Leadership in tough times
By Peter Switzer

In these troubled times, a clear message has emerged — the world needs leadership. And one area we all lack skill has to be conflict resolution.

Workplaces need to solve problems. And it goes without saying that leaders — and that means employers — need to show their followers how to fix up the problems they have with one another.

You’ve told an employee their behaviour bothers you and they blow up and the relationship is never the same.

This, of course, can give rise to grudges and a lack of development. For a business, it is unproductive.

Great businesses are headed up by great leaders, who put time and money into training their staff to build up their endowment of valuable qualities, and superior results follow.

When people in corporations are asked what they want to learn more about, the topic of leadership regularly comes out on top.  The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, written by Stephen Covey, is a great book. Norman Brinker, chairman Emeritus of Brinker International, summed up Covey and his book. “Stephen Covey has had an enormous impact on many of the most dynamic businesses in this country. No one can read this book and not become both a better person and leader if he can follow the principles laid out in this book.”

Be a leader, not a manager
Take a tip from the leaders’ leader, Jack Welch, the ex-boss of General Electric, the biggest company in the world.

Welch advised: “The world of the ‘90s and beyond will not belong to ‘managers’ or those who can make the numbers dance. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders — people who not only have enormous amounts of energy, but who can energise those whom they lead.” (Jack Welch Speaks: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest Business Leader by Janet Lowe, Wiley & Sons Inc. 1998.)

Once asked about the ideal leader, Welch replied: “Somebody who can develop a vision of what he or she wants their business unit, their activity to do and be. Somebody who is able to articulate to the entire unit what the business is, and gain through a sharing of discussion – listening and talking – an acceptance of the vision. And (someone who) then can relentlessly drive implementation of that vision to a successful conclusion.”

At the height of the drama of September 11, Welch was there giving words of wisdom.

On small company leaders his view was certain: “In small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone.”

It's tempting to play it safe in troubled times, but it's not always the best approach. Playing it safe means you'll only see the surface of anything. To do well in business you need to lift your head out of your business and look at what's ahead. Everyone who runs a business - no matter how large or how small - needs to have vision and commercial acumen. Every business owner should strive to be a better leader.

You can't stop making decisions and, in many ways, that's what playing it safe means. It doesn't leave an opportunity for other views to come in. Remember when you run a business, you're a leader, and leaders must have courage to make decisions and take risks even in tough times. Be aware of what's happening globally. Be aware of how uncertain times around the world can impact all of us, but don’t let it paralyse your decision making ability.

Many people were promoted to leadership positions because of technical competency. But you can't run a business and be a leader of people on technical skills alone. A leader has to be flexible and capable of doing things different to those they lead.

Here are four essential things a leader must be:
1. A leader has to know who they are and how they operate with others.
2. A leader often has to make decisions that go against the team but in the long run will benefit the team and the business.
3. A leader must invest time in building trust in those people who are going to do their marketing, financials, logistics and sales. It's wise to put work into these areas to improve your leadership ability.
4. Leaders don't need to keep changing but they do need to evolve with the times and look at what additional learning they can do.

When you're in a leadership role, you're a steward in the community with a duty of care to do the right thing by the community. If you stay grid-locked in your own business and don't expand your learning, you won't grow, nor will your business.