Great tips to help improve your leadership skills

When the small business environment gets rough, the one thing employees need to be able to count on is their managers. A good manger can lead their employees through any challenge and come out on top and with the trust and respect of their staff members. So what qualities does a good leader possess? Here are a few you need to work on:

Financial Obligations
A good leader doesn't let the business get in financial troubles. When cash flow problems arise and rumors of cut-backs start to fly, it can all be directed at poor leadership. Your job is to let your employees know their jobs are safe and you will do everything in your power to keep it that way. It is important to control the finances of your company by constantly monitoring the cash flow and looking for expenses that can be cut to provide you with extra money to put into your cash reserves. Having a rainy day fund for businesses will also pay off in the long run and it will help your employees feel safe and secure in their jobs. Make sure they know that you do have a large fund to cover all the expenses if something happens, like the economic problems that have plagued businesses over the past 2 years.

Lead them to new clients
When your employees hit a brick wall, you need to be the person that comes in to save the day. It is your job to help lead your employees to new clients and customers that will keep your business heading in the right direction. It may be time to rethink your marketing and sales strategy and look for new ways to attract customers. Start doing things that you normally wouldn't do like attending smaller conferences to attract a niche market, social media marketing, blogging, and even passing out flyers on a street corner. You need to do everything in your power to get your name out there again and focus on boosting your sales. Once you have a great system, teach it to your employees so they can follow suit and gain that extra motivation they need to work hard again.

Improve your working environment
You are in charge of the work environment. Take a look at how things are currently running. How many of your employees are happy to be at work? Do they like the current work processes? If you have excessive costs or you are struggling with equipment failures and product defects, it may be time to introduce Total Quality Management or another assessment program that will help you fix the way your business runs.

Another part of improving the work environment also comes down to fixing the way your employees interact with one another. Which employees are working hard at their jobs and getting along with others? Which employees don't seem to care anymore and tend to get into arguments with their co-workers? You need to jump on this attitude shift as soon as possible and fix it before it gets worse. Your attitude will have a lot to do with your employees attitudes. Address their behavior that has been affecting their co-workers and talk them through their problems. Look for different ways to offer them personal challenges that will make they feel needed in their job titles. Meshing a handful of personalities together is not an easy job, but with patience and dedication you will be able to do it. One in eight employees will leave a job they love because of the attitude problems and toxic work environment they feel. Do not let this happen to your staff and jump on these problems quickly before they get worse.