Influence Effectively – What is Business Leadership?
Much has been said about business leadership. It has often been discussed by entrepreneurial gurus and has become the subject of many profitable books and seminars that drive entrepreneurs crazy. Ask anyone about it, and you’ll probably get a lot of answers, all of which are probably correct. Leadership is such an interesting topic that everyone seems to want to discuss it and have it.
Most people get emotionally charged when asked to define leadership; after all, leaders are always seen with glamor and grandeur. People who aspire to be leaders often simply copy the actions and behavior of admired leaders without knowing what it really means to be a good leader. Some think it’s a talent you’re born with, others think it’s a skill you can acquire. Either way, leadership, particularly business leadership, has a straightforward and simple meaning. Leadership is the ability to influence others. Business leadership is, therefore, the ability to influence others at work.
Often people think of complicated ways to define business leadership. The bottom line, though, is that business leadership is the power to get people at work to follow you. This could be done in various ways and by many means. The important thing is that when you know the definition of leadership, you also know how to be a leader. Knowing what business leadership is can help identify the goal to be achieved, which is to influence others.
Many aspirants think that leadership is about reaching the highest ranks or achieving lofty positions. This has created what is now known as the bureaucratic trend; they strive to stand out from the rest just to be on top. Employees at the bottom of the hierarchy often believe that leadership is about getting promoted or being among upper management. While earning high positions is among the many benefits of business leadership, climbing is not the end and end of leadership.
This is why many managers who get rushed promotions fail. Once up, they don’t know exactly what to do. They are not aware that the goal of being at the top is to be able to let others follow, take charge and influence others to be part of the success of the entire organization. When one’s goal of becoming a business leader is only to gain fame and recognition, the position can easily be snatched away. Being on top but not being able to influence others will cause those below to lose trust in the leader. In this case, the position may be withdrawn as the lead cannot be held as the point of being a leader was not there in the first place.
Business leaders have different techniques to influence their followers. Some use force and force employees to do their jobs by exerting power. Some use their charms to inspire workers to be enthusiastic about their jobs. Some persuade staff by showing them the potential merits of good efforts. There are other ways business leaders use to influence their positions, but the important thing is that they can get people to follow them.
Entrepreneurial leadership cannot be acquired quickly, however it is not impossible to achieve either. With the correct knowledge of what business leadership is and the appropriate techniques to implement it, business leadership can be achieved and exercised accordingly.
