Sunday, October 31, 2010

Should you hang a "hazard" sign around your neck?

A behavior that I've observed in many small business owners is their inability to get out of their own way.  By that I mean, sometimes they are not the best person to do the job, run the business, market the business or simply grow the business.  They become the bottleneck...as I've heard it described.  Anyone who has worked with this type of individual will know immediately what I am talking about.

He or she has a difficult time being open to feedback.  They believe that they know the 'best' way to do things or execute things; they react negatively to employees who offering alternative solutions by seeing why those suggestions won't work and they usually end up with employees who have no voice in making things better in their own working environment.  In the pre-economic crash time these businesses also had a higher turnover of their valuable employees.

If any of you have had the opportunity to work for a really great manager you instantly know the difference and that difference shows up in employees who are committed to the success of the business or their department or their team.  They know their opinions and suggestions are valued and want to be heard so these employees become the businesses own 'think tanks'; what a great thing to have...people who's creative juices have been turned on because their boss / manager / leader has instilled in them his/her need to always be evaluating and thinking of new ways to minimize costs, process time etc while maximizing results.

Some business owners are the exception and they realize (sooner or later) that if their business is successful that they need strong and talented people around them to grow it to the next level and they cannot do it alone.  A recent example I read about this morning was the founder of Twitter, Evan Williams finally made such a decision and the article about it shows you how these things evolve.  Not everyone is born that great leader.  Time, experience, failures mold you into that which you desire to be...if you are open and willing to go there.

Read the article and you'll get a sense of this guy's history and then be able to watch what happens with Twitter and where it goes from here.  Why Twitter's CEO Demoted Himself

Have a great day!

No comments:

Post a Comment