generations ago leaders were almost exclusively male with characteristics of strength, toughness, dominance and inflexibility as those most respected. Today, as the list of words above substantiates, leadership qualities have taken on a feminine component also. Men who reject this aspect of their personality do so at the peril of not being seen as leaders. Think about it. Male or female, today's leaders must be able to communicate a message and bring people together to be successful at leading. As an entrepreneur, you must show compassion and understanding to those who choose to follow you. Bullying people is not leadership.
The entrepreneur who walks the talk and demonstrates through his/her actions that (s)he is true to her/himself and therefore will always do the right thing whether others are watching or not will be seen as an exemplary leader. And, at the end of the day, week, month or year, the type of leader you are WILL be more important to you and your businessthan how much money you put in your pocket.