There are 3 critical questions any entrepreneur should ask themselves as they lead their business:
1. Where is the next change in your business coming from?
The answer is right on your calendar. Closely examine who you’re spending time with, and on what topics. Examine where you travel, what you read, and how you distill this into understanding potential discontinuities, and then make a decision to do something right now so that you’re prepared and ready. Analyze trends to correct your current business strategy and anticipate future needs.
Great leaders don’t keep their heads down. They peek around corners. They take an active hand in shaping their future, and don’t just react to it.
2. How diverse is your workforce?
“Good old boy” networks sound old-fashioned and out of date, but they’re actually alive and well in many organizations. And to some extent, we all have a network of people that we’re comfortable with—that are our “best buds.”
Workplaces can’t function this way anymore. To be a modern leader, you need to work with people that are not like ourselves—people who are different biologically, politically, physically, functionally, culturally and socio-economically. How well do you manage them despite all these differences? Do they trust you enough to cooperate with you in achieving a shared goal?
Great leaders understand that having a diverse team opens up your options and your capabilities, because you have people who can approach issues from different angles and points of view.
3. Are you courageous enough to abandon tried-and-true practices?
There is an expression: Go along to get along.
This is exactly the advice an entrepreneur should not follow. If you keep doing what’s familiar and comfortable, your company will become stagnant. Great leaders dare to be different. They don’t just talk about risk taking. They actually do it.
Don’t be afraid of being told your ideas are bad. Don’t let that stop you from trying new things and blazing a trail. You’ll only grow as a company and business owner if you push the envelope and take risks.
What makes a great leader in the 21st century?
And I’ve met many great leaders and they all stand out. They are men and women who are prepare themselves for the realities of today and all of those possibilities of tomorrow, not for the comforts of yesterday.
Where do you start?
You need to identify where you are in your own leadership journey. How do you see yourself? What’s happens to your journey when faced with new situations? Our model is proven to liberate the leader within. Are you ready to achieve the extraordinary?
