5 Ways to Lead Your Business from the Front

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To be an effective business leader is no tea party. You must train yourself sufficiently and be ready to take responsibility at all times. That is about the only way you can expect to be effective while every other member of your team can have the confidence to look up to you to provide leadership. You can’t do so effectively and efficiently if you stay on the side or behind. The best place to lead from is in front.

Here now are 5 things you can do to position yourself to lead your business from the front.

01. Dress and act the part. To be a leader, you must be able to dress like a leader. You’ve got to dress to influence and not to impress. That way, your appearance will always be consistent with your personal and professional brand. Your employees will take a cue from you if they are impressed. That gives your leadership authority.

02. Demand and act on feedback. Not many employees willingly give feedback to their bosses. If you encourage them to willingly give you feedback, such information enables you to lead exactly the way they expect you to. If for example some worker tells you they believe you'd be more effective by communicating more clearly that no doubt will help you to work more to improve your communication down the line.

03. Always walk your talk. Any time you tell someone you’ll do something, be sure you do it. Never make promises you're not sure you can keep. Nothing kills your credibility quicker than a breached promise or unfulfilled expectations. If everyone in your team knows you to walk your talk, they tend trust you more. That confers real leadership legitimacy on you.

04. Support your employees to support your customers. Leading by example is one credible way to lead from the front. If your team members see you treat customers and other persons shabbily, they tend to take a cue from you. For example, asking your team to be courteous to customers and being a jerk to them yourself is not only incongruent but also hypocritical. The way you treat people is always a very clear barometer for everyone on your team.

05. Grow yourself to grow your team. The world we live in is rabidly dynamic. That affects all our businesses too. As a leader, you can’t afford to be in a rot when it comes to acquiring knowledge for personal improvement. Many of your employees will do as you do, if they admire your leadership position. That way, you are leading from the front. Ultimately, there are only two credible ways to effectively grow your business. You must be able to grow yourself and grow your team. Those are the two ways. All told, as you and your team improve, so do service levels, operational efficiency and everything else. Leading from the front can’t be any clearer.