Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing

How I lead employees by example

By Amy Silva, owner of New Leaf Hair Studio

1. Know yourself.
Discover your strengths and realize your weaknesses. Once you know yourself, you will know your business. You will see your business for what it is instead of through rose-colored glasses.

2. Goal setting.
Weekly or monthly goals help keep everyone motivated and on target.
Put your focus on one area at a time. Make goals achievable so employees don’t get discouraged. Always remember to reward employees when goals are achieved.

3.Team coaching.Get to know who is working for your business. Build relationships with your employees. Find his or her strong points and use them to help your business. Delegating responsibilities lets employees feel a sense of ownership. Have one-on-one meetings with each employee to just talk; discuss job performance, goals, personal issues, whatever comes up. It is a great time to show you care for him or her as a person, not just as an employee.

4. Know your mission and vision statements.
Your mission statement is the foundation of the business. Your vision statement is the future. In order to create the culture you want, you must have your employees’ commitment. Post it in the break room, have it on your print work, make it impossible for anyone to forget what your business was built on and the future’s possibilities.

5. Follow through.
All of your hard work is good for nothing if it isn’t followed through. Employees lose trust, become unmotivated, and feel let down, when his or her leader drops the ball. Accountability is everyone’s responsibility, but the leader must make sure to stay on top of the game at all times. If a task is too big or you are feeling stumped, just delegate the responsibilities to an employee. Not only will you might be surprised by the outcome, but by putting your trust in someone else is very empowering for team morale.

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Posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 at 1:38 pm and is filed under Leadership, Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.