The Importance of Teamwork in a Business Organization

January 6, 2022January 5, 2022 by [email protected]

Teamwork is the whole point of forming business organizations. Businesses bring together people with different skills and traits.

People working alone are limited in what they can get done. Putting them to work together multiplies their productivity exponentially

Read on to learn how we can promote teamwork and what can hamper it.

Simple teamwork in a business — A rowing team is a simple example of teamwork in action – credit Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash.com

What is Teamwork?

Teamwork happens when several individuals cooperate to do something. Working together, they play off each others’ skills and abilities and share ideas. The team

produces several times the sum of what the members could create individually. Two or more people discussing a challenge will discover solutions neither one would have thought of alone.

Why Teamwork Matters

Teamwork matters because individuals’ abilities limit what they can do or discover alone. For example, consider the typical approaches of:

Engineers.

Artists.

Accountants.

Equipment operators.

Advertisers.

Salespeople.

Professionals in these and many other disciplines have different views of a project or challenge. Each approach has its merits. For most complex projects, many cooperating disciplines have a place in the task’s successful outcome.

To summarize the concept, we could say that 1+1+1+1+1+1=10, or 20.

It’s hard to overemphasize the importance of teamwork in business.

Team Building in the Workplace

Building a functional team requires leadership. The leadership skills necessary to cause teamwork to happen are several.

Each team member must feel part of something important, something more significant than the individual. The competent leader helps each member see their part in the team’s greater results.

Each team member must feel supported. When someone has a question, remember that there are no stupid questions. There are stupid answers, such as ridiculing the questioner or providing an answer that the leader is uncertain of. If the leader is not certain of the answer, the correct response is, “I’ll find out and let you know.”

The leader must take care to provide the team with adequate resources to accomplish their task. If they’re forced to operate with inadequate budgets and tools, they will be disgruntled and inefficient. Productivity can be defined as the quotient of results per dollar spent. Reducing the denominator of that fraction is usually less effective than Increasing the numerator.

We could even say each member must feel loved! The leader should show an interest in each person, their families, and what’s important to them as individuals.

The leader and the team members must form a cohesive partnership. The importance of a team in business is huge. Teamwork makes the venture work. Its absence breaks it down.

The Importance of Teamwork in Business

Let me get a bit personal here. I joined the business world over 50 years ago. I soon observed that, in every organization with two or more people, time, effort and resources are wasted by people working at cross purposes. It became part of my mission to promote teamwork wherever I had influence.

Probably this mission was subconscious at first. It gained new meaning for me when, in 1991, I took a position as Operations Manager for a large gas and oil exploration and production company. The two largest departments under my leadership were Drilling and Production. These two departments had many roles in the operation where their communication and support of each other were important.

Under the leadership of two culturally diverse managers, the two departments were not cooperating well at all. I pointed out to each of them how important their communication and mutual support were and helped them see ways to work together. We soon began to see increased production, lower costs, improved safety, and happier people.

Six months or so into this, when their cooperation, and our results, began to improve, I suddenly realized my personal dedication to teamwork. I formally declared to myself that this was my central purpose.

There’s more detail on this story here.

The importance of teamwork among people in business can be likened to the importance of teamwork among horses pulling a heavy load. If the horses all pull in unison in the desired direction, they can pull far more than their own weight. However, if one is hanging back, another is nipping at its neighbor’s neck, and other disruptions to teamwork are occurring, they can’t pull much.

Perhaps there will always be some discord among individuals, especially in larger companies. It can be minimized by competent leadership.

Note: Archived issues of The Unity Community are available here. Search that page for keywords representing your particular interest. Most articles offer suggestions for ways of improving business and personal relationships. Keep in mind that business is done by…people. Every business concern is essentially an inter-personal concern.

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Day!

Eric Lofholm, my friend, mentor and sales coach, hosts a 15-minute motivational call every business day. The call is at 7:45 AM Pacific time. Register for it here. You’ll find instructions on how to join the call on Facebook, Zoom, by phone, or in a recording you can access on your schedule.

Let’s Talk!

How’s the teamwork in your organization? Do the teams have the tools they need? Want to talk about it? Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat by Zoom or on the phone.

Do you like The Unity Community?

Do you find value in the articles?

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Suggestions for topics in future issues? Do you have something you’d like to contribute? It can be your work…or someone else’shttps://smartmoneynetwork.net/what-are-the-most-important-questions-to-ask-your-business-coach-before-hiring-them/. I’ll give you and the author ample credit for your contribution if I use it.

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

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Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

We find your ideal client prospects and start conversations with them. Then we communicate your value. We get them to schedule appointments with you…all on autopilot. This can happen for you! Learn how here.

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

(Hint: What painful issue do you resolve for your clients? If your LinkedIn profile describes how you make your clients’ lives better, it’s rare! Most describe the merchant’s qualifications and expertise. They say little about what he/she does to remove clients’ pain.)

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we go find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

All these messages come from you personally. We want and expect your input in developing them…unless you want us to just do it. You can follow the threads and adjust your messages as you see better ways to engage your prospects. We’re always ready to talk with you about improving your messaging.

