Small business leaders, here are five traits that will support you in reaching success in your company. You’ll find they are characteristics all leaders aspire to achieve.
Here are the five traits:
1. Vision – one of the critical successful leadership traits
The very core of leadership is that you have to have a vision. Sharing your vision with others in a way that compels them to act makes them want to follow.
The late Steve Jobs of Apple Computer is considered one of the best visionary leaders. Jobs produced the first computer with a graphical interface. He didn’t create it. Jobs visited the research labs of Xerox. They created the idea first, but Jobs had the vision of what to do with it.
Jobs was excited by the possibility. He went back to Apple and put his engineers to work to figure out how they could apply the idea. Armed only with a vision, they could reproduce the same ideas that Xerox had developed and put their spin on it.
2. Passion
Passion, if you don’t have it, no one else in your organization will. You might have the mindset that it’s your business and your baby. You’re not alone! Because you built it, entrepreneurs and small business owners see the businesses in this light. When you consider the time, resources, and finances most company owners put into their companies, your passion is evident. This passion can help energize new employees or gain the confidence of new clients.
Operating a small business with no real passion can’t be sustained for long. It is easy to face burnout if you aren’t passionate.
3. Goal-Oriented
You need clear targeted goals based on your customers’ wants. Being goal-oriented means, you are focused on completing specific tasks to reach an outcome. Those who are goal-oriented are motivated by a purpose. Small business owners who are goal-oriented use targets to keep inspired in their work. Check out our article on goal-setting.
Being goal-oriented includes more than just reaching a result. If you’re an excellent goal-setter, you’re focused on careful planning, research, and communication with your team.
Goal-setting can help your business feel more organized and unified, whether you have a team of 10 and more or a smaller group. When you’re a goal-oriented leader, you show others that you aren’t just driven; you have a workable plan.
4. Driven to succeed with confidence
Confidence comes from knowing yourself and your abilities. Where arrogance makes you blind to your weaknesses, confidence accepts and acknowledges those weaknesses. As a confident small business owner, you understand both your best skills and most significant areas of improvement. You can use this confidence to bravely take your business outside of your comfort zone without acting rash.
With confidence in yourself and your business, your goals become more attainable. Fears won’t hold you back. You’ll be able to see your challenges clearly and will be less likely to make mistakes when managing your business. Another bonus of being confident is the perception by your employees, vendors, or customers. People will trust you, and your confidence will likely be passed on to your employees.
5. Self-Motivated and Self-Reliant.
Managing a small business doesn’t always work out the way you plan. Setbacks can occur on a project timeline or a traditional lender’s rejection of financing, and you have to be persistent for things to work out.
One of the main positive characteristics of small business owners, self-reliance, helps you get through these problems and come out more determined than before.
Conclusion
Developing these five essential traits of small business owners is a worthwhile goal. Creating vision, passion, being more goal-oriented, having the drive to succeed, and becoming more self-motivated can all be developed within you. Consider a complimentary discovery session if you need help creating them within yourself.