4 Leadership Fundamentals That Every Entrepreneur Should Know

In the SEAL Teams, there were fundamentals we practiced on a daily, weeklyor quarterly basis: shooting, jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, small-unit tactics, looking good in Speedos (that’s a joke -- the Speedos part, at least). When there are tangible items to focus on, it’s easy to put a plan together and design the accompanying strategies to realize success.

However, withthe intangible factors of relationship dynamics, navigating organizational politicsand building influence, the likelihood of having a step-by-step process that garners a “W” (that’s acronym speak for “win”) is less likely. Actually, it’s not so much the plan but having the right plan that achieves your intended efforts.

Communicating effectively and managing people is extremely difficult to learn, let alone apply, so addthis section to your startup plan: leadership fundamentals. As you go through your business plan and begin to envision the various stages of development and resources necessary to scale, consider also how your leadership style will have to adaptas well. What works for a five-person startup is different than a 100-person company or a 10,000-employee organization.

However, there are fundamentals that every leader should know, no matter how large or small the organization he or she commands. Here are fourfundamentals of leadership every entrepreneur should know:

1.领导者做出决定。

Leaders need to make tough calls andoperate in that obscure space where there’s just enough information to be dangerousbut not enough to be effective. prefer to hold off on making a decision? Congratulations, you just made one --the choice to not make a decision is still a decision.

2. Leaders are consistent.

How leaders show up is everything. If you arrive to work grumpy, people will think the CEO has a bone to pick. Be terse in your conversations and you come across as rude or impatient. Fail to smile and quickly turn into that social hand grenade you never wanted to be. Consistency builds trust in thoughts, actionsand intentions. Choose how you want to show up.

3. Leaders create value.

The leadership style you choose to implementis the vehicle that moves the needle between “valuable” and “utterly useless.” That style may be autocratic, democratic, directiveor coach-like, and each one is dependent upon the personalities and situational factors involved. How you communicate that style, though, is everything. 说到这里...

4. Leaders communicate.

58003 More than anything though, leaders ensure that the message sent is the message received, since anything less would be ineffective.That’s not why leaders get paid the big bucks.

Where’s authenticity in this list, you ask? It's under communication. Want to foster greater innovation? Look at the communication and decision-making processes established by the leader. Looking for new behaviors to idolize? You’ll find them when your fearless leaders shows up -- hopefully. Oh, and that thing called trust? That’s where consistency comes in.

How will you practice the fundamentals today?