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

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What is Delegating a Task and How to do it Effectively?

November 17, 2021November 16, 2021 by [email protected]

What is Delegating a Task?

Delegating a task is much than instructing someone to do something. In delegating a task, you aim to inspire the best performance your team members have in them.

To attract that best performance, you must be an encourager, a teacher, and a coach. Your team members must know they have your support and that you trust them to do their best work.

Why is it Important?

Effective delegation is important because, through your leadership, you can produce multiples of what you can with your own direct effort. Delegation is one of the most effective tools you have to do this.

Why Managers Fail to Delegate

First, let’s make a clear distinction. Leaders are much more than managers. Managers concern themselves with things – budgets, tasks, tools, etc. Leaders must manage some of those things, but their primary concern is with people. People respond very poorly when they’re treated like things.

From that distinction, it should be clear that the the two roles need very different skills. Managers manipulate things and command certain actions, as with a computer. Leaders give their teams an example to follow in the way they approach and address a task. They may or may not have the skills they expect of their team.

Managers fail to delegate because:

They don’t trust people to do the right thing.

They don’t trust their capability to communicate what they want done.

They operate with the belief that “If I want it done right, I have to do it myself.” A very short-sighted attitude!

We must understand that the leader’s task is different from the work they expect from their team members. Often, the best leaders know little or nothing about the “nuts and bolts” of their team’s work. They know very well the result they want but hire experts in the detail work that achieves that result, and they trust them to do it.

Think about the most effective leaders of great conglomerate corporations. Do you think they know how to produce the products and services the company sells? Of course not! Yet, they lead teams of thousands to great success.

They do this in part by delegating areas of responsibility to department heads, who delegate details of the department’s responsibilities to team leaders, who delegate tasks to their team members. Depending on the mission’s complexity, there may be more layers than this, but you can see the pattern.

How to Delegate Tasks Effectively

To delegate tasks effectively, a leader must:

Be sure the assignment is clearly understood by the person responsible for it. Get them to feed back what they understand about their responsibility.
Encourage and answer any questions about what they’re to do.
Provide the resources they need to achieve the desired result.
Establish a schedule for monitoring progress – depending on the task’s complexity and length or term, it could be hourly, daily, weekly, or even longer intervals.
Make clear your readiness to discuss or answer questions about the task
Walk away! This may be the most important step and, for some, the most difficult. “Looking over people’s shoulders” is the surest way to tell them you don’t trust them. People who are not trusted quickly learn not to trust themselves, and they do inferior work. Or, if they recognize what’s happening and have the necessary self-confidence, they leave.

Happy leadership!

Note: Archived issues of The Unity Community are available here. Search that page for keywords representing your particular interest. Most articles offer suggestions for ways of improving business and personal relationships. Keep in mind that business is done by…people. Every business concern is essentially an inter-personal concern.

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Day!

Eric Lofholm, my friend, mentor and sales coach, hosts a 15-minute motivational call every business day. (For a short time, he switched to doing the call weekly, and it seems nobody liked it.) The call is at 7:45 AM Pacific time. Register for it here. You’ll find instructions on how to join the call on Facebook, Zoom, by phone, or on a recording.

Let’s Talk!

What’s your leadership style? Do you have a clear sense of how your team members view their relationships with you? Would you like to share your experience(s) with leadership? I’d love to hear from you. Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat on the phone.

Do you like The Unity Community?

Do you find value in the articles?

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Suggestions for topics in future issues? Do you have something you’d like to contribute? It can be your work…or someone else’s. I’ll give you and the author ample credit for your contribution if I use it.

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

Do You Know Someone Who’d Like This?

You’re welcome to forward it to them with the FORWARD feature in your email program.

Did someone forward this to you? Would you like to subscribe (free)? Send me your email address and tell me you’d like to subscribe.

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

Would You Like to Publish a Newsletter Like This One?

Want new ways to engage your prospects and clients? Unity Copywriting writes the materials that help you stay top of their minds. Let’s discuss how these materials can help you with your marketing!

The 4 Types of Leadership You Should Know

November 29, 2021November 8, 2021 by [email protected]

What is a Leadership Style?

Your leadership style defines how you relate to the team you lead.

We define leadership as getting things done through our interactions with team members. Your leadership style is how you relate to your team members, individually and as a group. The style you exhibit as a leader has an immense effect on the results produced by the team.

As we so often see, a sports analogy is useful in demonstrating this effect. Here’s the story of Bayern Munich, a German soccer team whose new leader led them to a championship. A horrible 2019-20 season ended with a crushing defeat. The management released their head coach and replaced him with one of his subordinates.

Seemingly a small change! Hansi Flick, the new coach, would follow that with other minor adjustments in staff and player roster. The big change, not so visible, was in leadership style. Flick converted the players’ mindsets from losing to winning – and they won! Big time!

Big, highly visible changes, like replacing half the players or staff, get headlines! Small, low-visibility changes, accompanied by a new leadership style, can be the catalyst for big changes in results. Leadership style makes the BIG difference!

Read the story to see how this works.

