Every day millions of people start their businesses. This voyage of becoming your own boss is not easy. Entrepreneurs often find themselves venturing into territories that they are not familiar with. By now, we all know that an entrepreneur is just not an adjective rather a set of roles. They have to be tech-savvy; they have to know some basic accounting, and most importantly, they have to be a leader.
Leadership is the act of motivating others to a common goal. Sounds simple? But many would argue that leadership is an innate charisma that cannot be learned. However, with years of research, it has been established that only 30% of leadership is genetic. So how do you become a leader for your startup?
We have compiled some simple yet significant traits of a leader, not from any book or list but our own experience as a startup.
Integrity- An entrepreneur must have the courage and intend to do the right thing and for the right reasons. If a founder does not find it in them to be truthful and indulges in illegal or illicit goals, their businesses are likely to face repercussions of their actions.
Humility- New bosses must understand that humility will determine how freely employees or customers are going to communicate with you. A true leader must know that every stakeholder is valuable to their business and constant feedback give you many golden chances to improve.
Decisiveness- To run a business, you need a clear sense of direction which you will then disseminate to your employees. If you lack clarity in your game plan, it almost always creates confusions among your team that can be extremely harmful to your newly found venture.
Accountability- Taking accountability for your actions is perhaps of the most key roles of a leader. You have to be aware of and responsible for your business decisions. Sometimes, it means ‘taking one for the team’ because, in your business, you are always going to be the one responsible.
As much as you would like it, leadership does not have a formula that you can implement directly to your life. Leadership is an ever-changing challenge that is not the same for every situation and not the same in every business. What can be attested is that no one will be a better leader for your startup than yourself. So take every day as a lesson to improve yourself and try to reach your full potential and take your startup to the next level.