OS 118: 5 Leadership Myths That Kill Entrepreneurial Ventures
b'5 Leadership Myths That Kill Entrepreneurial Ventures\\nHugh Ballou\\nThe Law of the Lid\\nYour leadership is like a lid or a ceiling on your\\xa0organization.\\xa0Your church or business will not rise beyond the level your leadership allows. That\\u2019s why, when a corporation or team needs to be fixed, they fire the leader.\\n- John Maxwell,\\xa0The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership\\nStarting and maintaining a profitable enterprise as an entrepreneur is very difficult, at best. However,\\xa0research shows\\xa0that 90% of businesses that fail do so because of a lack of leadership skills.\\nFortunately, leadership is a skill many people can learn. In my opinion, however, learning great leadership means that many of us must\\xa0unlearn\\xa0most of what we\\u2019ve previously been\\xa0taught or observed.\\nBest practice for building and sustaining a profitable business is often a reverse\\xa0paradigm from the things business schools and prevailing leadership experts teach. Leadership best practice, from my perspective, requires the same skills a conductor uses to build the high-performance cultures we call\\xa0\\u201censembles\\u201d in the musical world. \\u201cEnsembles,\\u201d in the non-music context, are high-synergy teams.\\xa0These teams develop only with the intentionality of the leader.\\nThe entrepreneur who operates as a\\xa0\\u201csolopreneur\\u201d might not perceive that synergistic teams are important. Wrong! If you are talking to at least one\\xa0other person, such as a salesperson, consultant, alliance or venture partner, advisor or board member, then you have a team. It is important for entrepreneurs to\\xa0surround themselves with capable people. It is also important to learn from other businesses you admire. Being an entrepreneur is a choice to stay out of corporate systems, so why do things in the same way as a company you\\xa0don\\u2019t want to work for?\\nTeam effectiveness starts with the leader and branches from\\xa0there. First,\\xa0you equip yourself, then\\xa0you empower others. With this in mind, here are the 5 top leadership myths that kill entrepreneurial ventures:\\n1.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0I Must Be in Command\\n2.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Always be Right\\n3.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Improper Language or Behavior\\n4.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Pretend to Know What You are Doing Even If You Don\\u2019t Know\\n5.\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0Delegation is a Weakness of Leadership\\nAre you ready to go to the next step? As you study these myths, I suggest you share your personal and organizational goals with at least three people you respect and with whom you have a valued connection. Check with them every 30 days to let them know how things are progressing. Being accountable to others is frightening at first until you realize that the people you are accountable to are the people who will bring the highest value to you because they understand where you\\u2019re going.\\nBut most important of all, for your venture\\u2019s success, when you hit the leadership lid, raise the ceiling!\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'