by Gwen Bortner | Leadership, Office Productivity
Most of us have probably been in a situation where we worked with a group of people, and the project went well or terribly depending on the quality of the group leadership. In your business, whether you’ve got a company of 100, 10, or 1 – YOU are the leader. What’s the quality of that group’s leadership?
Do you think of yourself as a leader? If you’ve got the title of entrepreneur, CEO, or “wearer of all the hats,” you’re leading your company. It doesn’t matter how many people work for you – if you’re not in the regular habit of leading yourself, you won’t be able to lead anyone else, now or in the future.
What steps are you taking to become a better leader in your business? Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Are you prepared for each day?
Do you regularly take time in the morning (or at the close of working time the night before) to prepare for your day? Do you have a list of tasks and one to three goals you want to accomplish each day? Do you know what absolutely must be done, what would be nice to accomplish, and what can be left off the list?
If your answer is NO, then take some time to think and plan at the start of tomorrow’s work day, and every day after that. Give yourself a list of no more than 3 tasks that must be accomplished, and set an intention for how you want that day to go. Establish this as part of your morning routine, and stick with it! You’ll be surprised how much more productive you are throughout the day when you’ve got a clear plan.
Do you regularly seek to improve?
Nobody ever got really good at something if they didn’t regularly strive to improve their skills, and the same holds true for running a business. As the leader of your business, you’ve got to start with improving yourself, and you’ve got to keep up the habit regularly. Read more business blogs or books (and apply the lessons you’re learning!), participate in webinars and online classes, go out and attend conventions or other events. There’s a ton of education available out there to help you get better at whatever you’re trying to improve, from marketing to operations to profit. Pick something and start learning! Put it on your calendar so that you’re setting aside time each week to learn something new.
Do you ask for feedback?
How do you know you’re good at something? Someone tells you! (The same is true for knowing if you’re not so good!). You can give yourself feedback by setting up regular times to review what’s working and what’s not in your business (once a month for a quick review and once a quarter for a longer one is a good rule of thumb). At these same intervals, it’s a good idea to get outside feedback, from employees, contractors, business advisers, consultants, and customers. Create a survey, send a quick email, give them a form to fill out, and ask them what you’re doing well and what could be improved. Then, the all-important next step is to follow up and make changes according to the feedback you receive.
What’s the very next step YOU will take in order to lead yourself toward improving your business?
by Gwen Bortner | Leadership
Lately I’ve been working hard to figure out my next path, and to map out the details of my next adventure. And for me, at least, that path has led me to a belief that I have long held, and how that belief can be a benefit to other women.
Here it is, my basic belief: All women lead.
Now, not all women claim that leadership as a title, or wear it as a mantle of honor, but they should. Being a mommy is a leadership role. Big sister is a leadership role. Whatever your professional title is, that’s a leadership role. That time you pitched in to help with the church youth group? Leadership. That time you sat on the PTA committee for the school dance? Leadership. Helping your parents make choices about their retirement lifestyle and elder care? Leadership.
Leadership isn’t always something we pursue with intention. Oftentimes, it’s something we literally fall into (or get roped into). As such, we sometimes don’t even realize that in saying yes, showing up, or volunteering – we’ve put ourselves in a position of leadership. And then we don’t own that title, or recognize ourselves for the leaders we are.
The thing is, though, if you approach everything in life as a leader, you’re more effective at everything else – even supporting others, because a good leader is a good follower!
So it’s my mission to help my fellow women by showing them how to…
- acknowledge and embrace their leadership roles
- own their wins
- strengthen their leadership skills
- recognize opportunities for leadership and put their strengths to work
Right now I’ve got two preliminary projects I’ve been working on. The first is a free gift – my Confident Woman Checklist is a 5-step method to help you boost your confidence and take daily action to recognize and strengthen your leadership skills. If you’d like a free copy, just click here and enter your e-mail in the form to get it. After you do, you’ll be taken immediately to the landing page for my second project.
The next thing I’ve been working on is a brief single-question survey (seriously, ONE question!). The responses I get from this survey will help inform everything I do next, from the products & services I create to the blog posts I write and the emails I send. So even if the checklist isn’t your thing, I’d REALLY appreciate it if you could click here and tell me about the single biggest challenge you’ve been facing in your life as a leader (even if you didn’t realize until now that that’s what you are!).
It will seriously help me out, so please click here and take just one minute to give me your feedback. As always, you can also leave a comment and begin a conversation about women and leadership – I’d love to hear from you.
by Site Admin | Leadership, Tweet Image
Leadership can be a lonely job – oftentimes you’re standing alone, trying to navigate rough waters. Tough decisions sometimes have to be made, and you don’t always get to be the “good guy.” But if you’ve done your job and truly listened to those you lead, you should be able to stand confidently, knowing that you’re making tough decisions for a good reason.
Tweet the image below to share a tough decision you’ve had to make as a leader.
If you’ve been feeling like some tough decisions need to be made in YOUR organization, comment and I’ll help you figure out what they are and how to make them.
by Site Admin | Leadership, Tweet Image
Anyone who has ever led knows that leadership isn’t all sunshine and roses. It’s natural to want to complain, and indeed you probably should have a safe place to vent your frustrations once in a while. But if you’re spending all your time as a leader complaining, then you’re not spending it in your most important role: leading toward a future where there’s less to complain about in the first place.
Tweet the image below to share how you’ll come up with a solution to one of your biggest complaints.
Do you notice there’s a lot of complaining going on among the leaders of your organization?
by Site Admin | Leadership, Tweet Image
There’s a definite learning curve associated with taking on a leadership position. If you’re in that type of position and you feel you’re not quite keeping up, it might help if you took the time to educate yourself a bit. Whether you read some articles on leadership, take a class, or read a book – there are so many resources available to you to help you grow in your leadership skills. A solid education can be the foundation for your success.
Tweet the image below to share how you continue your education as a leader.
Need some leadership reads? Check out the sidebar to the right of the blog posts – I list some of my favorites there.
If you feel that YOUR organization could use a little more leadership education, I’m here to help! Sign up below to be notified of the opportunities to have me work with your leaders to improve the overall health of your organization.