There are many examples of similar turnarounds in business.

What are the 4 Types of Leadership Styles?

We’ll define and discuss the 4 fundamental types of leadership styles in this article.

Very few leaders exhibit a pure form of only one type. Most leaders have a combination of two or more of these styles.

Autocratic or Authoritarian Leadership

An autocratic leader keeps power and decision-making to himself. His or hers is a command-and-control organization. People perform their duties mostly as a result of fear of punishment rather than a sense of personal satisfaction or pride in results. In some cases, such a leader may offer benefits for achieving certain results.

The motivation always comes from something outside the individual, not from their internal sense of accomplishment. They usually do what’s necessary to curry favor or avoid the leader’s disfavor and no more.

In this type of organization, producers feel stifled and frustrated. Team performance normalizes at a low level, as the most productive people leave and the least motivated stay and do the minimum necessary.

Democratic or Participative Leadership

Participative style leaders decentralize authority. They encourage input from their team members.

Everyone on the team feels like part of something larger than themselves. They feel important in the team results, giving them a sense of pride in those results.

Democratic or participative leadership results in improved morale. With this style of management, absenteeism and employee turnover are reduced.

Results improve because everyone enjoys the feeling of being productive. Costs are reduced since absenteeism and turnover are among the biggest factors in employment costs.

Laissez-faire or Free-rein Leadership

In this leadership style, the leader essentially abdicates the role of directing activity. They act more as umpires than directors of the team’s goals.

While some autonomy is a good thing, the team members must have a clear sense of what they’re there to accomplish.

A good question to ask people is, “Why are we here?”. If the team members’ answers differ from each other, you don’t have a team; you have a group of people working independently. On a team, each member supports progress toward a common goal.

Paternalistic Leadership

In this style, the leader assumes the role of “Papa knows best.” The relationship is similar to that of a head-of-family and their children. They provide a comfortable working space and good benefits, but the team members are to follow the leader’s direction.

In some Asian cultures, this can actually work pretty well. In western cultures, more independent-thinking mature adult workers may resent the paternalistic attitude of the leader.

The Importance of Developing a Leadership Style

So…which of the 4 types of leadership skills do you use?

The label you put on your type of leadership style is not important. What is important is that you understand your relationship with your team members.

The foregoing identifies important aspects of that relationship. Of course, results speak for themselves. Frank, face-to-face discussions with individuals and the team as a group will give you further insight into your degree of success in motivating the team. Ideally, they have a healthy sense of self-direction and autonomy in finding their own best methods to contribute to the team’s goals. At the same time, they clearly understand what those goals are.

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Day!

Let’s Talk!

Do you like The Unity Community?

Do you find value in the articles?

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

Do You Know Someone Who’d Like This?

You’re welcome to forward it to them with the FORWARD feature in your email program.

Did someone forward this to you? Would you like to subscribe (free)? Send me your email address and tell me you’d like to subscribe.

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

Would You Like to Publish a Newsletter Like This One?

Want new ways to engage your prospects and clients? Unity Copywriting writes the materials that help you stay top of their minds. Let’s discuss how these materials can help you with your marketing!

4 Actionable Tips to Become Successful Entrepreneurs

November 29, 2021November 2, 2021 by [email protected]

As independent business people, entrepreneurs work to satisfy the needs and wants of their customers, rather than those of a boss who pays them Their customers are their “bosses”.

Some independent business people aren’t entrepreneurs, though.

Want to set yourself apart from those who just sell what others are selling? Read on for tips to become a successful entrepreneur.

Lady’s broad-brim hat – Will it fit in the box? credit Pixabay.com

Brief Intro about Entrepreneurship and the Successful Entrepreneur

First, let’s identify the difference between an entrepreneur and other business people.

Many business people set themselves up in a competitive business selling what others are selling. They strive to differentiate themselves by offering a lower price than their competitors. Or, they compete by offering better service or product quality. Those who compete that way can sometimes hit on a unique combination of those features. They may be moderately successful with that style of competition. However, they’re usually trying to convince someone else’s customers to buy what they’re selling.

An entrepreneur identifies a gap in a market or even an entirely new market. When they find the solution to customers’ needs in that market, they have it all to themselves. They generate new business, new customers, rather than competing for someone else’s existing customers.

As in so many aspects of success, a big part of this is mindset. If you’re thinking “inside the box” – thinking like everyone else – you’re unlikely to find a revolutionary new business. Think outside the box – look in obscure places and markets – and who knows what might happen?!

A little further along, we’ll list some tips to become a successful entrepreneur.

Why Follow These Tips?

If you decide you’re going to sell shoes, or cars, or service air conditioners, you’ll be competing with others. Unless you’re in a remote area (likely without many shoe, or car, or air conditioner customers), you’ll be competing with others doing the same thing. Your only hopes for attracting customers are:

Offering unique shoes, cars, servicing a different type of air conditioner

Offering lower prices than others in your business.

Offering a unique service in connection with what you sell. Find some twist on the business no one else has thought of or is offering.

With options 1 and 2, you’re not creating a new business. You’re trying to lure the same customers as everyone else offering that you do.

