Thursday, December 12

Heart & Hands – 2 of your greatest Business tools

“And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them.” Psalms‬ ‭78:72‬ 

2 aspects to being a successful leader :

1. Heart

Your integrity, your passion, your godliness, your internal world is a huge part of your leadership and business success. Compromise this and you compromise your business.

Your motivation, or ‘why’, for your business is critical. I sometimes hear people say “I am working for myself because I couldn’t work for anyone else”. The truth is you will never be a success working for yourself until you have learnt the ability to work for someone else. The 2 are not mutually exclusive. What you learn building someone else’s vision, being subject to someone else’s timetable are essential lessons in being a great leader.

Every great business needs a great motivation. Do I believe my product or service can better people’s lives? Do I intrinsically value the customers I am trying to reach? Is my goal to bring meaning and provision to people I employ? What is my ‘pure’ motivation?

2. Hands

The skill of your ‘hands’ will set you apart. Get good at what you do. Not just in the skill of working IN your business but also in the skill of working ON your business. You can be an expert in your field but what a successful business needs is someone who is skilled at leading and business management. 

Therefore take time to read, to study, to network and learn from others the skills of running a business. Below are some book recommendations that will help you.


“Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings; they will not serve before officials of low rank.” Proverbs‬ ‭22:29‬ ‭

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

You the Leader by Phil Pringle – Best practical book on how to lead, touching on the fundamentals of working, connecting and influencing people too.

Patrick Lencioni’s books – If your need is to build teams, recruit people then all of Patrick Lencioni’s books are excellent.

Atomic Habits by James Clear is very good for personal management. You can also YouTube him on this topic.

Excellence Wins by Horst Schulze is an absolutely brilliant book on customer service

For general inspiration these biographies are great reads – Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, Jack by Jack Welch

Of course Simon Sinek’s stuff on finding your ‘why’ is a must read – actually you can YouTube his stuff

Many books have now also had summaries written for them, for those of you who don’t like reading an entire book. This can be a fast way to take in the main points of a book. Or buy the audible version, for listening as you go. Or subscribe to podcasts, for example ‘The Story Brand by Donald Miller” provides some very helpful marketing input.

For stuff on HR – how to write role profiles, contracts, etc. You can find some of this online. Maybe an HR online advisor.