Up next in 10
In this video, Paula Jenkins discusses the importance of leadership in small businesses and various aspects of effective leadership. Key points include:
Leadership is not just about managing people but also about how you lead and manage various aspects of your business, such as finances, social media, and brand.
Leadership is about influencing or guiding others in their actions and behaviors.
There are various styles of leadership, and it's essential to recognize who you are and how you show up as a leader. This can be discovered through experience, situational factors, and feedback from others.
Communication, empathy, and self-awareness are crucial elements of leadership. How you communicate with your team and clients, show empathy towards their stories, and being self-aware of your limitations are essential for effective leadership.
When hiring people for your team, it's crucial to find individuals who believe in your business and share your vision.
Receiving feedback is essential for growth as a leader. Encourage open communication and create a culture where feedback is welcomed and valued.
By understanding these key points and implementing them in your small business, you can improve your leadership skills and increase the chances of success for your company.
Chapter 1: The Importance of Asking for Help (00:00)
Recognizing the need for help in leadership
Hiring assistance and realizing its impact on business
Chapter 2: Leadership Skills in Small Business (00:59)
Adapting leadership styles for different situations
Overcoming challenges as a small business owner
Chapter 3: Building a Supportive Team (02:38)
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0:00
best kind of leaders raise their hand
0:02
and say I need help
0:04
let me just say it one more time the
0:07
best kind of leaders are the ones who
0:09
raise their hand and say they need help
0:10
and for some of us it takes us a little
0:12
bit longer to do that and I think that's
0:14
really hard but the moment you do and
0:16
you start recognizing wow the help
0:18
that's come is really helping me that's
0:21
the game changer in your business and
0:22
it's hard and I'm not sitting here
0:24
saying this is some easy thing I'm going
0:26
into my fifth year business and I just
0:29
got in the past year or so around the
0:31
importance of hiring help
0:33
so the key is recognizing that yeah we
0:37
can we can still do this for the you
0:39
know next five years by yourself if
0:40
you'd like but the reality is being a
0:42
really good leader is recognizing you
0:44
can't do it all you don't know it all
0:46
and that's why there are people who as I
0:49
say
0:50
that's not my Lane that's their Lane and
0:52
they can come and help you and I think
0:54
that's the key when it comes to being an
0:56
entrepreneur is recognizing it's time to
0:58
raise your hand
1:00
[Music]
1:02
thank you
1:05
how important are leadership skills when
1:07
running your small business they could
1:09
make the difference between success and
1:11
failures as Paula Jenkins founder and
1:13
CEO of lfs Consulting for secrets to
1:17
improve your small business leadership
1:18
skills watch our full interview up next
1:21
a lot of small business owners and
1:23
particularly solopreneurs they may not
1:25
think of themselves as Leaders because
1:27
they're you know they know their thing
1:29
they know their their Niche or whatever
1:31
they're getting into so I'm wondering
1:33
why is leadership important
1:36
in small business like why is it
1:38
important for you to think about this
1:39
initially
1:42
yeah that's a great question so you know
1:43
so often
1:45
um because we don't think about it we
1:47
don't understand the correlation between
1:49
our success and how to sustain our
1:51
business and that's where the leadership
1:53
part comes in is how you lead your
1:56
business how you lead the finances of
1:58
your business how you lead your social
1:59
media like I think a lot of times we
2:01
think of that leadership piece as a
2:03
person it's a team it's a group it's an
2:05
organization the leadership piece is
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also just how you run the business how
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you show up
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um how you lead your brand how you lead
2:14
your product or your service so that
2:16
leadership piece is critical because you
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do want to make sure that you show up in
2:20
a way that's going to sustain your
2:21
business and grow your business so
2:23
whether you have a team or not that
2:25
isn't the part that matters what matters
2:27
is you understand that how you lead how
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you show up that's the part no matter
