Close Close
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
ThinkAdvisor

Practice Management > Building Your Business > Leadership

How to Hone Your Leadership Style in Uncertain Times

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

It’s no secret that during major societal disruptions — such as the current pandemic — sound leadership is essential to successfully working our way through uncharted territory.

As we’re learning, this is true at the national level, for state governments and in businesses, both large and small, including independent advisory firms.

Most owners of advisory firms start at a disadvantage. Their professional training is largely focused on personal finance rather than the business leadership and administration schooling of executives at most large corporations.

Consequently, I spend a significant amount of time and effort helping  owner-advisor clients become better leaders. This, in large part, involves finding a “leadership style” that’s right for them and their businesses.

Where to Start?

Leaders, such as advisory-firm business owners, seem to base their leadership style around their strengths: a deep knowledge of the financial services industry, an entrepreneurial bent and strong people skills, which have helped them to attract and keep clients.

While these skills are essential to successfully launching a business, they’re less helpful when you’re trying to run that business.

For instance, as a business grows, each of these areas becomes important to continued growth. Unless business owners intends to work in their home or professional office 24/7, they’re going to have to delegate some — or even all — of those responsibilities to their staff members.

Consequently, it’s better for leaders to base their leadership style around their team’s strengths and weaknesses —  including their own — and give employees the support and resources they need to do their jobs more successfully.

Next Steps to Take

To do this, we find that the most successful leaders follow, listen, support, encourage, take responsibility (when it’s due), are committed to what they are doing and delegate whenever possible.

Unfortunately, most firm owners don’t delegate enough and/or delegate the wrong areas.

Not only does delegating some tasks and/or responsibilities free up an owner to focus on running their business, it also creates space for them to pay attention, observe how their employees are doing and have enough time to show them how they can do their jobs better.

True Leadership

A quick search on the Internet will result in a mountain of information about being a good leader, but much of it is conflicting. Instead, the key to finding  what works best for you — and for the team you manage — is by truly experiencing leadership.

This means you’ve got to take the reins and truly lead — in the unique ways and particular style that best help you rise to this challenge.

Until then, you still are searching for answers that can only be found in accepting the uncertainty of it all.

See: Why Having a Clear Strategy Is a Must Today


NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.