Are you a good leader?

Are you a leader just because you run a business? Not automatically. But you need to be. Without leadership, the ship that is your business has no captain and no rudder and eventually will founder.

A leader is one who DOES THE RIGHT THINGS. This compares with a manager who DOES THINGS RIGHT. Both are important in a business, but a good leader will take a business and make it grow. Anyone can be a leader, even if the only person they’re leading is themselves.

But you can’t become a leader just by saying you are. Leadership needs to be worked at. There are many virtues to leadership that you can focus on and improve. Here is my top 5 and I invite you to challenge this list and suggest what you think are the most important qualities and skills of a great leader.

Planning and Goal Setting
Especially in the longer term. To map out the big stepping stones that are required to be laid down and passed in order to drive the business forward. But once the plan is in place, get out of the way and let the team get on with it. Don’t try to over-manage the process. If the goal is clear and the right resources are available, progress should be made.

Vision
Where will the company be in 5 years, 10 years, 25 years? What will it look like and in what markets is it likely to be in, or not be in? A leader can also describe the vision in positive and uplifting terms that are clear and unambiguous. A leader keeps an eye on the big picture and looks for opportunities to make big gains in competitive advantage.

Communicate that vision
A leader must be able to paint a clear picture of what his or her vision for the company is to enable fellow staff and other stakeholders to share and believe in that vision and align their plans, goals and actions with the overall vision. People need to “buy in to” the vision and are energized by it, and it is a leaders job to ensure they can do this. This must be done with humility and putting the needs of the company first and not chest beating about me-me-me.

Take action when it counts
When the sh*t hits the fan, you want a leader who will be able to sum up the situation that the company is facing, weigh up the options quickly and make a decision on the best way forward. “Courage under fire” is what it is known as in the army and some of the best leaders are born under this situation, while some wanabes wilt under the pressure. Winston Churchill once said, "Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it all others depend." A lack of courage will make achieving the other leadership virtues hard, if not impossible.

Set high standards and follows them
Leadership is defined through action. You need to “walk the talk and consistently live by the other virtues mentioned above – all the time. Becoming a leader isn’t easy because it takes a conscious commitment and consistent effort to develop one’s leadership skills. But on the positive side, anyone who is willing to make the effort can become a good leader.

And as good leadership is critical to business success, your efforts to improve your leadership skills will be rewarded. By working on these five key virtues of leadership, you can become the leader your business needs.


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Know your enemy

My first post was about the importance of a USP and being different to your competitors. Inherrent in this strategy is the need to understand your competitors, who they are and how you can exploit their weaknesses.

You must constantly compare your business with others who are selling the same or similar products and/or services, at similar prices to the same customers as you. These will be your active competitors. For instance if you have a beauty salon you are likely to compare your business with others that seem to getting more clientele than you and is making a impact on the community.

You should always compare your prices, products or services, and promotions. These are major factors that will help you to determine what can be implemented into your business to make it just as or more successful than your competitors.

When you do a competitor analysis it is important that you remember what it is you need to know. The following will guide you to find the right information on each of your competitors. Put a chart together and then do the same analysis on YOUR business and see how you match up.

• Who are our competitors?
• What are their strategies?
• What are their objectives?
• What are their strengths?
• What are their weaknesses?
• How do they react to competition?

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Just what is a "USP"?

Your unique selling position (USP) is a sentence or phrase that explains what makes you special. It gives your prospects a reason to do business with you rather than your competitors. A good USP that is properly used makes your marketing a lot more effective. Because it gives you dominance over a market niche.

When developing your USP, it is important that you put yourself in your prospects' position. Look at your product or service from the point of view of someone thinking about buying it. What is important to your potential customer and what would be a compelling reason for that prospect to buy from you instead of your competition?

Your customers' interest is focused on what your product or service does for them - the benefits. How using your product solves a problem or improves an outcome. The key to unlocking the decision to buy is offering benefits that outweigh what the competition offers.

So benefits are all about how your product adds value for your customer. While features relate to what goes into making the product or service and how it is delivered to customers. This is an important distinction. Because customers are really not interested in features. They are only motivated by benefits.

For example, saying that there is a lifetime guarantee on your products is describing a feature. The benefit is that customers don't take any risk by buying your product. A powerful USP is one that is focused on benefits that only you offer.

So, to start with, list all the features of the product or service that your business offers. When you can't think of any more, go through each feature and look at it from the customer's point of view. What is the benefit? List all the benefits next to the corresponding features.

Your USP must be focused on benefits that only you offer. So, eliminate from your list all benefits that your competition is also offering. If you find that you have no benefits left after you do this, you may have to tweak some features so that they result in unique benefits.

You should end up with a few benefits to choose from. When deciding which one is the most suitable as the focus of your USP, ask these questions:
• Which benefits are the most important to your client.
• Which benefits are the most difficult for your competitors to imitate
• Which benefits can be most easily understood by customers
If, like most of us, you are in a competitive market, you can't be all things to all people. In other words, you have to find a niche. A corner of the market that you can take ownership of because of the unique benefits you offer. Remember, focus is the name of the game.

When you have identified the benefits you want to use, you can start writing the USP. Start off with a paragraph that describes the unique benefit or package of benefits. Then eliminate all unnecessary words. Cut it down until you have only one sentence that says it all.

A good USP should be:
• Only one sentence.
• Clearly written so that everyone can understand it.
• Composed of benefits that are unique to your company or product.

The FEDEX USP is a great example of a Unique Selling Proposition that does all of these things and I love it:

"When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight"

When you have a USP, make sure that it is incorporated in all your communications to potential customers. Also ensure that it is well understood by your whole team and consistently delivered on. You will attract a strong following of loyal customers and your business will thrive.

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