How to be a Business Leader

Leadership is applied whenever we want to achieve success. Good leadership is essential for a country to progress, for a team to achieve victory, for an army to win a war, and for every organization to accomplish a common goal. In an economy, all businesses share one common goal, that is, to bring wealth to a nation. Although businesses compete, they also cooperate in attaining national and global economic growth. However, there are exceptional enterprises and companies that lead the way to that objective. There are outstanding business owners and successful entrepreneurs who lead the march in shaping the better lives of people. They are the business leaders. Business leaders top their industries, and they are leaders not only in terms of assets and profits, but also in terms of improving the lives of many people. If you want to be one of them, here are important tips and steps on how to be a business leader.

 

1. Be the first

Be creative, innovative and a catalyst of change. Find out what people are looking for and what they really need. Provide what is not provided by others. Be unique and extraordinary. Business leaders are the ones who are willing to search the highest mountains or the deepest oceans to find a solution to a problem that is not yet solved. If you want an example of creativity and innovation, you will learn from Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple, Inc. – the creators of iPhone and iPad.

 

2. Be the best

Be competitive and be consistent. The business world is full of competition, and if you want to be the winner, you need to be diligent and consistent. Many companies, even big corporations, suffer failure. They may succeed, but their success is only temporary. Eventually, they fail and never rise again. Being the best is a constant practice that should be observed by businessmen. It involves knowing your competition and your competitors. It also includes knowing yourself, which we will discuss in the following paragraph.

 

3. Be a leader of yourself

Leading any organization, such as a business organization, needs self-leadership. To be a business leader, you should learn how to lead yourself to the right path. You need to have self-control and discipline. You need to learn how to lead yourself away from temptations, such as greed, indolence, dishonesty and other negative attributes that bring anyone to failure.  You should also learn how to overcome your fears. You can get rid of fear by earning confidence through strategic planning and increasing your knowledge, understanding and insights of the future ahead.

 

4.  Be cooperative

Achieve a common great goal. Just as we discussed in the introduction, businesses share common goals, such as providing quality and satisfaction to customers, providing more jobs and contributing economic growth. To be a business leader, you should enthusiastically cooperate and help in achieving these goals. Besides, if you help your customers and the public, they will also help you in terms of profitability and stability in the long run. Remember that your sales and revenues are in the hands of your customers. Also, your business integrity and reputation depend on what the public says.

 

5. Be a better manager

A successful business organization is composed of successful people: its leader or manager and its followers or subordinates. Thus, becoming a business leader needs great management skills and characters to motivate and influence his people to help him achieve their common objectives. To become a better manager, one should set himself as a role model of a good organizational member. He should obey the organizational rules, protect the interest of the entire organization, admit his own mistakes, share the benefits that are due to others, and have the dedication to bring the entire organization to success. Bear in mind that both managers and their subordinates are considered members of an organization or a team. Thus, leaders are also responsible for becoming loyal and good members.

 

6. Be lasting and deep

Leaders are greatly principled people. Their deep principles are what making them distinct from other business persons. If you want to be a business leader, you should have principles that are catered for greatness, such as the essence of love, self-sacrifice, generosity, joy, peace and the truth. These are the things that business leaders want to achieve. They are idealistic and hard to attain, but they are righteous and lasting. That is why leaders make a very difficult yet concrete and strong stand on them. If you want to lead in the business world, you should have a deep root and a powerful stand on those great principles.

 

7. Be thankful

Lastly, be grateful in life. The persons who lead in the real market and the business world are those that have material contentment. They are truly happy persons that are more people-oriented or customer-oriented rather than financial profit-oriented. The thankfulness that is within them makes them happy and passionate to do business for the sake and welfare of others. They become inspired to serve and satisfy their stakeholders, which include customers, employees, co-owners and the society. Finally, happy consumers, workers and the public recognize and promote their business in return.

“If you want to be a business leader, lead the lives of people towards success. When I say people, they include your customers, workers, investors, creditors, co-owners, the community, the world and you. –vqaj”