Leadership Myths Demystified

Psychologists have long held that perceptions shape behavior more powerfully than reality. One fine example of perception influencing reality is the conventional wisdom on leadership. For the longest time, business owners have sworn by some beliefs about leadership that at best have brought them mixed results. And when conventional wisdom doesn’t give one the outcome he wants, it’s time t challenge this belief. Here are the most common leadership misconceptions.


Myth #1: Leaders are born, not made.

Scientists have yet to find the so-called leadership gene, while we are all born with different potentials and personalities, none of us are born leaders. There are as many leadership styles as there are people: Some are more charismatic while others are more quiet and warm. You can develop your leadership skills by raising your awareness, creating opportunities, r trying something new. Think f strengthening your leadership as a lifelong project instead of a quick-results task. Set modest goals and regularly check your progress. Find and meet with a friend or mentor with exemplary leadership qualities, and talk to him not abut leadership, but about how business is doing, especially about how you interact with staff, customers, and partners.
The truth: Leadership is learned and developed.


Myth#2: Status and position make a leader.

When asked who they think are the greatest influences in their life, people often say teachers, coaches, priests, and relatives। Many on the list may not hold what society considers as high status positions, but their leadership was powerful enough that it changed lives. Leadership is not about holding a title; its about taking action. Showing up early, going home late, and working alongside the staff at cleanup time are manifestations of leadership. Some people with fancy titles are actually ineffective leaders, while others with the barest of social standing can wield influence beyond expectation. In your business, you ask yourself: Who are the unrecognized leaders? What am I doing to develop them?
The truth: Leadership is shown in action.


Myth#3: Leaders control.

Leadership is sometimes confused with control। The misconception is that instilling fear allows one to maintain a position of leadership. In reality, too much control puts a ceiling on business potentials. Consider the case of a salesperson in a store who, when asked for a discount, always consult the owner. Such rigid rules are indications of ineffective leadership. True leaders give their frontline employees control and power to decide.
The truth: Leaders who give control earns their subordinate’s loyalty.


Myth#4: Future leaders need spoon-feeding.

Treating people with kid gloves and hand holding them through the rough times won’t turn them into leaders. If you want your people to take responsibility, give it to them. That’s how they become responsible, instead of spoon-feeding them: Develop leaders who respond creatively and effectively to various business situations.
The truth: Leadership is about allowing people to take responsibility, and then gradually increasing it over time.


Myth#5: Natural leaders grow into their role when their time comes.

You’ve heard the plot before: The spoiled son is a party animal. But on his 21st birthday, his wise father rewards him by naming him successor to the family’s business empire. A natural leader, the son realizes even more success than his dad. But this is a fairy tale, not what happens in real life. If you are not building leaders now, you wont have them tomorrow. Worse, you may have to hire new, more expensive people you don’t even know or trust. A leader spends a lot more time leading and less time handholding. If the staff needs to ask you for the tiniest decisions, like what brand of soap powder to buy, you’re not teaching them leadership. From the start, make people fully responsible for their work. Remember that the supervisor in an overseer role adds no value, only cost. Strengthen your people’s skills by being in a supporting role. Together, set reasonable performance standards.
The truth: Future leaders need to be developed now.


Myth#6: Learn the theories first, then apply them later.

To the entrepreneur, ideas without action are worthless. Our best learning isn’t separated from work; it’s embedded in it. The best way to test ideas is to try them out. Offer a new recipe, clothing item, or try a marketing gimmick or service on the ground as you interact with your customers. Learn as you go.
The truth: Always combine learning with action.


Myth#7: Leadership is too risky

Many business owners find developing leaders not worth their while, much less that they are expected or required to do so, because making leaders is not usually a valued endeavor in small organizations. Nevertheless you can do things differently.
The truth: Leadership is worth the risk

Spotting the Latest Trends

Part art and part science, this kind of trend spotting is truly the key to entrepreneurial success. The good news: It’s not as difficult as you might think.


The art part of this is that you need to be creative in your thinking, and anticipate what consumers will want not only right now, but also years down the road. The science part is that, while you don’t exactly need to walk around in a lab coat, you do need to treat your environment like a lab, where you’re constantly making observations and discoveries. Follow the steps outlined below, and you’ll be well on your way to identify-ing a trend that could turn into a successful business.

Distinguish trends from fads. “When deciding to adopt one or the other, it’s important to know the difference,” says Nancy Trent, president of Trent & Company Inc., a New York City PR firm specializing in building health, beauty and fitness brands.

