Effectiveness - The Greatest Word In Small Business Leadership

Effectiveness - The Greatest Word In Small Business Leadership

What is effectiveness? Effectiveness is being solely focused on the tasks that drive an organization to fulfill its mission, and achieve its vision. It was once said that 95% of the decisions that are made by the majority of CEOs in fortune 500 companies inAmericacan be made by the average high school senior, but it is the remaining 5% of decisions that justifies their extraordinary salaries. What is so valuable about this 5% of decisions that it is rewarded so greatly? It is the ability to make the best decisions at the right time that more greatly leads the organization to achieve its mission and fulfill the purpose of increasing shareholder value. What does this have to do with small business? Well, similarly, a small business leader's effectiveness is what drives the organization forward, and gets the business closer to achieving its vision. The key to effective decision making lies in diligently making every and all business decisions in terms of the organization's mission. In other words being more loyal to the mission than anything else. It is human nature to make decisions based on emotion, desperation, or a host of other reasons. Yet business greatness is only achieved when the organization's mission is the driving force for every decision that the business leader makes. The Captain of the Ship The business leader is the captain steering the ship to get the entire organization to its destination. This takes strength of character and an iron will that will not compromise when faced with less than desirable decisions. The captain is not swayed emotionally when having to let go of an employee, confronting the leadership team, or other of the less desirable yet necessary decisions that need to be made. The business leader does not have the option to make decisions that will not ultimately support the mission. When the business leader allows him or herself to be distracted, it erodes the organization's foundation and any opportunity to help the enterprise achieve business greatness. A Common Leadership Pitfall The most common example that I have seen that distracts small business owners - is the decision to transform the organization into the business owner's personal pocketbook. This is when decisions are made to provide the business owner and the family members with perks that create deficits in the financial foundation of the business. Providing family members with cars, health benefits, cash bonuses, excessive salaries, down payments on homes, etc., which have absolutely no business purpose - are the usual things that weigh the organization down and creates obstacles to fulfilling the organization's purpose. Also, this preferential treatment comes on the backs of the sweat and toil of the employees, which leads to resentment toward their leaders as well as loss of respect for their leadership. Eventually, because of changes in the economy, or other circumstance, there is a meltdown, and the business owner and the family learn a hard lesson. Conclusion It is the business leader's ability to stay on course that separates them from every other person, and makes it possible for the organization to achieve greatness. They refuse to be distracted from the organization's mission even though it results in short term sacrifices, conflicts, and inconveniences. Yet, their determination to uphold their mission and vision, in spite of personal need, will propel the organization to greater and greater heights of effectiveness and higher levels of greatness.

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