With the third option, you’d be getting entrepreneurial. If you’re offering something the

competitors are unable o\r unwilling to offer, you’ve created a new niche in the market.

Tips to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

To illustrate the points I’ll list below, I’ll tell a story. My friend and his wife visited a very high-end millinery (hat shop). Linda, the proprietress, made and sold unique ladies’ hats. Every hat came with a hatbox.

Since many of the hats had very broad brims, they didn’t fit in the boxes she could buy when she started her business. In a conversation with Linda, my friends learned this story.

She had talked with her box supplier and asked about making larger boxes. He said his die-cutter for large boxes had broken down and not been repaired due to low demand for the large boxes. She asked him what it would cost to fix the die-cutter. A few hundred dollars was the answer. Linda offered to pay for that.

So they fixed the die-cutter. Linda got her large hatboxes. The box supplier found that large hats had become more popular, and providing boxes for them was a lucrative new line of business for him. He declined not to charge Linda for the machine repair.

Everybody won! Linda got her boxes so she could enjoy the expanded hat business. Her customers enjoyed the convenience of having a storage place for their big hats. The box supplier found a new line of business he didn’t think was there. And all because Linda took the initiative and offered to pay for the machine repair. As a bonus, in the end, she didn’t have to pay for it.

What are the takeaways from this story? The tips for entrepreneurs to be successful?

Be observant. If you or your customers have a need that’s not being met, probably you’re not alone. Solving your problem may lead to a whole new business.

Be ready to step up and take action. Without Linda’s offer to fix the die-cutting machine, none of this would have happened. The box supplier also was ready to move at Linda’s suggestion.

Listen open-mindedly to your customers and clients. Are they crying out for something you and others can’t supply? There’s likely an opportunity there.

If you’re in a competitive business, look for unique ways to serve your customers. Do something no one else is doing.

Entrepreneurs have the potential to be more successful financially than those who compete to sell what others are selling. They also find their work more personally fulfilling. I wish you great success as an entrepreneur.

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Day!

Eric Lofholm is my friend, mentor and sales coach. He hosts a 30-minute motivational call every business day. The call is at 7:45 AM Pacific time. Register for it here. You’ll find instructions on how to join the call on Facebook, Zoom, by phone, or in a recording you can access on your time.

Let’s Talk!

How’s the teamwork in your organization? Do the teams have the tools they need? Want to talk about it? Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat by Zoom or on the phone.

Do you like The Unity Community?

Do you find value in the articles?

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

Get too Much Email?

Today’s issue is going to all my subscribers. If you’re among my monthly subscribers, you’ll receive your next issue on December 7, 2021.

If the monthly schedule suits you better, just reply to this message with the word “MONTHLY” in the message or subject line. If you elect that option, you can still check out the weekly issues at your convenience here. Since your last monthly issue, we’ve discussed:

Importance of Leadership in the Business World – Published 26 October 2021.

What Can a Family Business Coach Do for You? – Published 19 October 2021

Why Effective Leadership Starts With Good Communication – Published 12 October 2021

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

Get too Much Email?

Today’s issue is going to all my subscribers. If you’re among my monthly subscribers, you’ll receive your next issue on December 7, 2021.

Importance of Leadership in the Business World – Published 26 October 2021.

What Can a Family Business Coach Do for You? – Published 19 October 2021

Why Effective Leadership Starts With Good Communication – Published 12 October 2021

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we go find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

Would You Like to Publish a Blog Like This One?

Want new ways to engage your prospects and clients? Unity Copywriting writes the materials that help you stay top of their minds. Let’s discuss how these materials can help you with your marketing!

Importance of Leadership in the Business World

October 29, 2021October 26, 2021 by [email protected]

How Do You Define Leadership?

Leadership consists of the skills that encourage people to want to do the right thing. When they’ve finished doing something right, they and the leader celebrate. Celebrating such a win inspires everyone to do more of the right thing.

Something we should clearly understand is that a leader is much more than a manager. Certain managerial skills are part of leadership, but managing is more about things than people. Leaders who try to manage their teams are treating the people like things. Very ineffective!

How To Apply Leadership in the Business World

Leaders must understand, possess and apply certain traits and skills.

Small business group paying close attention to their leader – credit Mapbox on Unsplash

First, of course, they must exhibit integrity. This means saying what they’ll do, then doing what they say. An important distinction here is what to do if they can’t keep a promise. If a leader says they’ll do X by Y (time), and circumstances make it impossible, they must explain that as soon as they realize it. Then they take any action they can to mitigate the impact of the failure to meet their original intention.

Each member of a team must do this as well. If anyone fails in that integrity, the leader must immediately coach the team member on the importance of integrity by everyone. They must do this coaching privately. An important leadership tenet is: Praise publicly and criticize privately.

Knowing and taking an interest in team members’ lives is important in leadership. Everyone on the team must feel the leaders’ interest in their personal well-being. Imparting that feeling to each member helps make them feel that they are part of something larger than themselves.

Other characteristics of importance in leadership are:

Excellent communication skills.

