Worcester Business Journal

26 Worcester Business Journal • January 19, 2015 www.wbjournal.com W hether you're a manager, executive or CEO, your leadership style matters. The way you communicate and connect with other people can, and will, make or break your success. That's why every connection must count to develop and leverage your skills and play on your strengths, so you can lead like it matters, because it does. There are problems, pressures, and pain points that plague managers at every level, most of which can be solved. Understanding that every leadership choice you make has some kind of ripple effect throughout your team and organization is critical to your success. Leaders must know how to ensure that the ripples they make have the intended impact, whether it's running meetings, handling conflicts, making confident decisions, or instituting needed changes. Doing this correctly can help them gain greater control of their organization's future, build highly productive teams and institute changes that stick. Here are four core tenets of leadership that, when mastered, best assure the desired "ripple effect": PERSONAL MASTERY Discover exactly who you are as a leader and draw on your strengths to influence others. Begin by: Getting direct feedback from your boss, and anonymous feedback from your peers, direct reports and even clients about your leadership style and impact. INTERPERSONAL MASTERY A powerful leader has excellent communication and people management skills that engage and inspire. They know how to listen deeply and communicate effectively, how to constructively provide feedback (including to one's boss), and how to manage conflict successfully. Begin by: Practicing deep listening. Most of us know how, in theory, so be mindful of it and apply it tactically. At the end of every conversation, ask the person talking to you if he or she felt fully heard and understood, then ask them why they felt that way. It's also a good idea to practice demonstrating empathy in every conversation, no matter the subject. TEAM MASTERY The most successful leaders harness the power of group dynamics to build stronger, more productive teams. No matter why a team is formed or who's on it, the "how to's and how not to's" of building and maintaining effective teams don't vary. Begin by: Making the time to establish "ground rules" or "rules of engagement" for new or existing teams. These are the things each team member needs to be heard, believe they belong, and feel that what they have to offer matters. CULTURE AND SYSTEMS MASTERY Take the lead in assessing your organization and make the changes you need to succeed. Understand the cultures operating around you, because culture affects us much like the air we breathe. Begin by: Walking around the organization and observing the lay of the land, as if you were in a foreign country. What language are they speaking? How are they dressed? What do their work "homes" look and feel like? How do different groups interact? How high or low is the "smile meter" around the workplace? When leaders excel at these four core facets of effective leadership, they will reap quantifiable rewards, including, but not limited to, increased employee engagement, reduced turnover and enhanced productivity. n Roxi Bahar Hewertson, author of the book "Lead Like it Matters ... Because it Does," is CEO of Highland Consulting Group and AskRoxi.com. By Bob O'Hara Bob O'Hara is a business consultant and founder of O'Hara & Co. PC of Chelmsford. Contact him at BOHara@oharaco.com. 10 Things I Know About... How to lead like it matters KNOW HOW 10. You don't need to let it all go. Business succession and exit planning are also for owners who plan to be involved in their businesses, in some capacity, into their golden years, while they pursue other endeavors. 9. Know the potential market. The market for your company is not the same as when you began there. 8. Know Gen X. Competition for the Xers' – or millennials' – talent is intense because there are relatively few of them. It's imperative to make enough time to recruit employees. 7. Look to build business value. Establish a plan to build business value by focusing on what drives it. The most successful business owners build strong, stable and independent businesses. 6. Walk in the buyer's shoes. Look at your business the same way a potential buyer would by looking at all risks and opportunities. 5. Give yourself time. The more time you have to plan and prepare, the better off you'll be. It can take six to eight years to become independent from your business. 4. Keep an eye on the banks. The banking industry used to help next- generation owners buy out the current generation, but current lending restrictions make it much harder. 3. Need an advisor? With 5 million owners leaving within the next decade, start working with the right advisor and begin planning. 2. Be a mentor. Effective mentoring and training from you, as the owner, is critical to creating the next generation of successful managers and owners of your business. 1. Communicate effectively. As the business owner, it's up to you to express realistic expectations, challenges and the importance of adaptability to those you're mentoring. Be candid about what's involved. (Note: The ideas expressed here were originally published on the O'Hara & Co. website, at http://www.exitplanning-edu. com. This edited version is presented here with the author's permission.) n 4 ways managers and executives can make a real difference in their teams and companies Baby boomers and business succession W ith a new year can often come an urge to revamp — out with the old, in with the new and all that. When it comes to your business, what are you looking to try, improve upon or change in 2015? Here are three ways to make considerations that count when planning ahead: Set milestones. A year is a long time to stay focused, says Joe Apfelbaum in a Forbes.com article. He suggests giving yourself monthly milestones to be sure you're on track to accomplish what you set out to do. "Last year, my goal was to lose 60 pounds. I would not have been able to accomplish that aggressive goal if I didn't measure my weight each week," he writes. The same applies to business. Set employee objectives. This expands on Apfelbaum's sentiment. Your team has to be on board in as specific a way as possible. For instance, if you want to increase revenue, employee objectives might look like this: "Achieve sales quota … increase customer renewal rate" and "launch new product," says an article at StatusPath.com. If you want to increase profit, a logical objective is to find ways to reduce production costs. Look at market potential. Ira Kalb outlines this goal-setting method at BusinessInsider.com. "There are factors that will inhibit your company's ability to realize the entire market potential. The three biggest factors are competition, limited resources and government regulations," he writes. And they could include an inexperienced set of managers or using an unproven technology. The effect of the limiting factors should be subtracted to determine what kind of market penetration is reasonable before you set your goals, he says. n 101: SETTING GOALS >> BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to the Worcester Business Journal BY ROXI BAHAR HEWERSTON Special to the Worcester Business Journal

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