10 Secrets of Successful Leaders

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” But, becoming a great leader isn’t easy. Successfully maneuvering a team through the ups and downs of starting a new business can be one of the greatest challenges a small-business owner faces.

Leadership is one of the areas that many entrepreneurs tend to overlook, according leadership coach John C. Maxwell, whose books include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Thomas Nelson, 1998) and Developing the Leader Within You (Thomas Nelson, 1993).

“You work hard to develop your product or service. You fight to solve your financial issues. You go out and promote your business and sell your product. But you don't think enough about leading your own people and finding the best staff,” Maxwell says.

It turns out, the skills and talents necessary to guide your team in the right direction can be simple, and anyone with the determination can develop them. Here’s a list of 10 tips drawn from the secrets of successful leaders.

1. Assemble a dedicated team.
Your team needs to be committed to you and the business. Successful entrepreneurs have not only social and selling smarts, but also the know-how to hire effectively, says leadership trainer Harvey Mackay, who wrote Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive (Ivy Books, 1995). “A colossal business idea simply isn't enough. You have to be able to identify, attract and retain talent who can turn your concept into a register-ringing success,” he says.

Related: What's Your Leadership Style? (Quiz)

When putting your team together, look for people whose values are aligned with the purpose and mission of your company. Suzanne Bates, a Wellesley, Mass.-based leadership consultant and author of Speak Like a CEO (McGraw Hill, 2005), says her team members rallied around each other during the worst part of the recession because they all believed in what they were doing. “Having people on your team who have tenacity and a candid spirit is really important," she says.

2. Overcommunicate.
This one’s a biggie. Even with a staff of only five or 10, it can be tough to know what’s going on with everyone. In an effort to overcommunicate, Bates compiles a weekly news update she calls a Friday Forecast, and emails it to her staff. “My team is always surprised at all the good news I send out each week,” Bates says. “It makes everyone feel like you really have a lot of momentum, even in difficult times.”

3. Don’t assume.
When you run a small business, you might assume your team understands your goals and mission -- and they may. But, everybody needs to be reminded of where the company’s going and what things will look like when you get there. Your employees may ask, “What’s in it for me?” It’s important to paint that picture for your team. Take the time to really understand the people who are helping you build your business.

“Entrepreneurs have the vision, the energy, and they’re out there trying to make it happen. But, so often with their staff, they are assuming too much,” says Beverly Flaxington, founder of The Collaborative, a business-advising company in Medfield, Mass. “It’s almost like they think their enthusiasm by extension will be infectious -- but it’s not. You have to bring people into your world and communicate really proactively.”

4. Be authentic.
Good leaders instill their personality and beliefs into the fabric of their organization, Flaxington says. If you be yourself, and not try to act like someone else, and surround yourself with people who are aligned with your values, your business is more likely to succeed, she says.

Related: Tips on Loyalty and Leadership

“Every business is different and every entrepreneur has her own personality,” Flaxington says. “If you’re authentic, you attract the right people to your organization -- employees and customers.”

5. Know your obstacles.
Most entrepreneurs are optimistic and certain that they’re driving toward their goals. But, Flaxington says, it’s a short-sighted leader who doesn’t take the time to understand his obstacles.

“You need to know what you’re up against and be able to plan around those things,” she says. “It’s folly to think that just because you’ve got this energy and enthusiasm that you’re going to be able to conquer all. It’s much smarter to take a step back and figure out what your obstacles are, so the plan that you’re putting into place takes that into account.”

6. Create a 'team charter.'
Too many new teams race down the road before they even figure out who they are, where they’re going, and what will guide their journey, says Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One-Minute Manager (William Morrow & Co., 1982) and founder of The Ken Blanchard Cos., a workplace- and leadership-training firm. Just calling together a team and giving them a clear charge does not mean the team will succeed.

“It’s important to create a set of agreements that clearly states what the team is to accomplish, why it is important and how the team will work together to achieve the desired results,” says Blanchard, who is based in Escondido, Calif. “The charter provides a record of common agreements and can be modified as the business grows and the team’s needs change.”

7. Believe in your people.
Entrepreneurial leaders must help their people develop confidence, especially during tough times. As Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Leaders are dealers in hope." That confidence comes in part from believing in your team, says Maxwell, who is based in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I think of my people as 10s, I treat them like 10s, and as a result, they try to perform like 10s,” he says. “But believing in people alone isn't enough. You have to help them win.”

8. Dole out credit.
Mackay says a good salesperson knows what the sweetest sound in the world is: The sound of their name on someone else's lips. But too many entrepreneurs think it's either the crinkle of freshly minted currency, or the dull thud of a competitor's body hitting the pavement.

“Many entrepreneurs are too in love with their own ideas and don't know how to distribute credit,” Mackay says. “A good quarterback always gives props to his offensive line.”

9. Keep your team engaged.
Great leaders give their teams challenges and get them excited about them, says leadership expert Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Free Press, 1989). He pointed to the example of a small pizza shop in a moderate-sized town that was killing a big fast-food chain in sales. The big difference between the chain and the small pizza joint was the leader, he says.

