Five Ways To Evolve As An Entrepreneurial Leader

Outstanding leadership is dependent on one’s ability to build a team’s goals and performance that reflect an accurate understanding of the organization’s internal and external environments. And, of course, an outstanding leader always needs to be ready for change coming from any direction.

Here are five tips to help you get there: ‍

1. Know thyself (and your value proposition)
Are you aware of your strengths and weaknesses from both your own and others’ perspectives? Compassion, curiosity, and integrity are all common traits of outstanding leadership. Assessing yourself on these personal dimensions and then acting to address weaknesses is a key part of the leadership journey.

2. Relationships: discover what matters
An outstanding leader ensures that each individual on their team can bring their best every day. When a leader finds out what matters to those on the team, it is easier to design engaging work assignments that connect them -personally- to the work of the organization. This requires a developed cultural and emotional acumen, and is particularly important in cross cultural markets, such as the UAE.

3. Maintain team clarity
Defining and maintaining role clarity is a core skill that unites a successful team. Understanding and being clear about your core strengths and role, and consequently those of each of your team members, provides clarity in both who is doing what and how things should be done. This eliminates the risk of conflicts and overlapping roles, thereby increasing productivity on all levels. This can be challenging for entrepreneurs who have to transition from ‘doing it all’ to delegation to others.

4. Think holistically and strategically
Successful leadership means being able to guide a team’s normal functions with an eye on the big picture. It also involves cultivating the ability to communicate a vision for balancing the urgency of the moment with future challenges and opportunities.

5. Be open and ready for change
The world is a dynamic and unsettled place. In the age of big data, leaders need to make decisions, implement and test new practices, and adjust as results come in. We cannot allow perfect to be the enemy of the good! Agility is a skill necessary at all levels of the organization.

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