When you first started your business, you simply had to be a great salesperson, a jack of all trades, and figures out the rest as you go along. However, in today’s fast-paced world, it’s not enough to be that anything person; you also have to be a leader, an accountant, and a marketing whizz. Not only that, but you need to hire people that can fill in the gaps that you don’t have. Find out what soft skills you need!
Many people often believe Leadership and Management are the same and are often used interchangeably, and it can be difficult to understand the difference between the two. However, they are different roles, and the people who do these jobs do not have the same responsibilities. In simplest terms, a manager is responsible for the company’s day-to-day running, while a leader is responsible for the company’s direction and future. Within a small business, these roles are held by the business owner.
Leadership:-
As a small business owner, many people may feel that you automatically make you one of the business leaders. Ultimately, you manage the business strategy, make critical decisions, choose a business location, and manage the company. But is that what it is? -All it takes to be a leader. The answer, of course, is no. Being a manager is a much more complex task that requires several essential skills, personal qualities, and often years of experience. With exemplary leadership, a company can achieve more in almost all aspects of its work. Here we explain what constitutes effective leadership and how your leadership style is so essential for business success
What is Leadership? 
We need to know how the benefits of having a successful leader and their success can bring to any small business.
• create a compelling vision for the future.
• encourage people to contribute positively to the vision.
• manage the implementation of the concept effectively.
• put together a team that work together to successfully reaching the business goals.
A small business owner needs to be a good manager and have excellent leadership skills supported by a range of soft skills that enable the small business owner to develop their company effectively while providing employee growth opportunities through development.
What is Leadership?
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/what-is-leadership
Business Leadership & Vision:-
Without it, you have no goals to strive for, and your employees can become confused about the company’s direction. The vision must be realistic, credible, and convincing; that way, you can sell to your employees your vision. It is integrated into your business plan and becomes the company’s vision; you will be in an excellent position to lead the business towards the vision.
The company’s strengths should be identified to establish a vision for the future growth of their business. When interacting with your team, the tone that you use must always remain professional and positive because they are what will help create goals and have an idea about how successful or unsuccessful they currently are at reaching them.
It’s essential to think about how your business niche is evolving and how the industry, specifically your own business, will cope with change and develop strategies to succeed in all future markets. You need to verify your future strategy by good research involving marketing research and assessing your services or products’ viability to future challenges; very few businesses would have considered a possible pandemic in 2020!
Leadership is a complex position in that you need to deal with the current situation and be nimble in your thinking and actions to deal with unforeseen challenges for your business and team. Therefore, the other soft skills we will highlight are critical to the success of your business.
Starting a Business 1: Vision and Opportunity
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/starting-a-business-1
Honesty and integrity:-
Leadership is about honesty, transparency and openness. It means you have to be willing to share your thoughts and feelings even if what you say is uncomfortable. You must also keep your word, always keep promises, and consider both the business and its employees’ needs when making decisions.
Decision Making: –
“Tired of making all the decisions? You’re not alone! Some business owners/managers find it hard to make important ones, like what colour paint for a new office. We often suffer from “analytic paralysis” (overthinking about our decision) or “bikeshedding” (focusing on insignificant details). Other administrators are concerned about potential negative consequences, however unlikely. Whatever your hang-up is- don’t let fear keep you from moving forward with something good and right!”
One of the most important roles of being a leader is being a decision-maker, making informed decisions, and showing strategic leadership skills. You need an organised, systematic approach that will help you better evaluate and choose which decision is best for your business or even yourself.
Leadership can be complex because, as leaders, we have to think critically when making choices – not only involving our personal lives but also for those who work under us too! But it’s worth noting that leading others has many benefits: It’s rewarding, challenging and helps build strong leadership skills.
Decision Making: How to Choose the Right Problem to Solve
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/decision-making-how-to-choose-the-right-problem-to-solve
Business Leadership & Problem Solving Skills
Many people believe that troubleshooting will fix an error at all costs. Of course, many leaders will tell you that a problem can be an opportunity, and problem-solving effectively accepts that fact. It’s also about avoiding pointing the blame finger at all costs. You need to understand the problem and look at creative and often simple ways to resolve the issue. There a number of useful creative problem-solving techniques. If this is a personal area for development here is a useful free course to follow.
