Arthur Ashe once said, “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” The same thing can be said about leadership. The best leaders are on a journey to become better leaders. They never stop learning, yet they know they have to get out there and start leading now. Over the past ten years as an entrepreneur, I have learned several life-changing leadership lessons, but none have impacted me more than these:
1. Always put others first.
We have all heard the term “servant leadership” and know that “serving” is one of the top characteristics of a great leader, yet for some reason, we have difficulty taking our eyes off the computer screen to look at our employees when they need our help. Stop telling those you lead what to do, and start asking what it is you can do to help them. Bosses have an “It’s my way or the highway” mentality. Leaders, on the other hand, serve and build their employees.
“The goal of a leader is to provide no orders. Leaders are to provide direction and intent and allow others to figure out what to do and how to get there.” – Captain Marquet, U.S. Navy.
2. It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
In my early years, when an unfortunate situation developed, I would react. My reaction was often abrupt, loud and sometimes negative. Today, I will pull myself from a situation when possible, take a few seconds and some deep breaths to gather my composure, and then respond. No one likes to have a voice raised at them or be spoken to like a child. My team constantly reminds each other, “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.” The content of what you are saying may be really important and you may want a lesson to be taught. Don’t let the message go unheard simply because of your tone.
3. First impressions are powerful — and lasting.
A good friend and someone I admire as a leader reminded me of this recently. I have always taught my team that a customer is going to know whether or not he or she would be willing to purchase from us within the first ten seconds of walking through the front door of New Scooters 4 Less. First impressions are everything. The greeting, the handshake and the presentation are all powerful for a business and for a leader. People shouldn’t judge a book by the cover, but unfortunately, they do.
4. Stop comparing your success to others.
Learn from other leaders, but stop comparing your success to theirs. This has been extremely tough for me, as I still struggle with the fact that Facebook’s birthdate is the same as my company’s. I was also the guy who told Sam and Josh at Grooveshark that I would pass on advertising with them back around 2007 because I had never heard of their company. Now, I try to learn as much as I can from these entrepreneurs and leaders. It is easy to get discouraged because another 22-year-old just created an app and can sell it to Google for $3 billion. Instead, work hard. Stay focused.
5. It’s ok for leaders to work IN the business.
I recently read the book about Southwest Airlines called “Nuts!” Like many leaders, I keep telling myself, “I need to work ON the business and not IN the business.” (Seriously…how many times have you told yourself this?) I was quickly humbled when I read that Herb Kelleher, former CEO of Southwest Airlines, would get down on the tarmac and swing bags into planes with the ground crew during the busy Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Kelleher constantly told his employees, “If we think small, we’ll grow big, but if we think like we’re big, we’ll grow small.” This is how Southwest challenged bureaucracy and kept the entrepreneurial spirit alive within the organization. As a leader, Herb focused on stellar customer service and profitability instead of market share. As an entrepreneur, I have had difficulty scaling my company, but I have realized that by ”thinking small” and doing more with less, we will grow big.
Collin Austin is the COE — “Chief of Everything” — of New Scooters 4 Less and a partner in local start-up Gulejo Coffee.