Business success demands that owners and managers hone their skills to promote the growth and health of their organization. Unfortunately, this challenge can be a difficult one. Given the competitive nature of the business landscape, leaders with a few bad habits can destroy a company’s probability of success.
1. Lack of Flexibility and Vision, Related to Business Model Changes
A technology-driven economy changes at breakneck speed. What many many business owners are failing at, which can dramatically impact a company’s ability to thrive in the future, is their ability to adapt. To the extent that leaders are not flexible or open-minded to making drastic business model changes necessary to adapt, an organization can cease to exist. A good example of this type of nearsightedness might be a reluctance by business owners to acknowledge and embrace the need for new software solutions that would benefit employees and customers alike.
Merely modifying a business model is not always enough to meet the future’s demands. Business management teams must be capable of serving both today’s customers while developing future customers. Since one of the most difficult challenges any management team faces is to address current needs while also serving as a visionary for the future, many businesses lose their competitive advantage when they fail to juggle the present and future needs of a business.
2. Micromanaging Employees
Employees resent being micromanaged because it feels like the manager or owner does not trust them to competently do the job they were hired to perform. An effective leader must learn how to delegate tasks and trust they will be done.
Any company that expects to grow has to hire competent employees and then have confidence they can do the job, not look over their shoulder and double check everything they do.
3. Lack of Interest in Team Members’ Well-Being or Personal Growth
As the contributors of an organization, employees are the heartbeat of any company. Leadership must show genuine interest in the welfare of their employees if they expect to attract and retain a loyal and committed workforce. Whether it means investing in ergonomic chairs, state-of-the-art training or safe Bluetooth earphones, these types of investments prove the management staff’s interest in investing in their staff members need to be part of strategic human resource policy.
4. Poor Market Analysis
Data drives the market and must be considered carefully by entrepreneurs and managers if they want to remain competitive. They must create systems that can capture accurate information in a timely manner. Without timely report analysis, it is impossible to adjust policies and procedures to overcome challenges.
Keap reports that it is especially critical that entrepreneurs analyze the marketplace as they launch a new business. Many businesses fail due to insufficient oversight and an inability to accurately “see the writing on the wall,” about serious operational problems.
5. A Lack of Respect for Other People’s Time
A pet peeve for many people is timeliness. As busy as the management staff may be, they need to always honor their commitments and meeting times with staff members. In case they are always late, they risk sending the message that the subordinate workers’ time is less valuable than their own. This rule is simple: To earn respect, you have to respect others too.
There are always exceptions to any rule, but a pattern of not being punctual sends a clear, and a very negative message – that you are either not interested, or the meeting is just not important to you. In a tight labor market, such actions can significantly impact your bottom line. Bosses who neglect their team members run the risk of losing team them.
6. Unwilling to Take Necessary Risks
Industry leaders take risks. The status quo will only take you so far. An unwillingness to take risks can limit a business’s ability to make important breakthroughs that lead to growth. The business landscape is unpredictable and demands that entrepreneurs adapt policies, procedures, and even business models at times if they want to continue to compete.
With careful analysis, managers and business owners can limit the amount of risk they take. But at some point, after careful consideration, you have to take a leap of faith and make some bold moves.
Wrap Up
Owning and managing a business is a risky and challenging proposition that guarantees failure for entrepreneurs who sport bad habits. Such habits lessen their ability to lead and change when necessary.
The good news is that smart leaders can identify problem areas and make a commitment to improving. While self-evaluation can be painful, it is necessary for any person who wants to grow in order to fuel their company and give it what it needs.
Understanding the predictable bad habits above that can harm a business is a good first step towards avoiding these issues. As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Everything possible should be done to identify and eliminate bad habits that can ruin your business.
Jasmine Williams covers the good and the bad of today’s business and marketing. When she’s not being all serious and busy, she’s usually hunched over a book or dancing in the kitchen, trying hard to maintain rhythm, and delivering some fine cooking (her family says so). Contact her @JazzyWilliams88