5 Leadership Skills Every Entrepreneur Needs to Develop
If you’re an entrepreneur who’s recently started your own business, you’re likely a Jack of all trades, handling most of the day-to-day work yourself.
As your business grows, however, so will your need to hire and effectively manage others—not to mention, communicate with a larger audience and be more mindful of how you’re influencing your community.
To navigate these growth-related demands, it’s vital that you hone leadership skills that educate, inspire, and motivate others toward success. In doing so, you’ll not only positively influence individuals, but also support your own growth and success, both on an individual and business level.
Don’t know where to start? I’ve got you covered!
In this article, I share five key leadership skills all entrepreneurs should master, and how to develop them starting today.
You can practice applying the following tips at work, at home, or in most other environments.
1. Effective Communication
Effective communication is the number one quality of a great leader. No two people communicate in the same way and considering the large number of people business leaders engage with (employees, investors, clients, publicists, contractors, etc.), having a vast arsenal of communication styles is vital.
Top tips to sharpen your communication skills:
Value different ways of communicating: Communication isn’t just verbal. It can also be nonverbal (body language, facial expressions, sign language), visual (images, charts, graphs), and written (emails, letters, books). When communicating, consider your audience and how you can make the information you wish to relay as clear and inclusive as possible.
Speak clearly and directly: Work on expressing yourself clearly and in as direct a way as possible. Avoid beating around the bush, saying conflicting statements, or talking in circles.
Actively listen: When speaking with someone, give them your full attention and genuinely try to understand and consider their perspective.
Pause: Sometimes, it’s better to take a moment to yourself rather than instantly react. It’s okay to say, “Let me take some time to think about that. I’ll get back to you.”
2. Delegation
When it comes to their businesses, it’s common for entrepreneurs to say, “Nobody can do it better than me.”
Those who want to be successful, however, must admit that they can’t be responsible for all aspects of their business. That’s a surefire recipe for burnout.
Instead, leaders must learn to delegate business tasks to others, even if this means hiring others with unique expertise. We don’t have to be (and can’t be) experts in everything!
Top tips to improve your delegation skills:
Know when to delegate: While not every task can be delegated, several day-to-day activities don’t require your oversight. Is there a task you regularly complete despite knowing someone else is equipped to handle it? Delegate it. This will show that person you trust and value them while also giving you time to focus on other things.
Play to people’s strengths and goals: Every person has unique strengths and goals. Pay attention to these and delegate tasks based on a person’s skills, or skills they want to learn or improve upon.
Define the desired outcome: When delegating a task to someone, it’s essential to effectively communicate context, instructions (if needed), a deadline, and the desired outcome.
Be patient: Understand that it might initially take others longer to complete tasks than you, and they might initially make some mistakes. Be patient and compassionate as those you delegate to learn the ropes.
3. Flexibility
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Being able to adapt to quickly changing conditions is a quality that’s seen in the majority of successful entrepreneurs. When building a business, things don’t always go as planned, so it’s important to be able to think on your feet and change directions at a moment’s notice.
It’s also important to be flexible in terms of listening to and considering others’ ideas. It’s easy for entrepreneurs to hold their approaches and opinions as the end all be all, however, this isn’t great for company morale and may actually hinder your business’s growth.
Top tips to increase your flexibility:
Switch things up: Routines are often synonymous with productivity, but they can suffocate your creative energy and adaptability as well. Exercise your flexibility muscles by trying new things and mixing up your routine. Try a new food, new hobby, or new marketing approach. Take a different way home. Get up a bit earlier. Allow yourself to step outside your comfort zone!
Plan ahead: Things can change in an instant in entrepreneurial businesses. Having multiple plans of action in mind can help keep things running smoothly when unfavorable or unexpected developments occur.
Consider new perspectives: As a leader, keeping an open mind is essential. To exercise this ability, expose yourself to new ideas and perspectives and take the time to truly consider them. Heck, you might end up finding information that transforms your business (or even your life!).
Practice receptiveness: When things don’t go as planned, be mindful of how you react and handle it. Do you panic, get angry, or lash out? Remember, as a leader, people are always looking up to you, so work on being able to calmly and pragmatically assess situations and put backup plans into action when needed.
4. Empowerment
As you start hiring people to support your business, it’s essential to know how to motivate and empower them.
An empowered team takes initiative, carrying out their work in a way that allows the leader to confidently step back and focus on the strategic work of growing the business.
Top tips for developing your empowerment skills:
Recognize people’s strengths: Clearly and directly tell people what they are doing well and acknowledge that you recognize and value their hard work.
Respect privacy: If you need to provide constructive criticism to someone, do so privately rather than publicly. Save praise for the public eye.
Encourage learning: Encourage and support those in your life to learn new things. In a work setting, this might look like providing training opportunities that expand a person’s skills or knowledge.
Lead by example: Actions speak louder than words. If you want those around you to behave in a certain way, exhibit those same positive behaviors or qualities yourself.
5. Self-Awareness
Successful leaders are not only aware of their businesses, but also of themselves. They take the time to understand their strengths and weaknesses, how others view them, how their behavior can impact their team, what they need from others, and how their time and energy are best used.
With this knowledge comes the ability to make smarter choices that positively impact your life and business.
Top tips for harnessing self-awareness:
Meditate: Meditation is the practice of improving your moment-by-moment awareness. By quieting the noise and witnessing your thoughts without judgment, you can better understand your needs, desires, strengths, and limitations. To deepen your meditation practice, consider incorporating meditation tools and crystals.
Journal: Set a timer for 20 minutes and start free writing. Write whatever comes to mind, from what you want to make for dinner to feelings about your recent breakup. You’ll be surprised how much you learn about yourself from putting pen to paper.
Ask others: It can sometimes be hard to grasp how we come across to others. Ask trusted friends, family members, or colleagues to give their honest thoughts about how you move through the world. With this insight, you can make positive changes if necessary.
Outstanding Leadership Comes from Within
By working to develop the skills discussed in this article, you’ll blossom into a leader that people respect, trust, and work hard for.
Need some support? I welcome you to join us at my three-day Rooted Retreat from Friday, September 23rd to Monday, September 26th in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. While not a business-centered retreat, it is designed to teach you how to sustainably care for your mind, body, and spirit on a day-to-day basis.
What you learn at the Rooted Retreat will translate to improved relationships—with your team members, your loved ones, and yourself.
