When you are the owner/operator you play at least two distinct roles – owner and operator (CEO). I highlight this distinction because many owner/operators, particularly in micro business, reward their labour efforts from the capital pool. For example, drawing a share of the profit (reward for capital) rather than paying themselves wages (reward for labour).
Your enterprise, like a car, needs ongoing maintenance and repairs and running costs. Cars need fuel. Enterprise needs working capital and cashflow. Cars need oil. Enterprises need ongoing marketing effort to keep the sales pipeline topped up.
The driver of a car must be licensed and skilled in driving and preferably advanced driving. It comes in handy during wet weather and emergency situations. The owner/operator must constantly be investing in personal growth in addition to business growth.
One leading executive coach in the US suggests that at the top of the executive ladder the only real change is behavioural. In a large corporation this may be true. In smaller enterprises I don't think this holds true. As a small business grows it grows only to the extent that the owner/operator grows with it. Otherwise you have business growth followed by collapse and that is all too common and unnecessary.
Owner/operators don't just grow through behavioural change. They are constantly developing and refining new skills. These skills may cut across new functional areas, for example, lawyers become business developers; marketers acquire new commercial decision-making and financial analysis skills. All owner/operators need to constantly refine their leadership skills and communication skills. These constantly evolve.
The leadership skills that were once in vogue for the 1990's will not get you by today. The market is rapidly changing, the economic environment is volatile, new technologies change how we interact with customers, next generation of employees comes through wired very differently to its predecessors. In fact, the mobile, wireless generation is NOT wired at all.
The leadership currency today is how to lead and manage an enterprise in a perpetual state of flux. How do you plan for an unknown universe? Well, in part the answer is contrarian to what you may have grown up with or learned. Flux demands that you create a void and allow things to emerge. To maintain a leadership approach that is directive, authoritarian and power based is guaranteed to cause havoc in such a rapidly changing environment.
The best course of action is to hone your own radar, develop your intuition, consider a wider array of approaches and data sources. Think laterally, outside the box. If the new world has been created from outside the box then most certainly any solutions you seek will require the same thinking.
Dennis Roberts helps small business owner/operators start, run and grow their business from conception to exit. He is available for strategic advice, business planning, one-on-one coaching/mentoring, advisory board, interim management and facilitation. Visit www.DennisRoberts.com.au.
