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Tour de France style - Going long and hard in business

Posted by Oliver Corrigan on Jun 30, 2014 3:30:00 PM
Oliver Corrigan
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This week we were due to put out our post on starting your business in Leeds, being struck by tour de France fever in Leeds however got me going so you will have to wait till next week!

Tour de France style - Going long and hard in business.

Unlike the Tour de France, which after 3,664 gruelling kilometres, 21 stages and four different countries, eventually comes to the finish line, in business there is no end. Like a Tour de France competitor striving to survive one of the toughest races in the world, for a business to survive it must strengthen and build those long-distance muscles. It's hard work.

Take a look at the following strategies to help build ‘business muscles’ and keep your business on the road to infinitive success.

Learning to flex leadership muscles

 

“To be a great CEO, you’ll need to learn how to be a great leader, not just a great manager,” Marc Benioff, CEO salesforce.com.

What the CEO effectively means by this advice is that building a successful business requires a different combination of skills than mere management.

According to Todd McKinnon, CEO and co-founder of Okta, the first cloud-based management platform, running a department in a developing company requires managers to flex their “muscle management all the time.” This constantly flexed muscle includes pushing and driving the team, ensuring that it is functioning well and deadlines are met. However, McKinnon stresses how being a CEO utilises “A total different muscle combination.”

“Leadership and management are not mutually exclusive by any means,” writes McKinnon in an article titled ‘Learning to Flex your Leadership Muscles.’ “Instead, they each require both muscle groups applied in the right mix – and understanding how they are distinct makes managers better leaders and leaders better managers.”

Eight C’s of True Growth Leader

 

Flexing leadership muscles for business growth has been pinned on ‘Eight C’s of True Growth Leader.  These eight C’s include: Communication, Caring, Confronting Conflict, Candour, Collaboration, Circle of Trust, Credit to Others and Celebration.

As Jim Welch, president and founder of The Growth Leader states:

“These emotional connecting rods will help you find new ways to develop your team and grow your business.

In this sense the eight ‘essential C’s’ in leadership muscles combine emotions and business objectives. This means long and successful business growth isn’t merely a question of barking orders and constantly bullying teams into meeting deadlines and targets, but also requires emotional elements, such as being caring and creating a circle of trust. 

By understanding how to emotionally connect with colleagues and employees can, according to Tim Welch, “translate into superior and sustainable business results.”

Character, competence and chemistry

Like a decent teacher at school that has a knack of driving students long and hard and getting good results, or a cycling trainer training a professional cyclist for the Tour de France, the CEOs, directors and managers employees ‘connect’ with are ones which show compassion and chemistry.

Talking to the Washington Post, Doug Conant, president and CEO of Campbell Soup Company, reiterates Welch’s belief that the leadership requirements to nurture company growth require an emotional aspect. Conant believes the essential qualities of an effective leader are character, competence and chemistry.

“You have to be a person of good character. You have to do what you say you’re going to do and do it with great authenticity,” writes Conant.

Performance management

On a basic form, the Tour de France is a simple athletic contest. The strongest, fastest cyclist who completes the course in the lowest time wins, right? Not quite. Nobody could reach the finish line with the yellow jersey and be crowned champion of the Tour de France without a great team behind them.

The Tour is essentially a race of teamwork. Featuring teams of nine cyclists selected from a larger group of teammates, the teams work as units, each rider with their own responsibility. As the team flies round the course, the teams that use “sound racing strategies tend to have the most success – for the group and for the team captain.”

The same analogy can be applied to businesses. Working together and practising quality teamwork ultimately drives a business long and hard, nurturing it to success.

Though like the team captain in the Tour de France, sound teamwork requires a quality leader. This is when performance management steps in.

Performance management is a crucial element within any organisation. This vital business model is the systematic process which involves employees improving organisational effectiveness. Performance management essentially includes planning work and setting expectations.

When it is done well, performance management will boost productivity levels of a business, creating new opportunities, heights and improving motivation and morale.

When performance management is done badly, it can lead to employee demotivation and result in teams and companies underperforming, ultimately causing a detrimental effect on a business’s bottom line.

Effective performance management has been pinned on five golden rules.

.              Set clear expectations

.              Treat people as individuals

.              Give regular feedback

.              Focus on the positive

.              Provide support and development

Team Sky is certainly well rehearsed in setting clear expectations and providing the support required to help the reigning Tour de France champion Chris Froome retain the yellow jersey. By being a compassionate, competent and caring leader, who is skilled in creating effective performance management, like the cyclists soon to be heading to Leeds for the start of the Tour de France, you can flex your leadership muscles with greater confidence and power and ultimately foster long and hard business growth.

 

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Topics: management

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