Essentially, anything that has staying power is a trend. It has social, political and economic significance. It develops gradually and follows a sequence of events. Fads, meanwhile, can come and go in a flash. (That isn’t to say you can’t start a business based on a fad. See "Absolutely Fad-ulous" below for help determining whether this is the route for you.) If a trend is what you’re after, though, Trent has a simple acronym to help you nail down one that’s worth pursuing.

Time: Trends don’t happen over-night. “Yoga is the oldest trend in history,” says Trent. But yoga has become so well-accepted that it’s now mainstream--hence the story of Plank.

Roots: “Because a trend is developed in a wide variety of ways, it develops roots,” explains Trent. Trends won’t vanish even as they evolve, because their roots are deep and intricate.

Everywhere: A trend will slowly sprout up in different places. After a while, you’ll see it all over the place.

Nonstop growth: Trends keep building slowly, never stopping their growth. “A trend isn’t going anywhere--it will be there for a long time,” says Trent. In contrast, she says, “A fad won’t last.”

Durability: Trends are strong. Unlike fads, they don’t weaken as they become mainstream; they only become stronger.

Make observations. “You always have to be on the lookout,” says Trent. Read newspapers and magazines, especially from the East and West Coasts, where trends are often born. Go online and read blogs. Watch TV--not just the news, but popu-lar shows. Talk to teenagers; they’re especially in tune with trends. Look to companies like Wal-Mart to see where their profits are coming from. Basically, do anything you can to stay on top of what’s hot and what’s not--and what will be in the future.

The key is that you can’t only pay attention to industries that interest you--because, as Celente says, everything is connected. “It’s one of the big mistakes [potential entrepreneurs] make,” he says. “Opportunity misses those who view the world through the eyes of their profession.”

Obey the rule of threes. If something gets written or talked about in the media at least three times, “then you know it meets the initial criteria for being a trend,” says Trent.

Remember, however, that you need to know the demographics and needs of your particular market. Look for the patterns that are happening locally, and ask yourself whether they make sense. “If it’s something you need hot weather for, it’s not going to work in Alaska,” explains Trent.

David Lobel, founder and managing partner of Sentinel Capital Partners, makes it his business to look for those patterns and understand market needs. Just in the past several months, his New York City private equity investment firm has purchased several businesses that are taking advantage of a powerful trend: catering to the aging population.

Lobel says the trend is obvious even to the casual observer. “I don’t have to do a lot of deep thinking to figure out that this is a [good idea],” he says. Indeed, a simple Google News search for the words aging and population together produces more than 4,000 results. Not all the results are relevant, but this helps demonstrate that the trend is a no-brainer. What patterns are you seeing in the media?

Be your own trendsetter. Why not be the one analyzing the market and looking at changing needs? You can be the apparel manufacturer determining what to manufacture, or the children’s business creating the next great learning toy. Anticipate what lies ahead, and you’ll always be in business--even as the trends change in your industry. “Spotting is [seeing] what already is,” says Celente. “Forecasting is [seeing] what’s going to be.”

The beauty is that it’s within your power as an entrepreneur to act on trends you spot. You’re in control of your own destiny. So when you see a trend coming, you can plan for it and jump in when the timing is right, without any bureaucratic baggage. “Entrepreneurs can actually outflank many large businesses,” says Celente, “because the bigger the businesses are, the slower they move.”

Absolutely Fad-ulous
There are some subtleties to trend spotting--the primary one being identifying trends vs. fads. If you think you’ve spotted a worthy fad, you may have a worthwhile business. But you have to be prepared to act quickly and move on when the fad has run its course. “To be successful in a fad business, it’s all about timing,” says David Lobel, founder and managing partner of Sentinel Capital Partners, a private equity investment firm in New York City. “You have to get in early enough and get out before it’s too late.”

Deciding between a trend and a fad business largely depends on the kind of business you’re in. Apparel companies create fads all the time, with great success. Most important, don’t assume a fad is business-worthy just because you have a good feeling about it. “That path is littered with companies that failed miserably,” says Nancy Trent, president of Trent & Company Inc., a New York City PR firm.

Instead, research your idea and test it on your target market as you would with any trend or business idea. In fact, many of the same principles of trend spotting apply to spotting fads--just in a much shorter time frame. “People have made fortunes on fads,” says Trent. “It [takes] a cost-benefit analysis.” How much will it cost you to get in? How much can you make? If it’s likely to be a short-lived fad, how will you get out? “On the other hand,” says Trent, “you can keep a fad going if you’re waving a blanket at it and stoking the flames.”

source: Entrepreneur