Every week he gathered his teenage employees in a huddle and excitedly asked them: “What can we do this week that we’ve never done before?” The kids loved the challenge. They started texting all their friends whenever a pizza special was on. They took the credit-card machine to the curb so passing motorists could buy pizza right off the street. They loaded up a truck with hot pizzas and sold them at high-school games. The money poured in and the store owner never had problems with employee turnover, says Covey, who is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

10. Stay calm.
An entrepreneur has to backstop the team from overreacting to short-term situations, says Mackay, who is based in Minneapolis. This is particularly important now, when news of the sour economic environment is everywhere.

“The media has been hanging black crepe paper since 2008,” he says. “But look at all the phenomenal companies and brands that were born in downturns, names like iPod, GE and Federal Express.”

From Business Failure to Multimillion-Dollar 'Green' Niche

Marty Metro loved the idea of buying something used and selling it for a bargain. He had watched resale shops do it successfully for years with everything from clothing to sports equipment. "EBay became a $10 billion company selling something used cheaper than new," says Metro, a former IT consultant for Fortune 500 companies.

But when Metro saw a moving truck loading boxes during a cross-country drive in the late 1990s, he recalls talking to his wife about how difficult it is for people to get rid of boxes after they’ve moved. "They break them down, tear them up, but they still don't fit in the recycling bin," he said. That casual conversation ultimately inspired him to leave his lucrative tech career in corporate America and strike out on his own. Metro's idea was to connect people who have used boxes to those who need them. At the same time he'd keep a lot of cardboard out of America’s landfills and help the environment.

Related: Richard Branson on the Business of Sustainability

While Metro passionately believed in the concept, little did he know he would first fail miserably at retail and sink deep into debt before turning it all around. He would have to recast his eco-friendly idea and create innovative technology to help him ultimately build a nearly $10 million business.Still, there were five years of hard lessons learned along the way. Metro's journey is one of inspiration, innovation and perseverance, which all small-business owners can learn from.

n 2002, Metro got his start by founding Los Angeles-based Boomerang Boxes, a retail store that sold used cardboard boxes, primarily to people moving into new homes and apartments. His father, a CPA, was skeptical, saying, "You're going to have to sell a hell of a lot of boxes to pay your rent."

It turned out dad was right. Selling $1 boxes out of brick-and-mortar locations didn't quite pay the bills. By 2005, Metro was forced to shut down Boomerang Boxes' four locations. Consumers appeared to love the idea, but the company was losing $15,000 to $20,000 a month and wound up $300,000 in debt, which Metro is still paying off today.

Still, Metro refused to give up. He started working on a plan to sell used boxes online, but in a unique way. "Historically, no one really sold boxes -- let alone used boxes -- online," recalls Metro, now 40. "They were too expensive to ship, so most people just went to a retail store (and asked for their discards.)"

But in 2006, he secured $300,000 in venture capital to build an online store called Usedcardboardboxes.com. Metro's distribution centers -- owned and run by third-party logistics teams -- make shipping more efficient and inexpensive since they're strategically located across the country near the major cities of Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago and near Syracuse, N.Y. The company also owns and operates its own facility in Baltimore.

By 2008, Usedcardboardboxes.com had grown to $1 million in annual sales and demand was quickly beginning to outweigh supply. Metro needed more boxes, so he started buying and selling used boxes from national companies, expanding his customer base beyond consumers.

For Metro, the greatest challenge then became tailoring his used offerings to specific needs. When a company requests a 12-by-12-by-8-inch box, for example, nothing else will do. That's where his tech expertise has come in handy; Metro developed custom software that automatically matches what companies need with what he has access to.

If a company needs 100,000 boxes, that information is put into a database that checks what boxes are available, the cost to ship them and the price Metro has to charge to make a profit. His IT staff updates the software and improves it almost daily. "It is very much the core of our success and a major factor in our future," he says.

Metro's software and monitoring Systemincludes a business-to-business portal that offers big companies the option of viewing real-time inventory and ordering directly from the distribution centers.And he can access data from each distribution center right from his computer -- or even his phone -- which allows him to quickly identify and manage any issues or problems as they come up.

Electronic Recyclers International, which recycles computer components and other e-waste, has been a customer for three years. Chief executive John S. Shegerian says buying used cardboard boxes not only saves money, but also fits in nicely with his company's green goals. "We make it a cultural thing. Even our forklifts are hybrids," he says. "They have a great business model that supplies the boxes we need -- when we need them -- and they're recycled."

Meanwhile, Metro's father is no longer worried about his son selling cardboard boxes. The Company's annual sales are just under $10 million and growing fast, according to Metro. He now has a few hundred business clients -- including a dozen large corporations. And the company's average order has gone from a $100 moving kit in 2006 to an $8,000 truckload today.

Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success

Seve Jobs' impact on your life cannot be underestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect -- computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs' greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.

Over the years, I've become a student of sorts of Jobs' career and life. Here's my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.

2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

Related: 10 Things to Thank Steve Jobs For

6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.

7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.

There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple. An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that's the best advice he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.

Entrepreneurship

It has assumed super importance for accelerating economic growth both in developed and developing countries. It promotes capital formation and creates wealth in country. It is hope and dreams of millions of individuals around the world. It reduces unemployment and poverty and it is a pathway to prosper. Entrepreneurship is the process of exploring the opportunities in the market place and arranging resources required to exploit these opportunities for long term gain. It is the process of planning, organising, opportunities and assuming. Thus it is a risk of business enterprise. It may be distinguished as an ability to take risk independently to make utmost earnings in the market. It is a creative and innovative skill and adapting response to environment of what is real.

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