6 Leadership Qualities an Entrepreneur Must Possess

Common as the word 'leadership' is, there is no generally accepted definition of it. Just as it may reflect a natural way of life to someone, it may be a height of attainment to others. But one thing remains constant.. Leadership is that ability of a person to inspire others to do a task they ordinarily would not have done. Leadership is not restricted to a sphere of life, as it can be observed in the family, school church, society, business and political settings. Many people in third world countries (like Nigeria) find it hard to distinguish between leadership and rulership. This may be borne out of past political experience, and has thus rubbed off on the way we conduct our affairs, even in business. Just as John Quincy Adams put it:
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader"

However you see yourself, whatever your age may be, as soon as you make that exciting first hire, you have taken the first steps in becoming a powerful leader. In business, Ownership does not of necessity transfer effective leadership skills on an individual. In fact, the two are poles apart. The fact that I can rent an office space, register a company and pull out a good business idea, does not mean that I have what it takes to make it a going concern. The world is getting more and more specialised.. That means, I would need certain people to run certain areas of the firm. And the key thing here is human management. If I can't, then I can hire people to do that. Have you ever wondered why the richest entrepreneurs seem to do less but lots of delegation? Check out Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga etc. They seem to understand this rule of leadership. There are some qualities that point to effective leadership skills, :

Inspiration
A good leader must know how to inspire others. He must be able to motivate his team in the beginning stages of a startup, inspire his team to see the vision of the successes to come. He must be able to recognise when the team morale is low, when to start a pep talk, organise a bonus system for the team, when to acknowledge the team efforts, when to get in the turf and turn thing around by himself and not delegate. Inspiring others in workpkaces is more of actions than words. "The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority" -Ken Blanchard

Delegation
Trust is the vital ingredient in delegation. A leader must be able to trust his team enough to make some defining actions and decisons about the business. To delegate is identify the strengths of your team, and capitalizing on them. Find out what each team member enjoys doing most. Chances are if they find that task more enjoyable, they will likely put more thought and effort behind it.

Integrity
Integrity cannot be bought with any price, in business, people are number one, not just your clients and customrers, but your workers. They must observe fairness in your decision making. Be honest, fair, candid and forthright, and treat everyone in the same way that you yourself would want to be treated. Whatever ethical plane you hold yourself to, when you are responsible for a team of people, its important to raise the bar even higher. As Peter Drucker puts it: "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things".

Optimism/Confidence
Alexander The Great once said: "I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion". The team leader in a business set up, must know how to stir the team with confidence especially at times when the outlook is not as rosy as planned. The brand ambassador is you, so the optimism and confidence you exude translates to calmness around the office. There is no sailor who will abandon his ship even if it is obvious it will sink.

Communication
It is not enough to have a crystal clear idea about the organization's goals, visions and missions. How it is passed down to every worker on the organization chart is even more important. I once had a lecturer in the University who taught us Law of Evidence. He was one of the poorest communicators and students had to go extra miles to understand the course. Even though he was the top of the his class at Ph.D level. He just didn't know how to disseminate the information he had. Morale is linked to productivity, and it’s your job as the team leader to instill a positive energy. A little humour here and there could pass a vital information. To achieve this level of connection, a leader should also provide ample channels for two-way communication between employees and managers, actively soliciting their ideas for improvement and
rewarding employees for submitting them. "The art of communication is the language of leadership". -James Humes

Decision making
What is leadership without decision making? The pathfinder always makes an unpopular decision that may gain fame when effectively managed. Highly effective leaders aren’t afraid to be decisive and to make tough calls quickly when circumstances require it. As a leader, its important to learn to think outside the box and to choose which of two bad choices is the best option. Don’t immediately choose the first or easiest possibility; sometimes it is best to give these issues some thought, and even turn to your team for guidance. As John C. Maxwell succinctly puts it: "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way".

Conclusively, Leadership is a broad path in business, not many would understand, even as it stares them in the face. There cannot be any leadership without followership, and what makes a followership is a people's belief that their lives would be transformed better by the leader. "The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership". -Harvey S. Firestone                                                                                                       -(Credit: Nairaland)