Empowerment – letting people run with a task. Micro-management is the antithesis of empowerment.

Decisiveness – make decisions quickly and change them slowly.

Charisma – good leaders are enjoyable to be around.

Significance of Leadership

Here, I’ll again resort to the sports analogy.

Put a group of talented football or hockey players together and send them out onto the field or ice. Without leadership, how well would they likely fare in their competitions?

Probably one of the players would emerge as the leader. However, would they be able to see the “big picture” from their perspective, immersed in the play-by-play action? It would be a rare individual who could do that.

Business teams are in many ways analogous to sports teams. Talent is important. Competent direction, coordination and encouragement can double or triple its effectiveness.;

Functions of Leadership

The role of leadership can be summed up in one function. Leadership is about enabling teams of people to accomplish more than the sum of what they could do if they worked independently of each other. 1+1=2, or 3.

There are many skills and traits that leaders use to make this happen. We’ve touched on some of the most important of those.

Leaders make the difference in teams’ performance!

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Day!

Let’s Talk!

What skills and traits do you find to be the most important in leadership? Would you like to share your experience(s) with good or not-so-good leaders? I’d love to hear from you. Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat on the phone.

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Do you find value in the articles?

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What would make it even more valuable for you?

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

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You’re welcome to forward it to them with the FORWARD feature in your email program.

Did someone forward this to you? Would you like to subscribe (free)? Send me your email address and tell me you’d like to subscribe.

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

Would You Like to Publish a Newsletter Like This One?

Want new ways to engage your prospects and clients? Unity Copywriting writes the materials that help you stay top of their minds. Let’s discuss how these materials can help you with your marketing!

What Can a Family Business Coach Do for You?

October 22, 2021October 19, 2021 by [email protected]

What is a Family Business Coach?

Family businesses are unique. You work with the same people you eat with, sleep with, and relate to in your personal life.

How do you conduct a professional relationship in one setting and a familial one in another? It can be a delicate balance.

A family business coach understands the issues in this balance. They can help you, and your partners/family members, compartmentalize these roles while blending them.

Like any coach, their main role is to open your, and your partners’, eyes to the things you don’t see from the inside.

How a Family Business Coach Can Help You

In your family and in your business, issues arise.

It’s important to do your best to avoid having business issues affect your relationships with family members.

You also want to avoid having home life issues affect your business relationships to the detriment of business results.

Your family business coach must be your trusted confidant for both sides of this. They can help you see ways to keep these issues from spilling over to where they don’t belong.

What Does Family Business Coaching Do?

As with all coaches, a family business coach only does one thing. That is to help you see what you can’t see from the inside. You’re looking at the trees – the coach will look at the forest and help you see that view.

Good coaches simply ask questions, listen to the answers, and suggest better ways for you to view certain things. Their role ends there; they don’t do anything for you except that. Of course, you’re likely to be resistant to taking a different view than has been your habit. They’ll likely work with you at some length to help you see how to resolve whatever issues are troubling you. They’ll help you and your partners see how you could deal with something differently to improve the results of your family relationships and your business relationships and performance.

Benefits of Hiring a Family Business Coach

It’s very difficult for most people to avoid some carryover when you live and work with the same people.

Since it may be very hard for you and your partners to see how to avoid that, coaching can be a great help in your family and your family business.

I wish you the greatest success in your family life and in your business. I recommend you consider hiring a coach to help you smooth the way for both roles.

Why Effective Leadership Starts With Good Communication

October 12, 2021October 12, 2021 by [email protected]

No man is an island! This is why good communication is vital in leadership.

Business is done through interaction between people. To interact with other people, you must communicate with them in one way or another.

Read on to learn how good communication makes business happen.

It would be hard to overstate the importance of effective communication in good leadership.

Why Is Good Communication Important in Leadership?

As a business leader, you communicate with many people. Depending on your exact role, you may interact with some of all of these, or others:

Customers.

Clients.

Team members.

Suppiers.

Upper management.

Service providers (internal or external),

To keep the business humming, the quality of your communication with these people is vital. You must receive and send information accurately.

To do that you must listen intently. If a message you receive is unclear, request clarification. The messages you send should be unambiguous and easy to understand.

During these interchanges, you should be building camaraderie with all of the people you interact with.

Your collaboration with all of these people is critical to the success of your business. Good communication is fundamental for your leadership to produce good results.

Facts About Communication for Leaders

Effective communication is precise – unambiguous. The leader and every participant in the exchange must communicate accurately,

When you receive a message, look for ways you can interpret it. If it’s possible to interpret it in more than one way, discuss it with the sender so you are certain you both understand it the same way.

When you compose or speak a message, consider whether the receiver could interpret it in other ways than what you intend. If necessary, rephrase it to make the meaning impossible to misinterpret. When you speak a message face to face be sure the receiver receives the same message you intend to send.

The Importance of Leadership Communication

As a leader and a good communicator, most of your interaction is likely to be with your team members. All of what I’ve outlined applies here.

Good communication in your team leadership seeks to build camaraderie within your team. When you must criticize them, do it in a way that helps them improve. Strive to never make them feel unappreciated.

