Tips for a novice leader or 15 moments of truth

In business, if not at the very beginning, then a little later, when he grows up, you will have to be a leader, one way or another. Therefore, today’s post is called advice to the novice leader, and in it I will share some of my recommendations, thoughts and experiences.

I will say right away that some of them have been personally tested, and some are “taken from open sources,” as they say :-). That is, they are in all the business literature that I read, at least, but I have not yet had time to verify their effectiveness. Not because there are doubts, just did not happen in some situations. I will warn about this during the article.

So, what advice can be given to a novice leader?
Just bring them all in a list, I think it will be clearer.

The head (especially the owner of a small business) is obliged to take responsibility. It will not work to lead anyone if you are not ready to start with yourself, and you plan to blame everyone.
Continuous self-improvement and development is almost the most basic task. And then the moment will come when they will begin to doubt you, and in the end you will lose credibility.
If you are a business owner or manager, then you simply must clearly set goals and objectives for your subordinates and seek to achieve them in the most efficient way possible.
Decisiveness, fairness and consistency are indispensable qualities. If they are not, you need to develop. Otherwise, it will be difficult to correctly manage and be the leader of a group, or even less an organization.
Equally important are exactingness, confidence and the ability to say no. The main thing is balance.
Work more with opportunities, not problems. The problem will not go anywhere (or even better, if it does :)), but the opportunity can be missed. Of course, there are very acute problems that require a very immediate solution. But we won’t even talk about them :-).
Pay more attention to employees who bring better results. This is both fair and logical. I note this point as not tested by me in practice. I don’t know how, but it didn’t work out … Maybe lucky, or vice versa unlucky, but it was so … But it seems logical, it seems to me, honesty.
Keeping promises is the main source of trust and authority of the leader. I also did not check what happens when you do not keep promises (I always kept it, honestly :-)), but nothing good will happen, don’t you think?
To assign tasks to subordinates taking into account the tight deadlines – let it be better not to be in time in a short time than in a long one. And the risk is the same. Almost…
Any misconduct by an employee must be punished. Any. The measure should correspond to the misconduct, of course, but there should be no concept of impunity in general.
The manager always knows that there are alternatives, and you can always do something even better. Not verified. Honestly, “they are not looking for good from good” is also true after all. Moreover, Kennedy said this :-). Although the “strive for the best” proverb is even better. I like it more :-).
The leader always knows that time is an invaluable resource. Employees should also know. This is absolutely true, I am convinced of this, although I myself do not get along with it. Let it be unverified, but, I repeat, I am sure that it is true.
To start is already half the battle. And this is not another triviality. This is real try! 🙂 Get your subordinates to start something. Then it will be easier to finish this.
Do not be afraid to work hard and do not be afraid to make a mistake. Weakness and indecision is a business sin.
Always look for new leverage: new business ideas, skills, time, opportunities, connections …