{"id":43795,"date":"2015-07-08T09:45:31","date_gmt":"2015-07-08T13:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/?p=43795"},"modified":"2015-07-20T11:39:57","modified_gmt":"2015-07-20T15:39:57","slug":"becoming-a-small-business-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming a Small Business Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"leader-312276_1280\"Small business owners spend countless hours working on their businesses. They experience a constant source of tension between responding to the next crisis and making sure the company is headed in the right direction. It takes special skills to differentiate between tasks that are important and those that are urgent, a dilemma known as the “Tyranny of the Urgent”.<\/p>

In my role as director of the UMW-SBDC<\/a>, I have a responsibility to provide business owners with tools and resources needed to run a successful business. However, building a successful organization and taking it to the next level, requires additional skills. These are skills that can be learned and involve basic leadership.<\/p>

One of the most significant contributions of psychology to the field of business has been in determining key qualities of acknowledged leaders. The increasing rate of change in the business environment creates the need for increased emphasis on leadership. Instead of maintaining status quo, new business leaders are visionary and are both learners and teachers.<\/p>

Whether you are the CEO of a large\/ small company or manager of a small department you are a leader. Below are a few qualities of an effective leader that transcend organization type, taken from an article on innovative leadership styles.<\/p>

Qualities of an Effective Business Leader:<\/em><\/h2>

\"leadership\"1. VISIONARY: <\/strong>Leaders are able to create a vision of a positive future, which begins the process of getting buy-in from the team. A leader without a vision is not a leader all, they are called a manager.<\/p>

2. STRATEGIC: <\/strong>An effective business leader understands how to capitalize on the assets of the organization in order to create a successful vision.<\/p>

3. COMPETENT: <\/strong>Leaders know their business. They know the market and they know their customers. This enables them to set a vision and strategy based on knowing, not guessing.<\/p>

4. PERCEPTIVE: <\/strong>An effective business leader notices the details, which can be strung together to make the strategy. Leaders pay attention to the details and ensure that those details don’t fall through the cracks during implementation.<\/p>

5. ARTICULATE: <\/strong>Leadership requires communicating the strategy in order to accomplish the vision. A leader must be a good communicator, must give speeches, and must motivate the group towards the vision. Leaders get buy-in to ensure results.<\/p>

6. PASSIONATE: <\/strong>In order to lead others, one must truly believe in and care about the strategy and vision. Nobody wants to follow a half-hearted leader.<\/p>

7. ASSERTIVE: <\/strong>A leader must overcome many obstacles and objections when trying to lead. Maintaining ones position requires sticking to your beliefs.<\/p>

8. DEDICATED: <\/strong>Leading means making a commitment to the cause. An effective business leader leads by example and is the first to act on the strategy they are espousing.<\/p>

9. ADAPTIVE: <\/strong>Continuous improvement applies to leaders as well as processes. A good leader knows when to accommodate others to achieve a greater good.<\/p>

10. DECISIVE: <\/strong>Making decisions is what a leader does. Decisions may not always be liked, but leaders make them anyway to keep the organization moving forward.
\n<\/strong><\/p>

11. INTEGRITY: <\/strong>Research shows that the top thing that employees want from their leaders is integrity.
\n<\/strong><\/p>

12. CONFIDENT: <\/strong>Highly effective leaders know deep down inside that they and their team can accomplish anything they set their minds to.
\n<\/strong><\/p>

13. INSPIRATIONAL: <\/strong>Try to paint a vision of the future that inspires your people to do whatever it takes to get there.<\/p>

Being an effective leader means more than having the right to make a decision, it means having the ability to successfully execute a plan from idea to reality and is what separates dreamers from entrepreneurs.<\/p>

\"aMary-Parnell-copyright-K-Pearlman-Photography\"
Mary Parnell<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/h3>

Mary Parnell is director of the University of Mary Washington Small Business Development Center and previously served on the Leadership Colloquium @ UMW Advisory Board.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Small business owners spend countless hours working on their businesses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":43797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,46,47],"class_list":{"0":"post-43795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-blog","8":"tag-leadership","9":"tag-sbdc","10":"tag-small-business","11":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBecoming a Small Business Leader - Leadership Colloquium at UMW<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Becoming a Small Business Leader\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Small business owners spend countless hours working on their businesses.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leadership Colloquium at UMW\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-08T13:45:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-20T15:39:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2015\/01\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"354\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mparnell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mparnell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mparnell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1a1922af658bf5310f2398bbeb5cc68d\"},\"headline\":\"Becoming a Small Business Leader\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-08T13:45:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-20T15:39:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":624,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png\",\"keywords\":[\"leadership\",\"SBDC\",\"small business\"],\"articleSection\":[\"blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/\",\"name\":\"Becoming a Small Business Leader - Leadership Colloquium at UMW\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-08T13:45:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-20T15:39:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1a1922af658bf5310f2398bbeb5cc68d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/21\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png\",\"width\":354,\"height\":414},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/2015\\\/07\\\/08\\\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Becoming a Small Business Leader\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leadership Colloquium at UMW\",\"description\":\"University of Mary Washington\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1a1922af658bf5310f2398bbeb5cc68d\",\"name\":\"mparnell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mparnell\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/lcpw\\\/author\\\/mparnell\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Becoming a Small Business Leader - Leadership Colloquium at UMW","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Becoming a Small Business Leader","og_description":"Small business owners spend countless hours working on their businesses.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/","og_site_name":"Leadership Colloquium at UMW","article_published_time":"2015-07-08T13:45:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-20T15:39:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":354,"height":414,"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2015\/01\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"mparnell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mparnell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/"},"author":{"name":"mparnell","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/#\/schema\/person\/1a1922af658bf5310f2398bbeb5cc68d"},"headline":"Becoming a Small Business Leader","datePublished":"2015-07-08T13:45:31+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-20T15:39:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/"},"wordCount":624,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2015\/01\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png","keywords":["leadership","SBDC","small business"],"articleSection":["blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/","name":"Becoming a Small Business Leader - Leadership Colloquium at UMW","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2015\/01\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png","datePublished":"2015-07-08T13:45:31+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-20T15:39:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/#\/schema\/person\/1a1922af658bf5310f2398bbeb5cc68d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2015\/01\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2015\/01\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png","width":354,"height":414},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/2015\/07\/08\/becoming-a-small-business-leader\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Becoming a Small Business Leader"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/","name":"Leadership Colloquium at UMW","description":"University of Mary Washington","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/#\/schema\/person\/1a1922af658bf5310f2398bbeb5cc68d","name":"mparnell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mparnell"},"url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/author\/mparnell\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2015\/01\/leader-312276_1280-crop.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/lcpw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}