Tips to Improve Your Leadership Communication

With team members, good leadership communication should seek to build team spirit. You want to help each member feel like part of something grander than themselves.

Listen with the intent to understand what you’re hearing, rather than to plan a reply.

Speak with the intent to help others understand clearly what you intend to communicate.

Strive to build team spirit and camaraderie with all your communication.

The Cost of Poor Leadership Communication

Considering what we’ve already discussed, the negative results of poor communication should be clear. As clear as are the positive results of good leadership communication.

The greatest cost of poor communication comes from its receiver understanding something different than the sender intended. This may come from inattentive listening or from ambiguous communication by the sender. Poor decision-making and misdirected efforts can result. Both are wastes of time and other resources. Left uncorrected, they can result in failure to meet deadlines and in poor quality production.

If a team member sends you a message that you misinterpret, that could lead you to make an incorrect decision.

If a team member misinterprets a message from you, they might spend hours or days working for a different result than you intended.

Allowing team members to function in isolation, or to feel like they’re functioning in isolation, results in poor teamwork. A good team produces results equal to much more than the sum of the individual members’ efforts if they worked alone. That multiplication can be lost if the team members are, or feel, isolated.

Keep everyone pulling in the same direction like a team of horses pulling a heavy wagon. When they work together, they can pull a tremendous load. If they work independently, they’re much less effective.

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Day!

Let’s Talk!

Leadership is an important coaching topic, and vital to doing good business. Want to add your thoughts on leadership? Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat on the phone.

Do you like The Unity Community?

Do you find value in the articles?

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

Do You Know Someone Who’d Like This?

You’re welcome to forward it to them with the FORWARD feature in your email program.

Did someone forward this to you? Would you like to subscribe (free)? Send me your email address and tell me you’d like to subscribe.

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we go find them. (Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

Would You Like to Publish a Newsletter Like This One?

Want new ways to engage your prospects and clients? Unity Copywriting writes the materials that help you stay top of their minds. Let’s discuss how these materials can help you with your marketing!

What is Business Coaching? The Definitive Guide

October 6, 2021October 5, 2021 by [email protected]

How Will A Coach Help Your Business?

Coaching in sports is visible. You can see how a coach helps a golfer or a basketball team get to the top of their game. What is coaching in business? That seems a little different, doesn’t it?

Continue reading to learn how the coaching concept applies in business!

What is Business Coaching?

A business coach, like a sports coach, is your trusted partner. A coach sees things you can’t see. When a golfer is consistently pulling the ball left of the target, he or she may not understand what they’re doing to make that happen. The coach can see the little change in grip or backswing that’s causing the ball to go left. The golfer can’t see it until the coach points it out.

If you’re continually losing sales at the 11th hour, or you have trouble communicating with a member of your team, you may not see what the issue is. Your coach, looking from the outside, can analyze what you’re doing and help you with a solution.

What Does a Business Coach Do?

What is business coaching?

Analyzing what you are doing is what business coaching is about. Except for that, a business coach doesn’t really do anything,

The coach then helps you see how to do what you do more effectively. One of a coach’s key skills is to present this new idea to you in a way that is not threatening to you, The new idea may well challenge your usual way of being and you must be receptive to that.

We’re creatures of habit. We do things in patterns. Helping you break a pattern that’s not serving you well is what your coach is there to do.

The coach’s only “doing” is to help you do better.

Why Do You Need Business Coaching?

You need a business coach to help you see what you’re blind to.

How many times have you driven to your office, and can’t remember anything you saw along the way? Or been on a highway listening to an audiobook, or deep in thought about an issue in your life, and missed an exit you needed to take?

These are examples of things you can’t, or don’t, see, Your coach may not help you be more observant when you drive to work. Business coaching is what will help you break the pattern of how you conduct a sales conversation or communicate with that team member.

Types of Business Coaches

Business coaches usually have a specialty they are especially skilled and observant about.

There are:

Sales coaches.

Team-building coaches.

Marketing coaches.

Communication coaches.

Social media coaches – sometimes specialized.in LinkedIn, Facebook or another platform.

Public speaking coaches.

Coaches for specific software applications, such as Zoom or Constant Contact.

Financial analysis coaches.

Etc., etc.

You get the idea. Business coaching is what you decide it should be! You can find a coach to help you with literally any specialized area of business.

Difference Between a Business Coach and a Consultant

Business coaching is what helps you do something, or do it better.

Business consulting is doing something for you. Perhaps the consultant leads your sales team. Or they manage a big construction project.

A coach works to help you or your business perform well. A consultant works in your business to perform a task.

Who needs a coach? Everyone needs a coach if they want to excel at what they do.

Have you ever seen a champion in any sport without a coach? You never will! They’ll likely have several coaches for different specific skills.

You’ll never see an industry-leading business or business leader without a coach, either! They also will likely have several coaches.

What are The Most Important Questions to Ask your Business Coach Before Hiring Them?

September 28, 2021September 28, 2021 by [email protected]

Hiring a business coach is a BIG decision! Here, we’ll suggest some questions to ask a business coach to find out if he or she is the right coach for you.

