If you run a business, you are a leader. Even if you’re a business of one, certain aspects of leadership are present with your customers.
So what does it mean to be a leader in the small business world, and how can you progress in that role so it benefits you, your employees, your customers and your business as a whole?
Here are some tips from JB, working off John Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership paradigm.
The 5 levels of leadership
Level 1 – Position
This is the leadership you gain by being appointed to a position. It’s the place where you start your progression through the levels of leadership.
It is not a place you want to remain. Having a title of leader is actually detrimental to a team if no one wants to follow you.
Businesses that stall with leaders in title only are easy to spot, because nobody is inspired to work beyond the minimum. They’re the kinds of places where customer service is perfunctory. The office empties at 5:01 pm as people flee to their cars.
If you own a small business, you have the title of boss. But, you have to move beyond that title to become a real leader.
Level 2 – Permission and relationships
Relationships with people are the foundation of leadership. If the people you seek to lead feel animosity or disdain for you, it will be all but impossible for you to be an effective leader.
As a business owner, you are not a Marine Drill Sergeant. The “I’m not here to be your friend” mentality is not an approach to leadership that works well in business.
As a leader, you seek to influence people. You want them to join in achieving a common goal. You can’t influence people you antagonize.
Relational leaders are excellent listeners. They’re observant, and they learn.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but the best leaders are actually the best servants. A great leader has everyone’s back, and in return, everyone has hers.
The difference between having people follow you because they like and respect you and having them follow because they have to is — in business — the difference between success and failure.
Level 3 – You get results
Level 3 leaders are effective. They produce, helping the company’s bottom line.
Getting results yourself motivates your team because people do what they see.
If you ever took a business class from a teacher who never worked in business, you know the problem of people trying to lead in places they’ve never been.
Your leadership gains massive credibility when you lead by example. The best leaders are in the trenches, showing their team how it’s done.
When Peyton Manning played with the Denver Broncos, he was known to be one of the first players on the practice field and the last off.
He was an accomplished veteran. Yet he was working as hard as the rookies trying to make the team. How much harder do you think they worked with Peyton out there, showing them what professional effort looks like?
The people you attract to your team will be a reflection of who you are and what you produce.
Results start with the people leading the team. Create momentum, and the results you want from your team will come much easier.
Level 4 – Invest in people
It’s important for you to be a leader in your organization. It starts at the top.
But few businesses excel with only one leader, and none do if their business model requires them to scale.
John Maxwell says:
“Successful people know what they’re good at. Leaders know what other people are good at.”
As a leader, part of your job is to find other leaders and cultivate their talents. Recruit people who know what they’re good at and train them to be leaders in your company.
When you commit to execution excellence to the point that you can teach it to others, and they, in turn, teach it to others, you’ve reached level 4 leadership.
Level 5 – Respect
This is the pinnacle of leadership. You are known as a leader; you are respected for it. The best people seek you out because you have a reputation as the type of person they want to work with and learn from.
One of the things you’ll recognize if you’ve moved to this point is that, in reality, you don’t stay at the pinnacle. It’s not a permanent achievement.
One reason is that leaders know they’re always learning, always growing. Leaders at level 5 will have the experience of having someone they’re training teach them something new.
For real leaders, growth never stops.
The other reason is that, on your leadership journey, you’ll realize you’re on different levels with different people. For instance, when someone new comes into your organization, you may only be on level 1 with them. With each new person, you work your way up the levels.
It remains an ongoing challenge, which is the way leaders like it.
Here’s John Maxwell speaking on the leadership levels.