Business Leader

These are very difficult times. With the financial and housing markets taking the biggest hit in decades, it was only a matter of time before SMEs and even Blue Chips started to drop like flies. Leading a business through a scenario as touch as this may sound like a worrying prospect. But should you succeed, it will be one of the most rewarding achievements in your life as a manager. Had you ever thought of the downturn like that? I didn’t think so.

Thats why I’d like to use this post to actually blog about the positive benefits that you can receive from being a business leader as your ship tackles the storm we’ve entered in the last few months. There are the 3 main benefits.

1. The opportunity to become a prominent figure in your company.

When things get tough, everybody from the shop floor workers to the Directors love to be able to cling to and rely on anything that is solid and stable. If you can become that stable and reliable business leader, you could quickly increase your popularity within your business. There’s no doubt that employees will remember the next year perhaps more vividly than any year in their career so far. This presents an opportunity for you to make a mark on the company when you know it will be remembered most. Use now to take the time to unleash those ideas you’ve had kicking around in the back of your head. Offer to share a bit of the workload with that team mate you’ve seen turning rather pale lately at their desk. Seize the moment and be remembered for it.

2. Win favours to boost your business leader promotion prospects.

As people are made redundant, or targets become more difficult to meet, you may find that as a manager, your hours start to increase. Soon you’ll envy the shop floor workers who diligently clock in and out on the hour everyday without a care in the world. Its time to simple adjust your expectations and realise these are your new longer hours. When you fortunately get a shorter day than normal, don’t bunk off at the earliest opportunity to feel like ‘the old days’; use this time to help out other people in the office. Be the person who can help people out when they most desperately need it most, and you could come out of this downturn with many favours in your pocket.

3. Wave a cheerful goodbye to the slackers.

To see a brilliant worker being let go is a tragic event that grips the heart of everyone in a company. That’s why you shouldn’t feel guilty about doing a little dance when you see that full-time slacker clearing out his desk. If you’ve noticed it plainly, then the powers that be should have too. Expect to see many of the nuisances in your life edging out of the office, obscured by a large plant pot and an assorted pile of gossip magazines. It’s so much easier being a leader when your workers actually work.

So there you have it. Not all doom and gloom is it? There’s much to be gained as a leader in business. You simply have to fight through the now-common noise of shrieking and wailing to find it.

Around the world, there has been a recent backlash against corporate executives. Citing massive bonuses and minimal oversight – critics have attacked business leaders and have brought the reputation of being a senior manager crashing down. It’s such a shame that the mistakes of the few have tarnished the efforts of many to build successful businesses that create jobs and improve the prosperity of their local area. There are ways, however, that you can walk against this tide of public hatred and become an admired business veteran – whatever the bottom line.

The first area to focus on is image. The vast majority of grass roots critics of executives don’t actually know one. Unsurprising, as top jobs are rare, but a power fact all the same. What this means is that no matter how you act with your immediate colleagues and friends, you aren’t making an impression on the thousands of people your community who have heard of your company or maybe you personally as a leader. Image is therefore everything, as public image is the only outreach (so far) you have in communicating with those dissenters around you.

You will need to tone down your lifestyle and flamboyance, and rethink how you present yourself to the rest of the world. Do you drive an expensive German saloon, wear a designer suit, or mount a luxury watch upon your wrist for a mere ‘pop down to the shops?’ if so then you will be arousing a quiet resentment in many people you pass. Is the feeling of superiority and success really worth that? These are your neighbours, and deserve some respect, so treat them as you would your closest friend. In other words, when economic times are hard – don’t highlight the fact that you’re still earning a good salary. You don’t need to ‘hide’ it either – just simply act like a normal, humble human being, and the admiration for your leadership position will slowly come creeping back!

