Best Leadership Advice? It's Not What You Think

Contrary to what you might think, leadership is not mysterious. As leadership expert Adam Grant says:

If you understand how people and organizations behave, you'll have a pretty good idea how to maximize the performance of both. Fortunately, we're sitting on about a century's worth of research that reveals how leaders should manage, motivate, and develop employees, and how to improve their own decision making. There's no good reason to get this stuff wrong.

Got it?  Well let's find out what we can do right.  Here are seven important leadership insights.

Badass Entrepreneurial Women Share Their Top Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

I just love these tips.  Be sure to read them all.  Bottom line: Obsession matters.  That is, when it comes to your brand.  Here are the five tips.

1. Don’t just listen to your customers, act on what they tell you.
2. Just because you fill a void in the market, doesn’t mean others can’t, too.
3. Admit when you need help—and get it.
4. Live and breathe your brand.
5. Don’t underestimate your customer’s intelligence.

Read more here.

In Business, Complexity Kills

Effective strategic guidelines get three things right. They link to the corporate vision, identify critical vulnerabilities, and focus on what matters most.

This MIT Sloane Management Review article states:

Strategy is not about choice, it’s about choices. Few companies succeed based on a single big bet. They win through a series of trade-offs — about target customers, product, scope, and resources — that reinforce one another to create value. Attempting to describe every important choice in detail, however, leads to information overload. 

What do you need to know?  When it comes to execution, complexity kills.  Keep it simple.

Read the article to find out the three things you should focus on that matter concerning strategy and execution for your business.

Giving Women Resources To Succeed

While determination can fuel a company’s growth, other resources can aid women business owners: Programs aimed at women business owners.

Since 2014, Sonabank’s POWER (Potential of Women Entrepreneurs Realized) program has focused on connecting women entrepreneurs and giving them resources to succeed in a male-dominated field.

While the POWER program is run by a bank, helping with loans and other financings, the program has more to offer: A female-focused support system made up of more than 800 other women.

“She [Michelle Simon, senior vice president of Sonabank] told me about the bank and how they supported women,” Brumfield [Michelle Brumfield, CEO of BedCrafters] said. “I know how difficult it can be to run a business and run a house.”

Read more how women lift each other up.