Category: Teamwork & Leadership

Article Contributed by Julia Morison

If you believe that your 9 to 5 job is hard, then you have never been so wrong in your life. Your boss life would seem to be charming with all the liberties and the money to spend an ideal life which you wish for. But on the back of it, there are the years of hardships with immense mental pressure and sleepless nights which make them what they are today. Among all this, there are mistakes too which makes their path to success harder.

The mistakes are bound to happen to everyone especially if you are trying to set up anything big. For a businessperson, mistakes can cost lives and when you are a first-time entrepreneur, you are more exposed to some of the silliest mistakes that can make you a joke in the industry. That is why it is better to know the things before acting so you can save yourself from the harassment you can face due to your mistakes.

For the young entrepreneurs out there who are trying to set up their first startup, I am writing this article in which I am going to discuss six of the most common leadership level mistakes that they make which hurt their path to success and make things worse for them.

1. Going for the big horses:

You are new in the market and trying to manage your investment and spending. In the initial stages of the startup, you need the bulk of cash to burn in the furnace of the company which is not even earning any profits. However, you will be wishing at that point to have the support of someone who is experienced and can setup an entire department for you. Wishing this is an issue for entrepreneur. One, you would not be going to have enough cash to gather such people around your business and to pay them as their worth. Second, because they are many experiences and you are a new guy trying his luck, managing these people would not be easy. Hence, after spending a heavy amount on them, they are going to flee away from your dream with all your money invested in them, and you would be cursing that day you hired them.

2. Being Egoistic:

There are many stories in which most of the companies only fall due to the ego and self-centeredness of the top management. Imagine these two things destroying big corporates then what they could do with your company which is just an infant. One of the greatest traits of a good leader and manager is to accept his mistakes and flaws and then try to better it. You can only bring this in yourself by killing your ego.

3. Doing without a plan:

You may be a fantastic employer for your company and a master in your industry. Though, having these achievements cannot ensure your success while setting up a new business for the first time. To work for somebody and to make someone work is totally different things. This needs a lot more things that is why it is better to plan the things thoroughly instead of just jumping on the things.

4. Blurred revenue model:

You are doing business to make money. However in the first few months, you won’t be making anything but still have a clear revenue model is imperative for a startup. You have to draw the lines first and then play your games within.

5. Trying to achieve the goal:

We all set big goals and try desperately to achieve it. This is the trait of idealist which for some people is the right thinking. However, it is something which you should avoid while setting up your first startup. In the initial stages of the company, you better care about aligning the things correctly and in order instead of not jumping on consensus and the goals.

6. Not thinking about protection:

You would be intensively involved in the grooming of your company that there is a chance of missing one of the most important things for the company which is its security. In the days of cybercrimes and frauds, having a compelling and full proof security system is important. Or else someone would take all the things away from you in a whisker.

Author Bio: Julia Morison is a head hunter and a research specialist at US-Based Digital Agency. She loves to help people and is the mastermind behind ieee reference generator.  She is a traveler, a blogger, a techie and a social activist. When she not in her office, she spends her time writing and educating the masses. Follow her on twitter and LinkedIn.

Article Contributed by Sia Hasan

Working together as a team at work can be the missing element your workplace needs to be a more efficient company. As a team, you’ll notice more productivity and positive thinking amongst coworkers due to the needed support amongst each other. Build up a team at work can help accomplish tasks that are long overdue or need more than one head at work to get it done. However, even though establishing teams at work can take cooperation, patience, and dedication, you’ll notice respect among your workers and a balanced atmosphere in the workplace on a constant basis to improve workflow.

1. Explain the Benefits of Working Together

Meeting with your group and explaining what each person’s roles are can help increase productivity and motivation. One of the best ways to keep track of everyone’s roles and responsibilities is by using workflow management software. However, you should also ask for each team member to voice their own input on how to make your group more effective on a regular basis.

It’s important that you explain to your team how they benefit the company as a whole. Explaining how each member can contribute to the success of the business can help keep the team connected, positive, and productive.

2. Lay Out Your Team Goals

Setting goals in place are a great way to help your team finish a project before a set deadline. Make sure that each team member knows what their role is in a project to help reach a goal in time. However, it’s wise that you put forth achievable goals to prevent stress or irritability among your team members if a goal is not reached in time.

When laying out your team’s goals you should talk to each person individually, as well as in a group, to make sure everyone is on the same page. This will help smoothen the workflow and allow you to get individual input on finishing the goal in time that you can share with the whole team. However, you should also plan routine meetings such as informal luncheons to help improve social connections among your team.

But, just as important keeping connections strong among your team, you should also ensure a reward that your group will be presented when they reach their goal. Although this can be anything, we suggest that you make it a team reward that they can share amongst each other.

3. Learn to Respect Each Other

There are different levels of respect that your team members may feel for each other. While the group members may tolerate each other, for the good of the group, they must learn how to hold each other in high regard. This is the way to bring your team to the next level. Prioritize this type of high respect. Remember that respect is gained, it cannot be forced.

With respect, your team will be able to communicate with each other much more easily about business topics. Respect also means looking out for each other’s best interests and celebrating the successes of others.

4. Communicate Effectively

This goes right along with respecting each other, as you cannot communicate well when there is no respect. The two aspects are intertwined as they both depend on the other. Respect is built on great communication and communication leads to deeper respect.