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what the size of the business that's the
2:34
part that matters I mean we need a good
2:36
definition then maybe we don't have a
2:37
good definition I mean what what would
2:39
you say is a good definition of
2:41
leadership leadership about influencing
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that's what it's about and whether that
2:45
is influencing you can call it guiding
2:48
people
2:49
um thoughts whatever you want to call
2:51
their actions their behaviors leadership
2:54
is truly about the influence that you
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have on someone somebody some team
3:00
um that's really what it comes down to
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it it's it's we can have lots of other
3:04
words that we can add in but at the end
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of the day you are influencing somebody
3:09
period and so for me my definition is
3:13
leadership is influencing or guiding
3:15
other people when it comes to their
3:17
actions when it comes to their behaviors
3:19
that to me is leadership when you think
3:21
about leaders maybe a lot of people have
3:23
a vision in their head of what a leader
3:25
is supposed to be like maybe this is
3:27
supposed to be extroverted maybe they're
3:28
supposed to be uh you know have a strong
3:31
personality maybe they're supposed to
3:33
you know have a loud voice maybe yeah
3:35
and people might think well I'm
3:37
introverted I'm kind of like I'm a quiet
3:39
person I I don't I'm not the first
3:42
person to speak up in a room and
3:45
everything maybe that means I can't be a
3:46
leader then we talk about the different
3:48
there are different types and styles of
3:49
leadership aren't there yes there are
3:52
some of those types and styles
3:55
so here's what I'll say you know I I am
3:57
not a person who says I have this
3:58
complete list of you know here's all the
4:00
different styles we can Google all types
4:03
of lists there's a list of sevens a list
4:05
of eight there's a list of there's lots
4:06
of lists
4:07
um for me what I will tell you is there
4:09
are some some
4:11
simple ones that I think about I call
4:14
myself a servant leader
4:17
um that to me is who I am into how I
4:19
show up and it's really important for me
4:21
to show up as a servant leader when I am
4:24
leading it is not about me it is about
4:26
others it's about meeting people where
4:28
they are it is about really making sure
4:30
that the work gets done but it's never
4:32
about me never has been about me you
4:34
think you also have other leaders where
4:36
we talk about
4:38
um it may be very transactional and so
4:40
what do I mean by that it is all about
4:41
yes let's get it done let's get it done
4:43
let's get it done let's get it done and
4:44
not to say about the caring piece or the
4:47
the other pieces that may be important
4:48
to people but it is about getting it
4:50
done and in some cases you may need that
4:53
um there's other styles where it's just
4:55
like look I don't care what how you all
4:57
get it done just get it done and and
5:00
that's kind of the hey it's it's it's I
5:02
don't need to be in all of your business
5:04
I don't need to get into all the details
5:06
I trust you enough to get it done and
5:09
you know there's lots of names for that
5:11
as well you know lazy fear those kinds
5:12
of things but
5:14
um there's the the the
5:16
Democratic Leadership there's all kinds
5:18
and so I will tell you I have not spent
5:20
the time to say Here's the the five or
5:23
the eight or the nine or the ten because
5:25
there's so many different kinds I think
5:27
the key is is recognizing who you are
5:29
and where you are that's why I know for
5:32
me I can say that I am absolutely a
5:35
servant leader because I know how I show
5:37
up and what's important to me and it
5:39
doesn't mean it's the right the best or
5:41
the worst it is who I am and how I show
5:44
up but I also know how to change it to
5:46
different types of leadership styles
5:47
when necessary I don't know if it's
5:50
discovering the kind I am or if it's
5:53
deciding what I want to be how do I go
5:56
about doing that I mean how do I go
5:58
about figuring out what kind of leader I
5:59
am so one it takes time
6:02
um this is something where I will tell
6:04
you probably 10 years ago even 15 I
6:06
wouldn't have said I was a servant
6:07
leader I think it is the environment
6:09
you're put in I think it is the
6:12
situation that you're put in the people
6:15
that you are leaving and leading the
6:17
people that
6:19
um are surrounding you in what is needed
6:21
a lot of times what we don't understand
6:23
is depending upon the situation the
6:26
environment people's personalities you
6:29
have to show up in a different way and
6:31
that doesn't mean again I I'm always
6:33
talking about it's not about good bad or
