We held our March Masterclass in Leeds on 22nd March on the subject of Leadership. Our panel of Entrepreneurs in Residence were John McDonnell founder and ex ceo of Harvard Engineering, Rob Whitehead of Zubrance and Richard Moran of Clarion Solicitors who are Partners of Connect Yorkshire. We started off with each of our panel giving a brief history of their corporate life. Richard Moran led the buy-out of Clarion 10 years ago from another firm of solicitors and since then they have grown from the initial 10 to 140 staff.
Types of Leadership
Lead by example was the most consistent theme. Different styles of leadership are needed for different situations. So if its a redundancy situation it may be necessary to be aloof and serious but generally a more approachable style is best. Your staff need to feel safe and it is always important to get out there and listen to them. It is best not to show anger, always be supportive even in very difficult moments.
Developing the Culture
This comes down to you as the owner of the business. Some have weekly good news emails-customer wins etc, new members of staff and don’t publish bad news
Communicating the Culture
This is best by word of mouth. Printed and framed Visions and Missions are ridiculous but they need to be known and understood by everyone. In a small organisation communicating the mission is easy but as you get bigger and have several lines of management it is necessary for the owner to try to get it to percolate down through the managers.
How to Motivate
Money doesn’t really work its more “environmental” reasons. Its vital to make the job role clear and easy to understand. Give them the tools to do the job well and praise them when they do so.
Appraisals are important and must be done properly. Ask the staff to prepare their Appraisal form before the meeting; Include the job role if the Appraisal Form.
