It takes a special kind of personality to be an entrepreneur, and this combination of traits and behaviour has been termed the Entrepreneurial Mindset.
To grow your small business, you need the mindset of an entrepreneur and the qualities of a leader. Not just any kind of leader but that of a transformational leader.
This kind of leadership is particularly important in service industries.
So, what is a transformational leader? Well, a transformational leader ….
- Work with others and the team to identify what needs to change and create a vision for change, ensuring the business is agile and responsive to the ever-changing uncertain business environment.
- Inspires the team to take action as a team, so that the business can adapt and survive. The leader inspires and motivates the team to be committed and do their best.
- Through passion and perseverance, inspires enthusiasm, such that the team takes initiatives and serves to meet the needs of the clients, as if they own the company.
- Is an excellent role model and gives hope to the team. As a result, they willingly follow the leader’s direction, leading to increased productivity and lower employee turnover.
By being a transformational leader instead of being a transactional leader, the entrepreneur can bring out the best from his team of employees who give their best making his clients and customers satisfied with his business services/products and leading to reduced cost and greater profitability. The transformational leader cares for his staff and they, in turn, cares for his business as if they own it.
What does the transactional leader look like, he emphasizes control, short-term planning and imposes rewards and punishment to motivate his employees. Employees become calculative measuring every benefit they receive and compare that with the efforts they are asked to put in. Likewise, you calculate every benefit you give them and what benefits you can extract from them.
The result is that transactional leadership leads to poisoned relationships. Distrust, bargaining, disagreement, people do the minimum is the rule. Go slows and mistakes are common, sometimes sabotage and arson may occur.
I am sure you would agree with me that in the age of technology and automation, transactional leadership is the better model and that knowing present-day realities, you will choose to be a transformational leader.
The challenge of being a truly transformative leader is especially urgent in view of the uncertainty in the world. There is a reward for those who make the effort. It will pay you financial and in many other ways as well as endows you with a rich legacy. Certainly, as an entrepreneur, you will want to embrace it.
To know more about how you can become a transformational leader with an entrepreneurial mindset, do join in the online sessions. You will get a plethora of information.
If you would like to talk to me about being a transformational leader, you can book a session with me here.
