Effective leadership is a key ingredient in business success

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman works with Little Rock-based Arkansas Capital Corp. to promote entrepreneurship development around the state. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”

I beg to change the famous quote to say “what we have here is a failure to lead effectively.” In a recent conference, Ernesto Sirolli commented that most small businesses do not have a capital problem, they have a leadership problem.

Mary Jo Asmus noted in a guest blog post on SmallBusinessNews that “leadership is not a position on an organization chart … it is a way of being.”

While all of us are leaders and followers throughout the course of our lives, we are seldom taught how to lead. Rather, many stumble upon situations that force us into leadership roles.

Ironically, we are taught quite well how to follow. From learning to stand in a straight line, to listening to our parents in order to avoid trouble, following is more engrained into our society than learning how to be an effective leader.

Asmus further notes, “there are leaders who are ‘naturals’ at it, and have not been conscious of their choice to lead. For the majority, however, leading is an intentional act that requires constant reflection, action, learning and adjustment to be the best.” Asmus describes leadership as a challenging journey that can be accomplished.

For businesses, leadership is critical to the success of the business. While the business may have the best product, financial support or ooze with talent, the company may never reach its fullest potential without good leadership. Good business leaders are able to continually learn better leadership skills, be the catalyst for opportunities, provide training and equipment for others to be more successful in their jobs, bring clarity of purpose to their organizations and bring a sense of humility into their roles.

Entrepreneurial leaders bring a sense of direction to their organizations, inspire others around them to get on board with their vision and mission and are eager to learn what they need to know to run their companies. Small business leaders must be ready to lead by example to employees as well as leaders to customers in providing the best product and service suited for the business.

Business leadership does not start and stop at one’s office door. It is in every aspect within running the business. From opening the doors, working with employees and pleasing customers, leadership propels a business forward. Business leadership is a choice that is not easy to undertake (especially in hard times), but the business owner’s rewards can be equally outstanding.

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Stockman can be reached at [email protected]