Contagious Leadership Style

There are a lot of things that can make or break your business.  It can be the market, the economy, your competition, slow sales, high costs or so many other factors.  But, above all, you are the root of your company’s success or failure.

It can be easy to point to everything else when a company flops.  When a company succeeds, it is almost always attributed to the leader of the organization.  They’re celebrated and featured in the media.  People talk about how they made it.  But, the leader of a company can also be one of the primary reasons why a company fails.

This is not a business truism we typically hear about or learn in business school.  But, I believe that it is one of the most factual realities of being an entrepreneur and leader.  Good or bad, there’s an inherent root to your company and it’s the person you look at in the mirror.

Great leaders know this and they continuously work at how they lead their organizations.  At the foundation of every successful leader is their leadership style.  Leadership style is ultimately how you run and drive your business.  What makes a business rise or fall always starts with you.

Everyone has a leadership style, whether they’re conscious of it or not and whether or not it’s intentional.  It is the way you construct your company and teams, how you create its products, how you sell and every other aspect of your business down to the smallest detail.

The leader you are has a ripple effect that radiates through your business and your employees—into the market and to your customers, vendors and stakeholders.  It can go even further than this.  It is highly contagious.  Whether you like it or not, you are either spreading rainbows or spreading thunderstorms—sometimes both.

Leadership style can be both “nature” and “nurture.”  Many leaders work to develop theirs; many do not.  It is not something you can fake.  I find that people can always detect the real leader you are.  They may even detect the leadership in other people at your organization; just because you’re the CEO doesn’t mean that you’re the leader.  When you look at how your company is doing, I recommend that you look at your leadership style and how you are leading.

Try to create an environment and culture where people can use their talents and gifts and do their best work, where everyone feels comfortable giving their ideas and perspectives.  By helping people get to the best in themselves, it benefits everyone, including your organization.

There are other leadership styles that great leaders subscribe to.  What fits you as a leader will be both inherent and intentional, and entirely up to you.  I see too many leaders, though, use fear and intimidation or treat employees poorly.  They work by the adage that everyone is replaceable, to “fire fast and hire slow.”  I haven’t seen this to be very effective.

When employees are unhappy or unfulfilled, it will ultimately impact your business, products and even your customers.  Poor leadership, bad work environments and cultures cripple organizations and hinder their success.  This can be corrected.  But it begins with the leader.

You won’t get the most out of your talent unless you work at it, too.  It’s like a muscle.  If you don’t use it regularly, it won’t be as strong.

It can be a lot of work and can take a lot of time, intention and consideration.  But, it is more than worth it.  Develop your leadership style.  Work at it and be conscious of it in everything at your company.  It’s when you’ll see the real magic happen.