The ever-changing nature of business and the constant evolution of the digital world, means that it’s impossible to stay stagnant if you want success.
It’s never been easier to create a start-up either, when all you need is a good idea and the ambition to drive it forward. New businesses are sprouting up by the day, flooding the market with more competition. With this in mind, here are just a few lessons you can learn from some of the best leaders in business.
1. Trust in your team
A couple of years ago, Richard Branson broke the very controversial news that he would be
offering his staff unlimited holidays. He posted online that his 170 personal staff would be given the right to take off as much time as they wanted, whenever they wanted. They didn’t even need to ask for approval. Branson said: “We should focus on what people get done, not how many hours they’ve worked."
Branson trusts his team to manage their workload; the staff imposes a sense of responsibility upon themselves because of their loyalty to their company, and their wish for career progression with Virgin.
While it might not be a good idea for every business to join this bandwagon, leaders should ask themselves whether they trust their staff enough, whether they relinquish control where needed, and whether their staff are rewarded for the work they complete, rather than the hours they clocked in.
2. Be prepared to change your path
Evan Williams famously co-founded Twitter, but the first company he founded was Pyra Labs with the aim of creating project management software. This actually launched Blogger, one of the first web blog publishing systems on the internet. Later, he co-founded Odeo as a podcasting platform, but Apple launched their own as part of iTunes which left Odeo in the dust behind them. So again, he switched focus and co-founded Obvious Corp, which amongst many other things, developed Twitter.
This is a twisting and turning path, but part of being successful in business is knowing when to move on, when to adapt to changes in your field and when to spot new openings and opportunities. You should always be prepared to change if something isn’t working.
3. Support the future of business
The turning point for many entrepreneurs is the first time that someone gave them that first “yes”. If people don’t reach out to entrepreneurs of the future, then the business world will stay stagnant and old-fashioned. New concepts will stay stuck in the minds of people who were never given that first chance. Reuben Singh is one such leader that’s helping to change this with the
Reuben Singh scholarship. It provides students with a flair for business with up to £9,000 in funding for University tuition fees. Ask yourself what you could do to support tomorrow’s business men and women.
Hopefully, you’ve found these top three insights useful - do you have any more tips from business leaders?