Communication is a skill and like all skills, it must be practiced and honed. This is one of the most important skills a person can have in the business world, but especially when working with others. This skill reaches across all aspects of business and will help you whether you manage rentals, do direct sales, or run a restaurant. This is the reason why it is so crucial for all team members to work on communicating effectively and courteously.

The key to maintaining any good relationship is open and honest communication, whether it be business or personal. Without communication, there are bound to be misunderstandings, resentment, and a lack of productivity. Each team member should work on building their communication skills. The team leader should also take it upon themselves to help any employee who is struggling with their communication.

By Ian Cowley, Managing Director, cartridgesave.co.uk

Every business needs a culture that is unique to their company. However defining what that is and getting everyone to buy into it can be a long process.

No matter what it is that you produce or the service you provide, your employees will want to feel there is a heart and soul. No one feels invested in a faceless corporate.

Getting started

So where do you begin? A simple email survey of staff, or meeting, can generate ideas around what values your business has or can realistically aspire to.

This might be a dedication to customer service, to innovation and creativity, to a relevant charitable cause or to improving your local area.

By finding out what matters to your staff and tying these in with your own thoughts, you stand a much better chance of securing support at every level of your organisation.

Put your values down on paper in as clear and concise a way as possible. A few words should be enough to capture what you’re aiming for.

Lead by example

Whatever you define as your company’s values, it’s essential that you live and breathe them. After all, if you don’t, you can’t expect others to.

Inspiring those around you, starting with your senior team, will create a trickle down effect as everyone sees the values and purpose behind the business brought to life.

Get involved, be visible, enthusiastic and prove that those words you wrote down as defining your company’s culture have practical, day-to-day, applications. If it’s about customer service, show others what this means and how it is demonstrated. If it’s a charitable drive, lead from the front by organising a fundraiser or activity.

Use your middlemen

Your corporate culture must develop and thrive on a daily basis inside each of your business’ departments. For this, you will need the full support of your line managers.

It is they who lead the teams that make up your organisation and they are the ones who have most interaction with your staff.

Ensure they understand what you are trying to achieve and how this can be communicated and demonstrated to staff in the workplace.

Ask for regular feedback from your line managers on how the message is being received as this will help you identify any changes you might need to ensure everyone projects your vision for a company culture.

Face time

Technology makes it easier than ever for us to talk to our staff through digital communications. Blogs, intranet, newsletters and closed social media networks such as Yammer are all useful business tools.

However, there is still no substitute for face-to-face time with those who work for you. To find out directly what they think, if a message isn’t getting through or to find out what could work differently.

To this end, include conversations about your company values in staff reviews and evaluations. Discover how much your message and vision are sinking in, what colleagues think is and isn’t working and how things can improve.

With a set of values that define who you are, you can be confident that your business is inspiring staff to greater achievements and – in turn – greater profits.

Article Contributed by Colleen Slaughter

A client of mine recently received a lot of pressure at work from one of her supervisors to accept an overseas position.  Don’t get me wrong, the position itself was quite attractive:  a promotion and all the trappings that come with an evolution of this sort, international exposure, and – very importantly – validation of her work.  The question lay more with the timing and location of the new position.  The position’s start date just wasn’t fitting with the needs of her family.  And the geographical location posed some key complications for her partner’s professional aspirations.  So what was a woman to do?

The feedback she received from one of her managers just wasn’t helping.  He was a, shall we say, transactional manager who snapped to the attention of his superior’s wishes without a moment’s reflection. He laid on the fear pretty thick for my client: “if you don’t take this position, you’ll make [the big boss] very angry, there’ll be nothing else for you.”  Needless to say, his foreboding words left my client with a tightness in her chest and a heaviness in her heart:  it seemed like she would have to choose between the well being of her family and her career.  Not a very motivating situation for anyone concerned.

Luckily, she had the wherewithal to consult a different supervisor, one who went on to exemplify more leadership traits.  This boss adopted a gentle, father-like tone to her very apparent stressed out demeanor. He explained that there would be times in her career when family and career would clash and that she would need to make a decision about what was most important to her.  In this case, he went on to say, the decision seemed clear:  family comes first.

Armed with this clarity and encouragement from her leader, my client was able to make her decision with more peace, turned down the offer with graciousness, and burned no bridges in the process.  What’s more, guess which of her bosses she respects and follows more wholeheartedly?  You guessed it:  the leader.

This story brings to mind some of the distinctions between a Manager and a Leader which Warren Bennis and Joan Goldsmith point out in their book Learning to Lead:

• The Manager relies on control; the Leader inspires trust.
• The Manager has her eye always on the bottom line; the Leader has her eye on the horizon.
• The Manager accepts the status quo; the Leader challenges it.
• The Manager is the classic good soldier; the Leader is his or her own person.
• The Manager does things right; the Leader does the right thing

Will you, too, do the right thing?

About the Author

Colleen Slaughter, founder of Authentic Leadership International, is a proven coach with a remarkable ability to motivate women to cultivate greater authenticity and fulfillment at home and in the workplace. Colleen’s dynamic experience allows her to skillfully guide her clients to navigate roadblocks and develop practical solutions to accomplish both personal and professional goals.