“A leader doesn’t build a business – a leader builds an organisation that builds a business.” We start our careers learning how to be a professional and at some point many of us will have to learn how to teach other people to be a professional.  To be a successful leader you need to influence people. To accept your influence, the people that you are leading must have faith in your leadership abilities. Leadership can be broken down into four attributes; motives, values, competence and style. The people that you are trying to influence will be swayed by how well you demonstrate your skill in these areas.  To be a great leader, you need to have an interest in building a team. You need to gain satisfaction from watching others grow and achieve. If you can demonstrate competence in these areas, people will accept your influence.  

1. What are your motives?

You need to give evidence that you are completely committed to the success of your team. You need to show integrity and that you want to help others succeed, not that you want to succeed yourself.

2. What are your core values?

You and the people you are trying to influence need to share similar goals. You need to have clearly defined values and you need to act on them. Never preach what you haven’t practised.

3. How competent are you?

To be a great leader you need to have ideas on how to improve things and you need to be able to implement them successfully.

4. What is your leadership style?

You need to help choose challenging goals for the people you are trying to influence. You need to be nurturing and supportive while stretching and challenging your people. To be a great leader, you need to have an interest in building a team. You need to gain satisfaction from watching others grow and achieve. If you can demonstrate competence in these areas, people will accept your influence.   The S4B Team We are Profit Consultants and Chartered Accountants who help people achieve their business goals. Send our team an email at [email protected] or call 01628 623444 to see how we can help your business to achieve its full potential.