Charting the course of your business requires making allowances for more than one leadership position. For traditional business owners, this is a relatively new approach to take, but the approach is proving beneficial, especially in the current professional culture. Professional success is no longer achieved by using a top-down model.
Adjusting your definition of leadership brings with it:
· A faster decision-making process
· Happier employees and a more satisfied customer base
· An efficient use of time, energy, and resources
\What follows is a breakdown of how shifting from an individual leadership structure to a team structure works.
There is no “I” in Team: 5 Steps to Restructuring Individualism in Leadership
To be clear, you should not completely remove individualism from your leadership structure. Individualism still has a very valuable place in your company. What you’re changing is the way information and opportunities are disseminated.
Leadership-oriented individuals should not remain isolated or untapped; rather they can, and should, meet together collectively to promote the mission of your business. Here are five ways to get the collective ball rolling:
Task #1: Remove barriers. Instead of promoting an Olympus-style model, try cross-functional team building. Team building allows you to take full advantage of the wealth of ideas and expertise that’s milling about right under your nose. Use the information that is brought to your attention to improve company-wide communication, optimize professional opportunities, and begin to solve problems more effectively.
Task #2: Be transparent. Providing your employees with a free and clear flow of information allows them to make better decisions and grow in their roles as responsible leaders. It is one of the things that will greatly advance the goals of the company.
Task #3: Promote decision-makers. If you want to empower employees, put your employees in power. What does that mean? Don’t shy away from allowing them to make important decisions within your company. This includes: product design, schedule setting, analyzing purchasing data, and hiring and firing of staff. Divide power and your employees will conquer.
Task #4: Be passionate (it’s infectious). Passion is the catalyst of ambition. If you show mission-focused passion for your company, it resonates with your employees and they look for ways to contribute however they can. That’s beneficial, no matter how you slice it.
Task #5: Clarify your expectations. The employee who knows what they do and why they do it is the employee who will take risks for the betterment of your company. Pre-condition employees to lead by clearly identifying their roles and the expectations that go with those rules from day one.
At Pristine Screens, there’s a mission-centric commitment to promote employee leadership. This commitment goes into the sticky microfiber screen cleaners we produce. Our employees participate in creative strategy sessions and the development of our sticky microfiber screen cleaners that are marketed to you – the customer.
As a result of their involvement with our sticky microfiber screen cleaners products, our employees are happier, more engaged, and our company is more effective.