6:34
or indifferent it is what is needed at
6:37
the time so sometimes you'll find out
6:39
that you can be and maybe you do need to
6:42
be the hey hands-off leader because
6:44
that's what the group needs and they do
6:47
well in that you may not understand
6:48
whether you're 100 comfortable with that
6:50
but that's what the group needs you may
6:53
need to be the person who is the very
6:55
transactional type of person because
6:58
they absolutely need it in that
6:59
environment so the way you find out is
7:02
honestly it's the experience that you
7:03
have it's the situations you're put in
7:05
it's also asking asking a lot of times
7:10
we're leading people people too often we
7:12
don't want to ask a question I am really
7:14
big on feedback and I think it's really
7:16
important to ask for it I don't shy away
7:18
from it I've said for years probably
7:21
decades
7:22
if you don't tell me what I'm doing well
7:24
I may not continue doing it if you don't
7:26
tell me what I'm not doing so well I
7:28
might continue to do it so part of it is
7:30
also understanding what's working in the
7:32
environment that you're leading what's
7:34
working for the people that you're
7:35
leading that is an important piece of
7:37
leadership and so how we find out who we
7:40
are we can ask it's not a bad thing it's
7:43
not a bad thing you know you also see
7:45
when you look up what are the elements
7:46
of leadership and people look at those
7:48
lists and they say gee I don't have
7:50
those personality types or I'm worried I
7:52
don't have those personalities but do we
7:54
really know I mean what are the
7:55
qualities or elements or whatever what
7:57
are some of the things that might
7:59
indicate that you're a good leader well
8:01
here's what I will sell you for me
8:03
everything begins in Angel communication
8:07
so when I immediately think about
8:09
leadership it is honestly we have to
8:12
start with how we communicate now some
8:14
of us are really great communicators
8:17
some of us have work to do and some of
8:19
us are not as good I recognize that but
8:21
communication is key how we communicate
8:24
with our teams with our people with our
8:26
investments all that is important that's
8:28
that's that's one to me the most
8:30
important element but there's others yes
8:32
it's how you care
8:35
um it's empathy we have to be able to be
8:37
empathetic
8:39
um I'm also real big on emotional
8:40
intelligence and understanding our
8:42
self-awareness and self-regulation our
8:45
motivation all those types of things but
8:47
I will always say it absolutely starts
8:51
with how we communicate and a lot of
8:53
times I think we you know it's immediate
8:54
that that it's the verbal how we
8:56
communicate but communication is all
8:58
kinds of things it's how we show up it
9:02
is how we talk it is how we write think
9:05
about all the times we write things and
9:07
how we communicate to people and
9:09
sometimes our tone even in writing is
9:14
not very kind it is how our body
9:17
language shows up and how we communicate
9:18
whether we're listening to somebody or
9:20
not somebody how we care and show up for
9:24
that person so for me you know I a lot
9:26
of what I do is always about the top
9:27
three I don't want to four or five six
9:29
because I can't remember all that so
9:33
it's communication it's it's you know
9:35
that first element is how you
9:37
communicate it's that empathy you know
9:40
being empathetic caring for the people
9:42
that you are leading there's nothing
9:44
worse than somebody who knows that their
9:45
leader doesn't care about them
9:47
um we all have always you know tell
9:49
people everybody has a story everybody
9:51
has a story
9:53
everybody's not going to share their
9:54
story with you and that's okay but if
9:56
you get to know people they might share
9:58
their story and when they do you got to
10:00
care you got to be empathetic to
10:02
whatever they're going through
10:03
um and then that self-awareness being
10:05
aware of where you are there's nothing
10:07
worse when there's a leader who doesn't
10:09
recognize they don't know everything I
10:11
know that you left corporate uh the
10:13
corporate sector for for you know to
10:15
basically build your own business and I
10:17
think as small business owners the one
10:19
thing we never think about is the luxury
10:21
we have often that we don't have it in
10:24
the corporate world you you actually
10:27
often are building the team you're going
10:29
to lead so when you have your own
10:31
business and you're going from what I'm
10:32
going to call the solopreneur to now
10:34
wait a minute I have a team of people
10:35
every single person and I've said who's
10:38
going to touch my business I want to
10:41
believe in it they've got to believe in
10:43
it this cannot just be oh this is just a
10:45
job I need you to believe in what I'm
