Whether the business is large or small, the founder or leader at the top is critical. A leader creates the culture, sets the overall vision, and has oversight, if not direct control, over development of products and services. Last week, Apple began a period of recognition for its late, legendary founder Steve Jobs on the one year anniversary of his death. Let’s look at how leadership effects business today.
The Big Goodbye
A MacBook for Steve. So identifiable is Jobs with the products he helped bring to life that a design firm is creating and selling a special tribute edition of one of the company’s legendary laptop devices in his memory. You might not pay $12,368 for a Steve Jobs tribute MacBook Pro, but it is a challenge for every business owner or entrepreneur to be as closely associated with their product or brand as Jobs has been with Apple. Tech 2
Thanks for the memories. Jobs is also being honored with a memorial video posted on the Apple Website. The video contains images of the tech visionary and many of his words too. See a report on the video and thoughts from current Apple CEO Tim Cook about his illustrious predecessor. Think about what a video on your life’s accomplishments might say about your leadership and legacy. USA Today
Leadership Classes
Exceptional leaders. Let’s face it, that’s what all entrepreneurs want to be. To figure out how to be the kind of visionary who can guide your company to success, fame, and fortune, it’s a good idea to look at the best. In this case, Martin Zwilling outlines the qualities of two other well-known tech founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google. These are qualities any founder would be proud to call their own. Startup Professionals Musings
Training for tomorrow. Perhaps knowing the importance of such visionaries to the future our economy, we should, as guest blogger Christa Avampato recommends, focus on teaching entrepreneurship in our schools. Such qualities as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication must all be nurtured. These are the characteristics of future business leaders. Noobpreneur
Great management on a budget. One of the most important aspects of being an effective leader or manager in your business is to successfully motivate your employees or team. However, sometimes you face limitations in your funding, and need to find creative ways to accomplish this. Fortunately, there are many ways to improve your team’s performance while on a budget. IFC Coaching
The Best Around
Got mantras? Sometimes learning the qualities of leadership may be easier than you think. For example, some simple, easy-to-follow advice may be just the thing to help you better understand what leadership is and how to cultivate it in yourself and others. These might even be called mantras, but, of course, business consultant Chris Farmer calls them “one-liners,” and here are 50 to get you started. Corporate Coach Group
Outside hire. When all else fails, there is the option of hiring a manager or leader for your business from outside the company. While this may not be doable for some entrepreneurs and the idea itself may be abhorrent to others, here blogger Harry Vaishnav shares some of the reasons hiring leadership from outside your company might actually be a good idea. Small Biz Viewpoints
