The Best of Ask Christina First... Leadership

I wanted to kick the new year off with some of the leadership advice I've given in the past. I went back through hours of radio show episodes and picked out some things I felt were worth repeating. I am starting the best off with leadership and will follow up next week with marketing.

What’s So Important About Leadership?

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, that leadership is what makes a business run. No matter what type of leader you are, leadership is the backbone of your business. One of the most important responsibilities of the leader is to watch the bottom line of the business.It’s never the job of the bookkeeper to determine whether your business is doing well or not. It's essential that you as a a leader pay close attention to that, because without a working bottom line, your business you will be working hard while losing money, and eventually your business will close. If your desire is to take care of your customer, you have to make sure your bottom line works. A closed business can’t help any customers.

It is also the responsibility of the leader to define, bring forward, and express your businesses' mission and vision. Your employees haven’t made the time and financial investment you have, so letting them know where you want the business to go and how you'd like it to get there is up to you. Leaders are also responsible for determining whether or not their product is sellable, and for moving your company forward and growing your business.

Know Your Strengths

If you choose not to step into leadership, the company will deteriorate and you will break your promise to your employees, clients, and yourself. Leaders have to learn to do their job and to allow others do theirs. Being a leader requires doing what you’re good at and empowering the people you've employed, to do the same. An excited leader gives life to their company, the excitement of their initial vision drives them forward.

It is crucial to any business that the leader lead, this means being friendly, but not being friends with your employees. Understand the cost of friendship to your company when you forgive behaviors from employees that cost your company money and resources.

Lastly, leaders must be brave enough to hear feedback and create a direction out of it.