Everything you need to Know about Business Leadership

It is easier to lead anything, if you could work with complexity and ambiguity that comes with it. You should remember that rewards and punishment is acceptable for people, but only with feedback. You can’t just say, “you did it wrong, go and do it again”. It condemns the person and their performance. After working with different companies and clients, I have come to truly realize the impact a leader has in the organization.

So many things happen in business, and being a coolheaded individual is not an option – it is a necessity. It keeps things under your control instead of the other way round. Every individual has independent interest and perspectives. Few things are greater than letting go of personal ego, grudges or any issues with an employee after resolution. In this world, a leader is in the middle of five categories of people, and both they and your business have impact on one another.

The first category involves unaware people. They do not know you and your business exists. For example, I was talking to an old friend couple of days ago, and mentioned Amazon. He didn’t know the company exists. It was a surprise to me. However, it is a perfect example of unaware. If he doesn’t know the company exists, then he knows nothing about it.

The second category is resistant. These people know who you are, and would antagonize you and your business. They will be against the business, and I would say that competitors falls into this category, don’t you think? People resists for a reason. Not everyone in the resisting group is a problem, because with the right approach the party could comply with your leadership skills. Some of them are plain competitions, while others could be useful.

The third category is neutral, which involve people that do not support or against you and your business. The only thing that could matters to these people is what they want. The best example is customers – they just want the best money can buy. For example, I want to buy a new iPad4, which different companies are selling – with permission from Apple. I check various websites – Pricerunner, Amazon for different prices. I choose the cheapest one. It is not about you – but what matters to me as a customer.

The fourth category is supportive. They support the business, and I would think your team falls into this category. Your staff and everyone that participates in creating value and other things that matters to your business. You love them. These people supports the objectives, goals and mission of your business. For example, a project that facilitates one of the objectives is being planned, you can call on your staff to the meeting.

The fifth category is the leading team – not you – but those leading other things on your behalf. I would say that your managers and company you outsourced projects to falls into this category. Have you ever outsourced a project? Then you let them lead that project. They will lead it to the success of your desire. These people needs specific information from you – the more specific your instructions are, the better are your chances to achieve success sooner. Your managers have other people helping them with the responsibilities you gave them. You choose them based on something. They are ideal to work with.

You are in the middle of these five categories stated above. You have to lead in a way that combine these categories, while exploring things that matters to them! I won’t tell you how to lead them – because it is about implementing your leadership skills when interacting with them. It is not about you, but your group. Just remember, these categories require different people skills. In conclusion, when we work with people: complexity emerge and the more they are, the higher the complexity. They are people, and believe it or not, the success of your business solely depends on them.