Management consulting firms
SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS are a special breed: self-confident, energetic and driven.
But on the flip side, they can also be stubborn, arrogant and compulsive – qualities that can damage their businesses.
“The seeds of success and the seeds of destruction are all together, wrapped up in this person at the same time,” says Ralph Jacobson, president of The Leader’s Toolbox, a Bloomington-based leadership development and executive coaching firm.
Showing small-business owners how to free their inner Dr. Jekylls and stow away their Mr. Hydes is a skill many management consultants have mastered. But in many cases owners simply don’t recognize their problematic behavior and don’t ask for help. And rank-and-file employees usually don’t have the guts to point out their bosses’ flaws.
For those looking to self-diagnose, here’s a list of seven deadly sins committed by small-business owners, according to local management consultants.
Not transitioning from entrepreneurial
thinking to a more corporate style.
Small-business owners usually revel in the free rein they get from entrepreneurship. They make decisions without committees or constraints. Indeed, many are refugees from the corporate world — by force or by choice — and they don’t ever want to go back.
Still, there comes a point in every company’s life cycle when the owner needs to think more like a Fortune 500 executive, says Cheryl Leitschuh, president of Leitschuh Leadership Consulting, a performance improvement and coaching firm in St. Paul.
Structure — in the form of formal systems and processes — should replace “operating by the seat of your pants” as the company grows, she says. Goals can’t just bounce around inside an owner’s head; they need to be written down, fine-tuned and shared with employees.
“Sometimes they just take off with their great heart and a great concept, and do a lot of doing, but don’t do as much planning as they need to,” she says. Thinking like a big company, however, can be a struggle for small-business owners.
There are three signs a company has begun its maturation from a small company to a midsized one: you’re losing employees, sales have flattened out, and the owner isn’t having fun anymore.
The appearance of any one of these means the company has encountered growing pains and needs some readjustments. Or, for owners who want to remain small, it’s a good opportunity to consider pulling back growth before it gets out of hand.
Being all things to all people/ wearing too many hats.
Small-business owners are used to being “one-person bands,” and don’t always embrace delegating. Many have worked on their own for so long — sometimes because they couldn’t afford outside resources — that juggling tasks and not asking for help is second nature. Others are perfectionists, who can’t stand the thought of handing off work they think they can do better themselves.
They need to learn to share the load, say management consultants. Owners that are too overwhelmed with minutia don’t have the capacity to be the “idea people.”
“They see themselves as being responsible for everything,” says Jacobson. And that can be stultifying, especially for the company.Believing that managing people is inherent; that you don’t need to learn people skills.
Small-business owners should realize that just because they run a company doesn’t mean they have the skills to manage employees. Most owners start out as big thinkers, consumed with a concept. They may be technology geeks who aren’t used to dealing with interpersonal relationships. Their key competencies may lie outside of the managerial realm.
If managing people isn’t in people’s blood, they should hand off the responsibility to a colleague, and not feel ashamed about it, say consultants.
Owners must realize there are some things they are not good at. “That’s not a personal failing,” says Jacobson. “That’s a strength to understand what you’re good at and weak at.”
Believing that success depends on charisma.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are owners who are truly people-persons. Charismatic people, however, don’t always make the best leaders, say management consultants.
Instead of becoming leaders in their own right, employees become dependent on them. “You’re going to be the bottleneck,” says Jacobson.
Being a leader “is a technical specialty, just like being an engineer,” says Leigh Bailey, principal consultant of the Bailey Consulting Group, a leadership, team and career development coaching and consulting firm in Golden Valley.
Traditionally, leadership has been regarded as a gift or talent — something that’s innate, says Jacobson. But a new school of thought suggests it is a teachable skill.
And being a good leader means enabling and empowering others, says Jacobson.
Not showing vulnerability.
Small-business owners want to command respect. But sometimes it’s a good idea to show a softer side. Showing some vulnerability, says Bailey, can develop a culture where employees are willing to come forward when they have a work problem, or recognize they have a need to learn.
“You need to model not being perfect,” Bailey says. Then, “they will learn that it’s OK not to be perfect.”
Employees are likely to stick around and stay committed when they don’t have that kind of pressure. And owners will be more successful because of it.
Being too laid back, however, will often have the opposite effect. Owners who clown around at meetings and get chummy with subordinates won’t be taken seriously, says Leitschuh.
Jacobson refers to this behavior as working at “too low a level.” These owners act like they “just happen to be the boss,” instead of running the company in a professional, disciplined way, he says.Hiring “comfortable” people.
Small-business owners “tend to hire people who are not going to be threatening to them,” says Jacobson. Unfortunately, that often means they hire employees that won’t challenge small-business owners.
It’s human nature to want to surround oneself with people that make you feel comfortable, he says. But a slippery slope develops when owners realize they can’t depend on these people, and then they become less inclined to delegate, he says.
Such yes-people can be psychologically gratifying to those owners who need to feel needed. But they can impede a company’s growth.These owners become “hub-and-spoke leaders,” he says. Everything has to go through them, and that gets overwhelming. Not consulting with advisers.
Small-business owners are used to flying solo. But it’s important to gather a group of professionals – a mini board of directors – to help give them a variety of opinions. Lawyers, bankers and accountants are obvious candidates, as long as they aren’t employees.
And they shouldn’t be friends. Impartiality is important, says Bailey. But even more important is finding people who aren’t intimidated to speak their minds. They can help owners assess their strengths and weaknesses in a frank, ongoing conversation.
“There’s lots of good evidence that people who are successful tend to recognize they benefit from talking to people who provide different perspectives and feedback,” he says.
[contact] Leigh Bailey, The Bailey Consulting Group: 763.545.5997; lbailey@thebaileygroup.com; www.thebaileygroup.com. Ralph Jacobson, The Leader’s Toolbox: 952.831.7488; ralph@theleaderstoolbox.com; www.theleaderstoolbox.com. Cheryl Leitschuh, Leitschuh Leadership Consulting: 651.398.7151; cheryl@career-future.com; www.career-future.com.
