Ever wondered why there are so many leadership courses, workshops ranging from soft skills to behavior training. All of these are based on the premise that leadership is not a genetic quality but can be learnt by anyone. Please note that like other skills once you learn leadership your success will depend on a variety of criteria’s; most important one being how well you implement the learning.

You can be a successful entrepreneur which is toiling on his own and building his empire – but sooner or later you will have to transition to a leader. Becoming a leader requires a few skills that you never worried about as an entrepreneur. In fact if you don’t acquire these skills you will run the risk of ruining the hard work you have done till now.

 

 

People Skills: As an entrepreneur you rarely worried about your employees. In fact you had a small team, which was like family or very close friends. Probably, all of them were co-founders so you never needed to work on your people skills. As your venture grows and your team expands you need to hone your people skills. Nowadays, employees will stick to you only if you provide a conducive environment for them to perform. Hence, this is one skill you will need to work on if you want to be a successful leader.
Communication: Again as a startup you had a small group of people who are were connected and involved in all the activities. As you grow your communication style needs to change. You have to be selective about the information you would be disseminating. You will have to motivate a large number of people. All these need good communication skills to keep your employees engaged.
Delegation: As your organisation grows, there are different jobs which need to be performed. As a startup person you are attuned to handle all the jobs yourself, get into details of each and every aspect of the job. But now as a leader there will be more things that need your attention and less and lesser time. You need to master the art of delegation where you have to assign work to those below you, while ensuring that they complete the job. Beware of the micro-managing trap into which a lot of entrepreneurs fall as they are not able to give up control.
Integrity: As an entrepreneur you might have cut corners to achieve the desired outcome, but now as a leader you need to be a role model. You have to practice integrity both personal and professional life as then only you will come across as genuine otherwise you will be looked on as a fraud. The culture of an organisation is often the reflection of its leader’s behavior.
Team Work: Entrepreneurship is always about executing your ideas, achieving your dreams, but once you grow from a startup to a larger organisation, you need to manage multiple teams. Leadership is more about ensuring that all teams under you succeed, as your success is dependent of their success. You need a more team based approach.

 

These are some of my ramblings, what are your thoughts? What should I add to the lists, any big items I am missing from here?

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