Learn 7 Leadership Qualities During Challenging Times
If your company is struggling, you need to take this opportunity to become a more effective leader. Here are 7 leadership qualities to overcome a challenge.
An an entrepreneur, it’s the statistic that both keeps you up at night and challenges you to do better every day: nine out of every ten startups will fail.
As the leader of your company, it’s up to you not only to come up with the most innovative ideas, but also to keep the company morale high when things get difficult.
If you want to successfully guide your business through all the phases of a startup, then you’re going to need lots of different leadership qualities.
You’ll need to balance being well-liked by your employees with the ability to make quick decisions, clearly implement your vision, and to be direct when something isn’t working.
How can you pull it off?
Read on to learn about the leadership qualities you need to land your startup in that coveted 10%.
1. The Ability To Think On Your Feet
It’s just a part of the startup life — things can and will go wrong, often when you least expect it.
However, it’s how you respond to a crisis and pivot to handle the situation that really makes all the difference.
As a leader, you need to accept that not all of your ideas and visions are actually achievable — at least, perhaps not within your current phase of business. This doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to bring them to life.
It just means that you need to accept the fact that, at least for the time being, you’ll need to go in a different direction.
One of the most important leadership qualities that a startup founder can have is an ability to embrace change, and to then implement it quickly.
You’ll need to be able to adapt to shifting client and market expectations, competitors, the overall business environment, and even changing marketing strategies. Once you can do that, you won’t see setbacks as setbacks.
Instead, you’ll see them as an opportunity to try something different.
2. A Willingness To Delegate Tasks
When things get tough, one of the first things you need to do is to accept the fact that you’re not going to be able to fix every problem on your own.
Part of being a good leader is having the ability to relinquish control and to properly delegate tasks.
Sure, it can be difficult — and we know that sometimes, asking for help can feel like a direct blow to your ego. But good leadership recognizes that delegating tasks and admitting when you’re overwhelmed is a serious strength.
Not only will you be able to resolve issues more quickly and keep your head above water, you’ll also get to know the strengths of your team a bit better. Strong leaders accept that there are people in their office that know more about a particular subject, or are better at putting out specific kinds of fires, than they are.
After all, it’s why you hired these people — because they have skills that you don’t!
Remember, even if it can sometimes feel like it, entrepreneurship is very rarely a one-man show. And your entire team is invested in the successful future of your startup. Allow them to take the reigns when needed.
3. The Desire To Keep Learning
When your startup is struggling, we know that it can be incredibly difficult to keep going.
One of the best leadership qualities that you can have — and that will help you to identify problems more quickly?
A commitment to constantly learning and evaluating the current trends within your industry.
First of all, if you’re facing a challenge, there’s a good chance that someone else in the startup world has also dealt with it. Educating yourself and reading up on what’s going on in your industry will help you to avoid making those same mistakes yourself.
Of course, you’ll also learn the methods others used to successfully overcome a struggle. You can then distill that information and send it out to your team.
Good leadership is all about finding several possible solutions to a problem, instead of dwelling on it and swimming in circles.
4. Strong Communication Skills
The final entry on our list of the most important leadership qualities?
Strong communication skills.
Especially when things aren’t going so well, it can be incredibly easy for your team to feel scattered and disconnected. You might have lots of people working on lots of different projects.
While this might make your team feel productive, and like they’re working hard to overcome the problem?
It also makes it much more likely that wires will get crossed, people will work off of old data, and end up losing lots of time. This isn’t good for your productivity levels or your overall office morale.
Instead, make it a point to constantly communicate and check in with your team. Work off of a single email thread and document folder, so that everyone is always looking at the same (and most current) information.
Set smaller goals along the way. This way, even if there is a problem, you won’t need to redo as much work.
What Other Leadership Qualities Do You Need?
As the founder of a startup, you’re likely used to weathering lots of different storms — and coming out stronger on the other side.
Remember, some of the most important leadership qualities are the ability to delegate, to think quickly, to communicate effectively, and to always keep learning.
Looking for additional advice about how to lead your team more effectively?
Interested in maximizing your growth potential, or learning more about the latest startup trends?
Spend some time on the blog, and then get in touch to learn more about how to create a startup plan that helps you to make your dreams a reality.
