7 Key Skills of Successful Business Leaders

The 6th president of  US John Quincy Adams    

John Quincy Adams, who served as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 –  1829, once said: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

Eager to learn about leadership skills, MOREmins attended Steve Gilroy’s workshop on the 7 Key Skills of Successful Business Leaders.

Mr Gilroy, the chief executive of world’s leading chief-executive organization Vistage International UK, asked each participant to use a simple scoring sheet which gave a clear picture of our strengths and weaknesses as business leaders.

During the workshop Mr Gilroy outlined seven leadership skills that are essential for success of your company:



1.   Know your NUMBERS.

2.     Create a shared VISION.

3.     Get the RIGHT PEOPLE on the bus.

4.     Get your staff ENGAGED.

5.     Make the whole business CUSTOMER-CENTRIC.

6.     LEAD (don’t manage).

7.     Take care of YOURSELF.

8.     __________________?   Yes, you guess it right: add one more skill you think is important!

Important question: are you working ON the business or IN the business?

·       Talking in more detail, the first skill means you have to know all the stats and facts about your business extremely well: profits, clients, future consumption, competitors, changes in technology, etc.

·       Company’s vision is also very important. Vision has to be known to the smallest details and shared by all employees, not only a leader.

·       Thirdly, successful companies put the right people in the right jobs. Easier said than done, right? MOREmins have found an interesting article by Amy Rees Anderson regarding this topic in Forbes.

·       Another skill shared by successful business leaders is getting one’s staff engaged. Mr Gilroy emphasized, that if you want your employees to be enthusiastic and to do more than they are asked for, you should know what really motivates them and make allowances for different generations. He also advised to undertake regular employee engagement surveys.

·       In addition to this, a business must be entirely focused on customer. At this point during the workshop a huge correlation between employee engagement and customer engagement was emphasized.

·       A leader must also honestly answer one important question: are you working ON the business or IN the business? And the right answer is: I am working ON the business because a leader’s job is to delegate tasks and coach others to succeed. A leader has to make sure that the five points mentioned above are achieved to the max.

·       Also you must take care of oneself professionally and personally. Mr Gilroy mentioned that business leaders are notoriously on a bad diet.  But it’s all about balance in life. So your health should not be forgotten: exercise, relax, have a good night sleep, eat healthily. 

·       And finally, what would you add as a skill no 8? MOREmins team had a short discussion about it, but could not reach one decision. Persistence? Strong belief? Share your opinion with us!

 

Successful companies put the right people in the right jobs. Easier said than done, right? Photo:picjumbo.com

 Cheers,

MOREmins