The second thing you need to focus on is the local newspaper. These are very brilliant at passing on the message that you’re trying to help the community and have a great deal of passion for the business you work for, and more importantly – it’s employees. Hold a charity event where proceeds will go to an employment initiative, or give out a press release if you hire a batch of staff. Newspapers may publish a lot of bad news in a recession, but they’re also on the lookout for the ‘diamond in the rough’ stories that will bright light to these dark and troubled times.

And finally, a real boost to your popularity as a leader will come from your salary. Fred Goodwin’s pension scandal has become part of the core reason why the public is angry with senior managers – compensation in the largest of the country’s companies has swelled in recent years, and has continued to grow despite the terrible financial results. You have to become a martyr for your board and publically take a pay cut to restore confidence in leadership once more.

Keep these two things in mind and you’ll see people warm to the leadership of your company once more.

We are currently facing a crisis unlike anything we’ve experienced before. It doesn’t matter whether you look at the financial markets, the housing market, or SMEs, the story is the same. WE’RE IN A RECESSION! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Unfortunately as managers in businesses, we cannot simply ‘run for our lives’ and must weather the turbulant time ahead. Should we press on, driving the same values and orders through to our staff to show commitment and solidarity? Or should we formulate new strategies and implement lots of change to show people that we’re trying to combat the situation? There are good cases for either side, which I’ll present below.

Change

Lets start with the most obvious option to write about. Change. A well used word since Obama started slinging it around last year, but is it right for your business? Would a manager championing a change in the way leadership is demonstrated be necessarily be making the right move?

1. As a shop floor or assistant manager. To see that management are changing the way things are done, and who’s in charge of what, and how many new intiatives have bee started can be a very reassuring thing. However this is positive benefit is limited if similar change failed to produce results in the past, so take that into account.

2. It’s without doubt that as business risk increases, companies have to react faster to changes in the market place. If a rearrangement of hierachies and new visions and intiatives from business leaders will help achieve this, then it should be encouraged. You should however keep your eye out for loss of good knowledge. If movement of job positions and reporting lines shatters the environment that existed previously, then you may be hindering the best ideas from the well experienced staff getting to the right managers. When looking at the benefits of a new intiative, always consider what you’re losing too.

Continuity

1. Confident continuity and resolve of existing leadership ideas and techniques and intiatives give a clear message about the vision of the management. Leadership needs to be strong, and to stay on message even when times get tough is a brilliant bonus for your credibility. Ensure that you can justify WHY you’re staying on the same path and not changing however. Lack of commmunication could lead to employees viewing you as ‘out of touch with the economic reality of it all’.

2. If a senior manager stays his course and doesn’t start firing or moving people around when things get tough, it shows that he places alot of trust in his staff beneath him, and that he appreciates the work they have already done. As an extension, these employees should be engaged with EVEN more during the course of the recession. This will support the trust you have in them, and the free flow of ideas from them to you, will actually help you succeed at staying ontop of it all anyway.

So there you have a few of my thoughts on the subject, I want to keep the discussion going though; it doesn’t end here. So please leave comments below!

Hey readers,

This is Hannah Brighton’s quick guide to various global and well known websites that you can join to share your ideas and knowledge about leadership.

In the list below – some are websites dedicated to the leadership genre, but others are actually generic or even sites that are based on some other concept – but still encourage users from all backgrounds to join and share their passion.

Leadership Skills 1
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So there you have it! A huge list indeed, but it will also serve as a guide to which are the best website out there for maintaining your own brilliant leadership profile. I have roughly ordered this list with my favourites at the top – but I guess after having a little browse around these features websites, you’ll soon make your own mind up! Each leadership expert will have their own idea of what functions and features they expect from a profile. For instance, many leadership professionals just want to utilise the ‘contact me’ functions of profiles. They just want them to a serve as an online business card, that others can use to contact them for whatever reason.

Other leadership gurus like to utlize the social networking aspects of such websites. For instance – other users can send other leadership enthuasiasts private messages, invite them to groups, or leave them public wall messages, depending on which website you choose.

Yours Faithfully

Hannah