How to Turn An Average Business Into A Great Business

By Ben Needles

A few weeks ago I was visiting a client in the Phoenix area. We were having a conversation about leadership development and at one point he turned to me and asked, Why is leadership important to you? My answer was two-fold:

1. Leadership makes the difference between a good business and a great one.

2. Leadership creates an environment where people are excited to come to work everyday vs. just showing up to collect a paycheck.

Leadership Ability Determines Success

Author John Maxwell says, Everything rises and falls on leadership! That intuitively rings true. We’re all familiar with both positive and negative examples of leadership in our personal lives, in our work lives, in our communities, and in our world.

Some of us have probably experienced the effects of poor leadership firsthand in the workplace. How many of you have, at some point in the past, worked for or around someone who was generally regarded as a bad boss? How many of you are still working for that person right now?

The difference between a great business and a mediocre one boils down to one thing - leadership! I truly believe that a business with great leadership and an average product or service will still be a great business. And those with a great product or service and mediocre leadership will be just that - mediocre!

Lets compare average, good, and great businesses:

- Average Business No Changes
Nothing remarkable is going on there. Every day is the same old, same old. If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.

- Good Business Little Changes
Some progress is being made but it’s pretty slow and it’s taking a lot of effort to make it happen. It’s not one step forward, two steps back but sometimes it seems that way.

- Great Business Much Change
Momentum has finally kicked in and great strides are being made. Things are working smoothly, people are pulling together as a team working toward common goals, it’s like a well oiled machine. The business is making a significant impact.

The difference between good and great is the difference that makes all the difference!

That seems pretty obvious doesn’t it? It’s one thing to understand the importance of leadership but quite another to be an effective leader though, isn’t it?

One of the most persistent misperceptions about leadership is that the people who get to the top are leaders. That’s not necessarily true! Many people lack the self-knowledge, authenticity, or even the desire necessary for leadership.

People who make it to the top may have done so because of political or technical smarts, or a track record of achievement. Think of the outstanding sales rep who gets promoted to a management position or the receptionist who gets promoted to office manager. These people may or may not have the qualities required to be a good leader.

In reality, leaders are found all over our organizations, from top to bottom, from the president to the secretary. By definition, leaders are simply people who have followers.

The final requirement of effective leadership is to earn trust. Otherwise there won’t be any followers - and the only definition of a leader is someone who has followers. - Peter Drucker

If you think you’re leading, take a look behind you. If there’s no one there, you’re just out for a walk!

Law of the Lid

Maxwell also has a theory called the Law of the Lid: a person’s leadership ability is the lid that determines their effectiveness. In other words, a person’s potential for success is directly related to their leadership ability. This leadership ability puts a lid on how far the people in their organization, and the organization itself, can grow.

If the leadership is strong, the lid is high. But if it’s not, then the people and the organization are limited.

The McDonald’s story (you know - golden arches, sesame-seed buns, happy meals), is an example of this law in action. The McDonald brothers did OK locally but failed at their attempts to expand the business. Their lid was too low.

It wasn’t until Ray Kroc came along that the business went national and became one of the most successful companies of all time. Ray Kroc had the leadership ability to make it happen.

Working around a bad boss would also be examples of the Law of the Lid in action. Smart, talented, and potentially successful people can only go so far when they’re limited by someone else’s lid of leadership.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com

About the Author

Dr. Jeff Thoren, ICF Certified Coach and founder of Gifted Leaders, LLC, liberates individual and collective potential through a positive, strengths-based, team approach. Click here for his FREE e-Newsletter and e-book, deal on cruises