Five harsh truths about why entrepreneurial leaders fail
Words by Boyd Parker
The failure rate of new businesses is astounding and whilst there are a large amount of factors that go into a successful business, there is one that stands above all: leadership.
It is your job as a leader to be like the captain of a ship, steering your crew toward the end-goal. This is why so many businesses fail. Not because of a lack of money, not because a lack of talent, but because we as leaders fail.
In my 10 years of building businesses, I've made a lot of mistakes and had more than my fair share of failures. Here are the five truths of business that these mistakes and failures have taught me.
1. We do not give enough responsibility to our team
When I was a younger man, I saw my role as a leader as a way to control everything. I needed things to be done MY way, and if they were not... well I suggested that they find someone other than Boyd Parker to work with.
This approach cost me a lot in terms of time, money, and emotional energy.
The whole reason we create teams is because we cannot do everything ourselves, and we need to delegate responsibilities to others in order to grow and scale our businesses. In order to do that we need to build our businesses processes and systems, and adapt those as the situation changes.
This means giving your team the responsibilities. In "On the Meaning of Work", Brent D. Rosso, PhD and his team found that people are more likely to stay in, and work harder, on projects that gave them meaning.
In this case it increased motivation, empowerment, and engagement.
By making your team responsible for the tasks they have and giving them freedom to work how they want within your processes (as long as they are getting results) you and your business are going to see more success.
2. We are not consistent with our communication style
There are a lot of traits that make a great leader but the most important one that I, Boyd Parker, have found is communication.
If we cannot communicate properly with our team, we are not going to see the results from all the graft that we put into our businesses. A key aspect of communication is making sure that whoever is on the receiving end trusts us.
Trust is built from consistency and doing what you will say you will do.
When it comes to consistency in our communication a lot of "leaders" seem to have two sides; the nurturing mother and the authoritarian father. If your team do not know which one to expect, it leads to a lack of trust and a decrease in motivation. This means your team is less likely to back you up when you most need them.
Imagine you are in a relationship where every day you come home and have no idea if your partner is going to be the kindest, sweetest, most loving person or a hate-filled, rage-addled maniac. Does that give you faith in the relationship? Are you going to trust them to make good decisions? Are you going to pull out all the stops to make sure that their needs are met?
The difference between a great leader and a bad one is the same.
We need to cultivate and build great relationships with our team so that they have faith in us and the business, that they trust our decision-making process, and that they ensure all the business' needs are met.
It does not matter which communication style that you choose or comes most naturally to you. What matters is that once the expectations of your team have been set, you keep up with those expectations.
3. We do not spend enough time really getting to know people
Great leaders want to get to know who they are working with so that they can help them get to the goal that they are working towards. You need to have focused conversations with your team to understand exactly what they want, and (more importantly) how you are going to get them there.
Poor leaders are lazy in how they incentivise their teams and make assumptions that everyone is looking for the same thing. This is why you see so many bosses trying - and failing - to get their teams motivated by offering larger and larger bonuses. However, not everyone is money-motivated, myself included.
In my experience, there are loads of different ways to incentivise people, for me, Boyd Parker, I need more than just money:
Some want more recognition
Some want to learn more skills
Some want to operate more independently
By figuring out exactly what your team wants and is driven by, providing incentives that are in-line with those desires, and coaching them on their journey, you are going to see a huge jump in motivation, productivity, and loyalty.
4. We do not communicate effectively
If your team does not consistently do things in the way that needs to be done, it is time to look in the mirror. Question yourself: "Boyd Parker, as a leader, you need to accept responsibility for our team not doing the tasks correctly and figure out why they haven't done the task properly."
In the majority of cases it is down to us not having communicated properly with our team. As a leader we have a huge number of responsibilities and need to communicate what needs to be done with our team quickly. However, this often leads to sloppy, vague, and confusing communication.
We need to be able to succinctly tell our team what needs to be done to avoid wasting time with back-and-forth emails, calls, and chats. Most of the leaders that I have mentored are worried about coming across as patronising by laying out everything they need from their team. When I talk to their teams, they enjoy how straightforward and easy it is to understand what their boss wants.
Next time you send an email, text, or communicate in any way, take a moment and ask yourself "have I said this in the clearest way possible?"
5. We make it about us
No one is going to care as much about your business as you do. I understood that no one is going to work harder than Boyd Parker, and no one is going to put the same amount of emotional energy into your business as you.
And that is the trap.
When we work hard on building something amazing we run the risk of making our business about us. We forget that what we have worked so hard to build can come crashing down around us if we fail our team.
Without a great team we do not have a great business and in order to have a great team we need to be a great leader.
Being a great leader is a selfless (often thankless) task. We as leaders need to realise that being 'the boss' is about finding a solution that gives our team what they want and directing them toward a common goal.
Once we stop making being a 'leader' about us and focusing more on having a great team everything else will fall into place.
What is next?
By honing in on your team's wants and communicating better, you will get more out of your team. By building others dreams, we build our own. In order to do that, start doing these things:
Give your team more responsibilities, set your expectations for what results they should be getting and a framework to operate from
Think objectively about how you communicate with others and be consistent with that style. Understand what works for both you and your team by looking at different communication styles and talking to your team
Figure out what motivates your team and help them get to where they want to be
Be concise and make every communication you have as effective as possible. Nine times out of 10 this means asking yourself "Is this the best way to communicate this?" before clicking that 'send' button
Make the success of your business about the success of your team