As a business owner, you’re used to being the boss. But are you a good leader?
Brushing up on your leadership skills could inspire your employees to support your company’s vision and work toward your business goals. And that can lead to greater profits and productivity.
“Leaders have a lot of power because people respect them,” says Martin B. Freedland, president of Organizational Development Associates, Inc., in Atlanta. “People want to be on a leader’s team.” Freedland gave construction industry professionals tips on becoming better leaders during an educational seminar he presented at the 2005 International Builders’ Show. Read the following traits of successful leaders to see if your skills could use some fine-tuning.
Help Others Succeed
“Leadership isn’t about you and what you do,” says Freedland. “It’s about the people who follow you and what they think of you.”
One of the things leaders do particularly well is help others achieve their own goals. As a result, leaders get their egos met by watching others succeed. Leaders lay the groundwork for their employees’ success by:
A Field Guide to Managers and Leaders
There’s a mindset differential between leaders and managers.
Managers tend to do things in the present. They often oversee budgets, and generally like to organize, measure, and control. They want to avoid errors and do things right. “They tend to say things like, ‘That would be great, but the budget won’t allow it,’ ” says Freedland.
Leaders, on the other hand, like to do the right things. They won’t let a budget get in the way of accomplishing something if they feel it is the right thing to do. “Say a customer calls and tells you the garage floor is cracked and he wants it to be replaced. A project manager might say, “Can’t we just patch it? How big is the crack?’ ” says Freedland. A leader will investigate the situation and will make arrangements to have the floor repoured if it’s the right thing to do for that customer.
Managers are concerned with tasks. Leaders are concerned with people.
Be Smart About Growth
“One of the risks companies make is growing because the market’s good,” says Freedland. “If you grow and your organization isn’t solid, you’re taking a huge risk.”
In his work with organizations, Freedland has noticed that ego-driven business owners and managers generally want their staff members to depend on them. However, employees who completely depend on others for task instructions and permission to use company resources don’t bode well for the company’s staying power or its growth potential.
Good leaders realize that unmotivated employees won’t stick around very long. That’s why they focus on populating their companies with dependable people. They see to it that their employees are given responsibilities so that they can take ownership for the projects they work on, and conversely develop their skills and help the company grow. Freedland calls this “building teams of excellence.” Here’s how it’s done:
Recruit quality people. “You must be trolling all the time,” says Freedland—even if you currently don’t have any open positions. You need to have potential backup for your current employees, and you need to where the great people are.
Hire smart. (Learn essential steps for hiring smart from the following online article: http://www.nahb.org/generic.aspx?genericContentID=5698.) You can’t afford to hire the second-best person. “Bring in people who can take up or fill in for your weaknesses,” Freedland advises. “You don’t need a replica of yourself.”
Train your employees. If you don’t already have one, put a training system in place so you can get your new hires up and running as soon as possible. Productivity and quality increase when employees know what is expected of them.
Motivate your employees. A paycheck is not motivation. Help your employees achieve what they want to achieve professionally and, to some degree, in their personal lives. That’s the ticket to motivating people.
Take care of your employees—and they’ll take care of you. “They’ll do things for you that they wouldn’t do for others,” Freedland says.
Lead your employees. This involves explaining the company vision, and making sure you have buy-in from your employees in everything you do to satisfy that vision. Leading also involves goal setting and qualifying everyone’s role in meeting the goals. If your employees are motivated, feel valued, and respect you as a leader, they’ll enthusiastically buy into the company vision and work hard to meet or exceed your company’s goals.
“Sure, you’ve got to build good homes and get good financing,” Freedland says. “But to protect yourself if the market turns, you’ve got to be a good leader.”
Resources for Leaders
This Building Business Brief can be sent to you via e-mail. For more information, contact Jill Tunick at 1-800-368-5242, ext. 8461, or by e-mail: jtunick@nahb.com. This material may be reprinted in NAHB newsletters and member education materials.