10:48
doing because if you don't that's going
10:49
to show up and how you serve not only me
10:53
but my clients the the public like
10:55
that's going to be a problem so it is
10:58
important and part of that is how we
11:00
onboard people how we find people you
11:03
may have to go through a few people and
11:04
that's probably the challenge no it's
11:06
not probably it is it is the challenge
11:09
as a small business owner of recognizing
11:11
okay I have to go to a few people before
11:13
I find the right person and that's just
11:14
part of we all know in hiring anyway but
11:17
you know when it's again your baby Wings
11:19
your business as an entrepreneur you
11:22
want to make sure that you're bringing
11:23
in people again who care you want to
11:25
take the time even though we know for a
11:27
lot of times it's like okay I need
11:28
somebody right now but it's still you've
11:30
got to take the time because again this
11:32
is they're accessing your information
11:34
they're going to be responsible for your
11:36
brand they're going to be responsible
11:38
putting processes and Sops all these
11:40
things so part of it is yeah you've got
11:43
to take the time to hire the right
11:45
person and you've got to make sure that
11:46
you are involved in that process and not
11:49
to say that you can't hire somebody to
11:51
hire somebody but you do want to be
11:53
especially in the beginning you want to
11:54
be part of that process because here's a
11:56
unique opportunity to make sure you're
11:58
bringing in the right people or as close
12:00
as possible the right people in the
12:02
beginning so they can grow with you you
12:04
talked about the importance of getting
12:05
feedback when you're the leader when
12:08
you're the boss sometimes people assume
12:11
you don't want feedback
12:13
um are afraid to give you free feedback
12:15
how do you let people know I'm serious
12:18
about this I really really want to know
12:21
what you think I I really need to know I
12:23
don't have all the answers first of all
12:25
you gotta you have you have to you know
12:27
you can walk the walk you gotta talk the
12:29
top right I'll give an example of that
12:31
so many years ago I was coming in as a
12:34
new manager and I had 17 direct reports
12:36
and I recognized very quickly that the
12:39
culture that they were used to was very
12:40
different illusion they would was very
12:43
different from who who I was and what I
12:45
remember saying that at that exact thing
12:47
I believe in feedback I can take it as a
12:51
new leader here I want to make sure I'm
12:52
understanding what's happening I quickly
12:54
could read the room and they were like
12:55
yeah whatever I knew that I could tell
12:58
immediately so part of what I did is I
13:01
said okay I'm gonna do an exercise
13:02
answer two questions for me and I sent
13:04
an email out and I said be as honest as
13:07
you can and I said and I mean that I
13:09
said you I know you don't believe me but
13:11
I'm telling you it was two questions
13:13
what am I doing well what can I do
13:16
better very easy and this is probably
13:18
within about 30 to 45 days of starting
13:21
I collated all that data and I put two
13:24
sheets of paper all together on one
13:26
sheet of paper it had all the feedback
13:29
together what I was doing well on the
13:31
other it had all the feedback given to
13:32
me about what I could do better I had a
13:35
team meeting and I shared both of them
13:38
all of the feedback
13:40
the good and the bad what am I doing
13:42
well
13:43
showed us to the team and they're like I
13:45
can't believe she's showing it and then
13:46
I put off the paper what am I what could
13:48
I do better and let's just say some of
13:50
it wasn't very flattering but that's
13:51
okay I meant what I said I can take the
13:54
feedback and I will tell you in that
13:56
moment what happened with that team is
13:58
one that trusted me and they believed me
14:00
and they understood what she said she
14:03
means when I see I can take the feedback
14:05
I can take it so much that I will even
14:07
share the theater that you all gave me
14:09
and it was Anonymous right and there was
14:11
stunned by the fact that I shared all
14:14
this feedback but my point was I get it
14:16
I knew you don't know me you don't trust
14:18
me but when I say I believe in this I
14:19
believe in it so if you're gonna do this
14:21
you gotta talk it and you got to walk it
14:23
and that's it for another episode of
14:25
small business 15. thanks again to Paula
14:27
Jenkins and please like And subscribe if
14:29
you enjoyed the show and please leave a
14:31
comment and let us know what topics
14:32
you'd like to see covered in future
14:34
programs for more small business news
14:36
and tips join us at smallbizstrends.com
14:39
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