Although many aspects of leadership hold true regardless of the size and shape of the organization, there are some special satisfactions and challenges in every business model. For small business, some of the special satisfactions for leaders include: being closer to everyone and everything, more direct communication with faster turnarounds, more first-hand information, observation and feedback, and hopefully, a straight-forward decision-making process.

Food for Thought ~

I’m sure it comes as no surprise that there are also some special challenges of small business leadership, some even as a result of the above advantages. In this brief post, I will address just one of the challenges: covering additional management functions beyond the president/CEO role. One of the hallmarks of small business is the necessity of wearing many hats, true for many of the employees as well as top management. One of my clients was a manufacturing company where the president also functioned as the CFO and IT manager. In another company, one of the partners managed design and finance while his partner managed HR, production, and facilities. If the company grows, as most want to do, there will come a time when the bases cannot be adequately covered this way and the owner/managers/partners must decide which functions to delegate or re-assign. Of course there are many factors involved in that decision, but it starts by being conscious about where you are along the continuum of growth and being objective about how you can make your highest contribution. The good news? If you are open-minded, you may surprise yourself with your answers to the following questions. (Remember, there are no “right” answers.)

Question for the day ~

Is your current organizational structure and assignment of responsibilities working well? Are you covering bases at your company that might be better handled by someone else? Where and how can you make your highest contribution to your company?

On a Personal Note ~

I had mixed feelings about Tuesday this week coming the day after April Fool’s Day! I do love a good practical joke, but they’re hard to pull off via email, so I’m relieved I didn’t have to make that difficult call! For those of you who were on vacation or otherwise engaged, here’s a quick link to my recent QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER and another link to my new article.
I hope you enjoy them!

Mary