7 Tips to Succeed in Leadership and Entrepreneurship

In order to be a successful business leader, you’ll need to be prepared to make difficult decisions, use your initiative and act with integrity. Setting up your own company comes with its fair share of risks but with a few important tips, you can learn how to best optimise your leadership and entrepreneurial capabilities.

Build a solid network

Networking is an important skill. Start developing your skills so you can build a rapport with new people in your industry. You can do this by attending industry events, going to meetings in person and connecting with possible contacts online. This is a vital part of success and is a good way to meet possible employers, clients, partners and investors. You might also find mentors who can offer support and advice.

Develop relationships

Beyond meeting business contacts, make an effort to get acquainted with colleagues on every level. This will make it easier to encourage and manage them. You should also ensure you strike a balance between colleague and friend. You’ll want to be respected, and it’s hard to make tough or unpopular decisions when you’re leading people who see you as a friend.

 Promote the right culture

As a leader, you set the tone of the working environment. Make sure that you lead by example and foster openness, transparency and honesty. That means making yourself available to listen to staff when they come to you with ideas or concerns and investing time in talking to them. Take what they have to say on board and follow it up as appropriate.

Don’t be scared to make unpopular decisions

It may fall to you to make decisions that will not be welcomed by others. Often there are reasons for people’s objections and you should always think carefully about their concerns. However, if you know you’re making the right decision, don’t be afraid to be unpopular. That said, it’s always better to persuade people to cooperate than to force ideas on them from above, so be prepared to work hard to bring them on side.

Take calculated risks

Many of the best long-term decisions will involve a higher level of risk and if you don’t take them, your business can easily stagnate or stop being competitive. Always do plenty of research and manage risk as best you can, but never be frightened to take a leap of faith. It might be the best decision you ever make.

Accept failure

All plans can go wrong, but if things don’t work out, don’t be put off – learn your lesson and try again. You can often learn more from failure than success and that’s what will allow you to achieve your goal in the end. Plenty of successful people had to lose before they won. 

Be realistic

Don’t assume that every venture will lead to massive returns in a few short months. Be honest with yourself and others about what is realistically achievable – not only does this establish your reputation as a person of integrity, but it also means that you’ll be taken more seriously as a businessperson and leader.