Are You Leading Your Franchise Toward Greatness or Mediocrity?

Most owners naturally believe they are great leaders, but do your managers and employees see you the same way?  Do your business efficiencies and financials reflect this?  Sometimes when we move into a role of supervising people we tend to believe we automatically have what it takes to be a good leader.  Often, this is not the case and there can be unfavorable results from such a mistaken assumption.

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." --Ronald Reagan

The Effects of Poor Leadership

Leadership is a vital tool in your management skill set.  The ability to encourage and support your group of people toward the realization of a common goal is critical to the success of your franchise.  Poor leadership can impact every area of your business and create huge gaps between strategy and execution.  You may have the best ideas in the world, but if you can’t get your team to buy into and execute those strategies the franchise is never going to reach its full potential.

What are negative effects of poor leadership?

• - Lack of Synergy
• - Low Morale
• - Reduced Productivity
• - Poor Customer satisfaction and Retention
• - High Turnover - Employees don’t leave companies, they leave bosses
• - Poor Financial results

According to the Small Business Administration poor leadership practices are one of the primary causes of business failure.  Blanchard Research noted that up to 32% of a company’s turnover can be directly related to poor leadership.  They also noted that there could be a productivity drag of up to 10% when leadership is lacking.  When it comes to financial results studies have shown that less than optimal leadership can affect the bottom line by as much as 7%.

As you can see the difference between a franchise being great and mediocre is often dictated by its leadership.

“Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.” —Brian Tracy

What makes a great leader?

To have a highly successful franchise you need to display great leadership.  While many definitions exist, I think Bernard Bass said it best; “an effective leader is a person who does the following”:

• - Creates an inspiring vision of the future
• - Motivates and inspires people to engage in that vision
• - Manages delivery of the vision
• - Coaches and builds a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision

There is a monumental difference between being a boss and an effective leader.  You must earn the trust and respect of your team.  Here are a few other things that might help:

• - Improve your people skills
• - Believe in yourself and your team
• - Create a transparent culture
• - Be creative and inspirational
• - Delegate to your team
• - Be honest with your team
• - Show guidance
• - Actually care for your team

• - Communicate efficiently
• - Listen (you have two ears and one mouth for a reason)
• - Always have a positive attitude
• - Be a strategic visionary
• - Show humility and give praise
• - Always be enthusiastic
• Educate yourself on leadership

Leaders are rarely born. Persistence and a willingness to learn and grow are key components in you becoming a great leader. So if your goal is to become a superior leader, work on it as if your business depended on it, because it does.

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality." --Warren G. Bennis

There are online resources available to provide the tools for you to become a stronger leader and elevate your franchise operations and employee productivity. All of which can lead to improving your financial results. Now is the time for you to explore those options.