Creative Problem Solving Course
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/creative-problem-solving
Time Management: –
Time management is essential for anyone who wants to get anything done. Despite the best intentions, it’s easy to find yourself working hard but not making any progress towards your goals. Think of time management as a co-worker bearing down on you and ask, “What can I do now?”
It may help if we think of time management as a combination of prioritising and organising our work in addition to making it efficient by using various techniques such as tacking on dates with deadlines onto calendars or charts that track these events down into their individual categories, so they don’t slip through the cracks later on when things are hectic at home or wherever else life takes us during those high-stress times!
In other words, people who are good at time management know how to get things done. They are good at strategic planning, creating a detailed action planning and implementation process which they follow. They are just better than others about prioritising and figuring out what really needs doing—and then getting rid of the rest. That means fewer stress levels for you as an individual, plus reaching your personal goals sooner!
Productivity Masterclass
https://info.thesmallbusiness.co/3TrV
Business Leadership & Teamwork
When working with your team, have you ever wondered why some people seem to be naturally good at specific tasks when you look at your team? It turns out that each person has their own set of strengths! If one team member is great with numbers within a team and another excels in sales, they should do the work which is best suited for them. This way, your company will have a happier environment and get more done in less time. To find out what each team member’s talents are, either conduct an assessment or observe them for a while! For those looking to make a more formal impression, you can use the strength-based questionnaire as an alternative, and whichever route you take, you must give constructive feedback
People & Networks
https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/starting-a-business-2
Communication Skills: –
All successful business owners need to have well-developed communication skills, which means keeping in constant touch with all their business team members. Giving frequent feedback and delivering rewards, and recognising outstanding performance. Maintain open and excellent communication with your staff.
Communication is not just in person – it can happen via email, text messaging, online meetings with Zoom, chat requests and using apps such as WhatsApp groups. Communication must be made in appropriate ways for the employees to get things done at work better. It’s essential to understand your employees’ strengths, so you know what makes them feel good and productive on the job rather than communicating a certain way or when someone else tells you to. As a manager, it is vital that they can talk to you regularly about work-related issues. The working environment should also foster communication within the team to develop a successful team and gain critical feedback about the business needs and problems that need resolution.
Communication Skills: Become More Clear, Concise, & Confident
https://info.thesmallbusiness.co/3TsI
Listening Skills: –
Communication is a vital skill among all managers. However, many forget to hone their listening skills as well, and it can be just as crucial in maintaining good rapport with employees. Active Listening is a skill well worth developing. It allows you to pick up on valuable insights from your team members that may not otherwise have been heard or considered if they were merely talked at without any actual exchange of ideas going back and forth between the two parties involved.
The importance of communication should never be understated when discussing qualities for being an effective manager because there are various aspects, including speaking and writing but also listening intently, which allows input by others who would otherwise go unheard due to no meaningful interaction taking place
How to Listen https://info.thesmallbusiness.co/3TsV
Emotional Intelligence: –
What is emotional intelligence? Managers need to develop their emotional intelligence because it can make a big difference in handling an employee who may be feeling frustrated or burnt out. They should also maintain their composure when dealing with emotionally charged situations and show sensitivity towards others’ feelings.
There may be signs that an employee is pushing themselves too hard. Some employees may have anxiety, depression or even burnout as their bodies and minds rebel against the constant stress they put themselves through the day in and day out. If you notice these warning signs for yourself or your subordinates, then it’s time to take some steps back from work to enjoy our lives while still having enough energy left over to do good work when called upon again!
By taking such steps, employees show that they are not alone – and that the company is able and willing to help; however, this may be exceedingly difficult for the small business because the resources are limited. There are a number of outside agencies both NHS managed and others Metal Health at Work https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/
Introduction to Emotional Intelligence
https://info.thesmallbusiness.co/3Tt0
You’re a small business owner; you may feel that you do not have the time to develop these skills because you focus your energy on growing your business. Do not worry; you probably already have well-developed skills in many of these areas and remember they are also vital in your interaction with your customers. It just illustrates the complexity of the exchange between people and is well worth trying to improve these skills. I have put a link below each skill area to a FREE course you can follow from either a University department or another training provider. We all understand the need to develop our business skills continually, and these providers offer valuable experience to supplement your business skill
