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Leadership in a small business

The November 20, 2001 “In the Lead” column in the Wall Street Journal discusses how a manager at Corning used the encouragement of an early supervisor to mold her management style. Her goals are to make sure she assigns employees jobs they feel passionate about and to bosses who will encourage them to think unconventionally and take risks. 

I have taught a seminar on how to buy a business more than 100 times. I always end the opening by asking the students why they want to own a business. I hear the usual answers: control of destiny, money, freedom, independence, be in charge, etc.  

Only twice have I heard what I think is the most important answer, to have fun. To wake up in the morning with a smile on your face because you’re going to work at your company and you love what you do. Your employees need to feel the same, as the Corning manager realizes. 

In my book: I ask owners: 

·        If they are willing to let employees try new ideas, make mistakes and disagree with the them?

·        Are they able to keep good people by offering a challenging environment?

·        Can the employees do what it takes to make an unhappy customer happy?

·        Do they trust their key employees enough show them the books, place orders or write checks? 

Here’s an example. We had a near disaster this Thanksgiving. We got our fresh turkey from PCC out of the refrigerator on Thursday and something was wrong. It smelled. And PCC was closed for the holiday. A quick trip to the local grocery store saved the day and on Friday I called PCC to tell them what happened. 

The person in charge told me one of their vendors delivered a bad batch. They called everyone who had pre-ordered (this was a fresh, free-range turkey), but wondered if anyone had walked in and got a bad one. She apologized profusely and offered to make good. The longer we talked the more she wanted to give me. I joked that if we talked long enough I’d have one of everything in the store. She ended up giving me a refund, a $50 gift certificate, a pecan pie and a bouquet of flowers. About four times the cost of the turkey. 

This after she started by telling me that since they weren’t sure anyone got a bad turkey, they didn’t know what to do about it (I was the first and maybe only call). That’s an empowered employee. She probably got the result she intended as my wife’s first comment was, “We should do more of our shopping there.” 

Can your employees make decisions like that? If not, why not? 

Leadership in a small business is no different than in that division at Corning. You first need to create an atmosphere where employees can flourish. Give them the authority to handle situations. Give them the space to grow. Sure, there will be mistakes, but we all make mistakes. As a friend of mine says, “It’s about success, not perfection.” We have to learn from our experiences. 

Now that doesn’t mean every employee needs to make the same mistakes others did. That’s where a business plan comes in. Your plan documents what went wrong and what went right. How you corrected the problem and the result. In the case of PCC, that manager did more than most would, and got a loyal customer.

At the same time, your employees look to you as the person where the buck stops. They expect and want that to be the case. If they wanted to run the show, they’d own their own company. This means, you have to take charge and provide authority. You’re the one who needs to make the tough decisions.        

It’s a true balancing act, especially in a small business where the owner often wears more than one hat and manages a diverse group of people. Managing all salespeople or all engineers is different from managing sales, financial and technical people plus laborers. All of these people have different personality types and motivations.

Too many business owners are on the extremes. If they don’t like managing people, they dive into the work and the unmanaged employees aren’t efficient. If they’re control freaks, they micromanage their people, stifling all creativity and drawing time and attention away from the big picture. The result is the same, the company does okay, but never breaks loose.

Take the time to analyze your leadership style to see if it benefits you, your employees and your business. And don’t forget to keep that smile on your face.

© Copyright John Martinka 2001-02. All rights reserved.