How to be a better leader
Anyone who knows me well, knows that I’m bold, passionate, adventurous, strong-willed, determined, ballsy and pretty fiery. Truth be told, I feel I fit the Aries bill pretty flippin’ well and that’s for all of the good and (not so good) qualities. For me, I need balanced, slow and steady, risk adverse, calculated people behind me… because not every area of business is going to benefit from my all or nothing, no bullsh*t, smoking gun energy. When I talk to people and hear them say “what you’ve done is so impressive” I stop them, politely say thank you but also respond with, “I’d be f’ed without the people that are behind me.”
Because truth be told, I kinda would be.
I’m going to give you the honest truth and the reasons why I think my brand has been so successful.
I had an idea that was new, different, a little daring and I backed it 100%
I didn’t have a shmancy shop fit out, I started from the ground up and kept within my budget. We scaled slowly, gradually, as our safety net grew.
I outsourced admin and financial support from the start. Numbers are not my thing, get a bloody good bookkeeper and accountant.
I’m open and honest with my team and I offer them growth.
I’ll admit when I’m not giving 100% and I’ll own it, my team knows that when I’m in a better frame of mind I’ll give 1000% again.
My brand is worth being involved in for its humble roots and point of difference. We’re a brand with a conscience and I’ll never let it get a big head.
I welcome feedback from my team and whatever concerns they have, I both listen to and ACTION.
And yes, while I’ve managed to scale an epic brand in a few short years, I’m still learning how to be a good leader and by no means am I there yet. But, what does make a good leader and what am I aiming for? Your team will be a reflection of you at the end of the day so how do you do better?
Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that starting your own business isn’t really about business. It’s a life choice and a new path - it means levelling up in all areas of your life. If you’re not ready for that kind of growth or confronting findings, then you my friend, are going to struggle.
Here’s a line that I’d like you to memorise…
THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING TO UNDERSTAND THE AMOUNT OF WORK YOU’VE PUT IN, ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE ALSO DONE IT.
What this means? You’ve got to get comfortable with your problems and struggles being unseen sometimes - your focus will need to be on nurturing, supporting and developing your team. It also means that as a leader, you’re going to have to show the way and be a constant source of inspiration and strength - on the times where that’s not coming naturally, you need to own it and be vulnerable.
Leadership is a tricky hat to wear but I think the ones that do it best are the ones that are humble, empathetic, strong, resilient and those who constantly work on themselves. IT IS OKAY TO ADMIT THAT YOU’RE NOT PERFECT. What’s not okay is pretending that you’re the best at everything and that everyone else is a nuisance. Check your energy.
At the end of the day, as your team grows, the lines of communication can become diluted and it means dealing with a bunch of varied value sets, work ethics, beliefs, perspectives and attitudes. You’re going to have to learn how to unpack A LOTTTT of learned behaviours and personalities and let me tell you now - there’s a big lesson and a pearler of wisdom within ALL of them. In my biz bites section I’m going to be open and transparent about the things I’ve learned and through our PR Club shop, I hope I can pass on the tools and templates to start systemising your business. Everything is going to come back to systems guys, it’s time to make friends with them.