Are you a coach? This list is a valuable resource you can offer your prospects to add value for them as they consider hiring you.

What are the Most Important Questions to Ask your Business Coach Before Hiring Them?

What Does a Business Coach Do?

A coach can help you make progress when you’re stuck. Even when you feel everything is good – you have clients, you’re making money…you have untapped potential!

A coach will help you make improvements in your business and life. They won’t do anything for you except open your eyes. You’ll be the one doing.

Wherever you are in your life and business, you can’t see the forest for the trees! A coach can bring things to light for you that you are completely blind to.

A business coach will focus on the business aspect of your life. Yet a good coach will help you see new possibilities in all aspects of YOU. Your business is part – a BIG part – of your life. You should consider it one of the things that make your life what it is – good or not so good.

Though business is important, so are your family, your finances, your health, your spirituality, your relationships, etc. All these parts of your life must be in balance for you to be a fully functional human being. A good business coach – like any coach – will help you achieve this balance while primarily focusing on their specialty.

I’ve always maintained that life coaching and business coaching are not so different. While the issues they deal with may differ, the same attitudes and ways of being work in every aspect of your life, including business. Keep in mind that business is done by people! You’re in the people business, everywhere in your life.

Why You Need to Know These Questions

If your coaching relationship is to be effective you and your coach will become partners. Partners trust each other enough to share intimate details with each other. Sometimes your coach will have to work hard to get you to recognize, let alone divulge, some of these details. Some of this may be difficult and painful, but it’s essential.

To enter into a partnership of this depth, you must like and trust this person. The big question is not “How good is this coach?”, but “How good is this coach for me?” If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

How does it help you or your business?

First, I’ll refer you to the section above headed What Does a Business Coach Do?

By helping you see things that have been invisible to you, you can begin to improve those things.

You can break ineffective or destructive habits. You can replace them with effective and constructive habits.

You can replace relationships that aren’t serving you well with ones that do serve you well.

You can face the fact that you may be spending money in ways that don’t help your business. If you eliminate those expenditures, you’ll have money to fund more effective resources, or to save.

The Most Important Questions to Ask Your Business Coach Before Hiring Them

As I mentioned before you will invite this person to become your trusted partner. There’s a lot you need to know about them. Especially if this is your first coach-hiring experience, you may not get it right the first time. That’s OK – start over!

Here are some of the ways to find out more about your prospective coach.

Check References

No doubt the coach you’re considering will offer references. That’s fine, but what will those references tell you? “This guy or gal does wonderful things for me. My business is thriving because of their help.” Right?

It’s fine to check out some of these references and testimonials. A better way to see a more balanced view is to go to independent rating sites, such as Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Next Door, etc.

Competence Measures

Ask your prospective coach for his or her certifications. There are numerous coach training and certification organizations. Examples are International Coaching Federation, Coach Traning Alliance, and many others. Many coaches are affiliated with franchise companies like Focal Point, Strategic Coach, John Maxwell, etc. These companies have their in-house training and certification programs.

Desire to Serve

Businesses survive and grow by providing something of value to their customers and clients in exchange for money. Coaches are no different. In fact, they’re a special case. A good coach lives and breathes helping and supporting his or her clients. That’s the only way they can become the trusted partner you want.

Get a sense for this trait in conversations with them and from the references you check.

Commitment

This goes hand-in-hand with the desire to serve. They must be as committed to your success as you are. Actually, depending on your mindset at the beginning, part of their work may be to instill that commitment in you.

Again, conversations with them and what you learn from references are the guide in checking this out.

Chemistry

Now that you’ve checked all these things and found satisfactory answers, how does it FEEL? As I pointed out in the beginning of this article, this person, if they’re right, will be a partner with you. You must like and trust them. The fact that someone else found that comfort with them doesn’t mean you will.

Make sure it’s right for you!

All the best in finding the business coach that helps you take your business to the next level…and the next!

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Week!

Let’s Talk!

Leadership is an important coaching topic, and vital to doing good business. Want to add your thoughts on leadership? Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat on the phone.

Do you like The Unity Community?

Do you find value in the articles?

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

Do You Know Someone Who’d Like This?

You’re welcome to forward it to them with the FORWARD feature in your email program.

Did someone forward this to you? Would you like to subscribe (free)? Send me your email address and tell me you’d like to subscribe.

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we go find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!

Click here to learn how you can put this program to work for YOU!

Would You Like to Publish a Newsletter Like This One?

Want new ways to engage your prospects and clients? Unity Copywriting writes the materials that help you stay top of their minds. Let’s discuss how these materials can help you with your marketing!

What are the Strengths of Good Leaders?

September 15, 2021September 14, 2021 by [email protected]

How Many Strengths of Good Leaders Do You Possess?

Leadership is a unique ability to inspire others to participate in a team to accomplish something. The strengths of good leaders are quite distinct from management skills.

Managers optimize things like machines, budgets, assets, etc. People must be treated differently from “things.”

Read on to learn what defines a leader.

A photo of 3 people having a meeting showing the Strengths of Good Leaders

7 Qualities Exhibited by Effective Leaders

Here are the most important strengths of good leaders that set them apart from managers. Several of these skills are often called “soft skills.” The tools managers use in handling inanimate business aspects aren’t very effective with people. And similarly, some of these soft skills would be less effective with things. That said, you’ll see that some managerial skills are important in leadership.

Top on my list is INTEGRITY – Say what you’ll do, and do what you say. In this category, I include authenticity since these two concepts go hand in hand. It’s impossible to be integrous unless you’re rooted in who you are.
LOYALTY to the team and the organization, as well as its customers. You can expect loyalty from your team only when you exhibit loyalty to each team member. Since the team supports organizational objectives, loyalty to those objectives is also vital. A leader must be enthusiastic about the mission of the team and the organization. Loyalty to customers and other interested parties is also important to doing business.
COMMUNICATION skills – The ability to communicate verbally and in writing is vital when working with people. Exchanging ideas is a big part of teamwork. That can be accomplished only when people communicate with each other.
EMPOWERMENT – People do their best work when they feel that they own the results of their production. They want to know how it contributes to a larger mission. When these incentives are in place, they have genuine pride in their work. Leaders must give team members ownership of their tasks for this to happen. A “leader” who micromanages, or worse, does a team member’s work for them takes away that ownership.
DECISIVENESS – An often-repeated rule of thumb is to make decisions quickly and change them slowly. When you have the facts you need, don’t delay – decide! Your first decision is usually on the mark, so be reluctant to change it. If new facts turn up, examine them carefully and change the decision only when you’re sure you must.
MANAGERIAL COMPETENCE – I set out differentiating leaders from managers. Nonetheless, leaders must be able to manage the tasks, budgets and schedules the team works with. Managerial competence, as well as people skills, is required.
CHARISMA – Charisma might be the “softest” and hardest to define of these qualities. It’s essential to every other quality on the list. Charisma draws others in and causes them to enjoy working with you.

Why Do You Need These Certain Strengths to be a Good Leader?

These strengths are the keys to inspiring others to do something.

A leader can often be someone who has these strengths and has not been designated as a leader. Leading from within doesn’t require a title. You can be a leader from wherever you sit on the team.

One with the title of leader or manager, or even president, is not a leader if he or she doesn’t possess all or most of these traits. Most of us have probably worked somewhere where this principle had its effect. I certainly have, several times.

Unfortunately, there are many workplaces where the designated leader is a micromanager or an outright tyrant. The least effective workers may hang around for a while, mostly out of fear or self-limiting beliefs. The real producers usually move on.

In this very brief newsletter I wrote 3+ years ago I referred to a company where leaders become leaders by attracting “follwership”. The company’s management assigns no leadership positions. Seems to me like a very workable arrangement. It works for them!

Why is leadership an important skill?

Believe it or not, most people like to be productive. Leadership is what brings productive people together in teams and inspires them to produce. Leaders also choose the tasks needed in the bigger organizational picture. Team members must all be doing work that contributes to this bigger picture.

A well-organized team can produce several times what the sum of all the members’ efforts would be if each worked alone. 1+1+1+1+1=10 or more on a productive team. The leader is the team member who inspires and supports the team’s work.

Googling ”lëadership” or searching for it on our blog page will turn up a wealth of advice and ideas on leadership qualities. Others may emphasize different items on this list or mention others. The qualities I’ve discussed here will surely turn up in any leadership discussion.

A “Shot in the Arm” Every Week!

Let’s Talk!

Leadership is an important coaching topic, and vital to doing good business. Want to add your thoughts on leadership? Reply to this message or click here if you’d like to chat on the phone.

Do you like The Unity Community?

Do you find value in the articles?

What’s good about it?

What would make it even more valuable for you?

Your thoughts, suggestions and comments are always welcome. Reply to this message, or go here if you’d like to chat on the phone or Zoom.

Do You Know Someone Who’d Like This?

You’re welcome to forward it to them with the FORWARD feature in your email program.

Did someone forward this to you? Would you like to subscribe (free)? Send me your email address and tell me you’d like to subscribe.

Want to Do More Business?

Suppose you go to a networking event. You’re amazed to find all your ideal prospects waiting to talk with you.

Our Business Accelerator Platform gives you this kind of exposure to your market. These are the people you want to help!

When you join Smart Money Network’s Business Accelerator Platform, we:

Optimize your LinkedIn Profile Page so it better attracts people in your market.

LinkedIn has 740 million members. We find the few thousand who match your ideal client profile. You define your best prospect for us. Then we go find them.

(Even if you can find these people by yourself, it will take hours away from your work with your current clients.)

Invite about 100 of these best prospects every week to connect with you on LinkedIn.

Send a welcome message to those who accept your invitation and connect.

(Typically 15% or more. Currently, over 25% of those I invite are connecting!)

Deliver something of value to them from you, and then do it again!

Begin a “drip campaign” of carefully timed messages, providing more value. These messages give…give… give…and then ask. No pitches!

See a “hot” prospect you want to engage with your unique message? Take over the exchange manually!