Accidental business leaders

I have been working with SME Managing Directors for two decades and I’ve learnt a lot about them. 

The big revelation for me from this time is that many SME managing directors did not set out to run a business. For someone like me who worked through a career ladder before deciding I enjoyed leading businesses, and worked hard to get an opportunity to do so, that was quite a shock. 

So how do you end up running a business by accident?

Well, I’ve since learnt that it’s quite simple. There are two or three possibly routes

• You start off doing some work for someone or making something for someone. This is often in the evening – ‘on the side’ so to speak. You do a good job and they pay you and ask for more. Step by step, you do more and you soon discover this is more lucrative and more fun than the day job. So you give up the day job in order to do more of it. But, you’re so good that your customers demand more still. So you ask someone to work for you to help get more done. Then someone else and then someone else. Until suddenly you realise you have a million pound revenue stream and twenty people depending upon you for a living. And then the recession comes and… help!

• You work in a SME and are good at your job and you get promoted. From operative to manager. Then from manager to director.  All well and good.  At each stage you are doing the next bigger job around your area of expertise. You do well as a director so when the need arises you move on one more step and are appointed Managing Director.  Great.  But then you realise the problem. You're now responsible for everything. Including all the functions you've never managed before that you may even have seen as a challenge.  Now you have the freedom to do what you think is right across the business.  But what is right.  Others have expectations of you to make decisions but somehow you're not quite as sure as they think you are.

• The third route is similar but worse.  You're the child of the owner and have now inherited the mantle of being the boss. Possibly whilst younger than others.  Possibly with the owner still 'helping' in the background whenever they think anything is wrong. Oh dear.

That’s how in my experience most business leaders end up running a business.  It;'s also why many adolescent businesses have growth pains. They’re not all led by well trained professionals.  And as one I'm not championing them as any better leaders - we have too much theory stuffed into us!

It's no wonder leaders sometimes run into a problem and encounter growth pains with their business.

There are loads of businesses out there run by people with no training to do so. That in itself is NOT the problem – many entrepreneurial people do a great job; bettter than those with the theory! But it does sometimes become a problem for them. They take their responsibility to their staff and their customers seriously and can can find themselves a little out of their depth. Especially when the business gets a bit too big for one person to manage by instinct. Or when difficulties like a recession hit!

The thing is, Managing Directors aren’t allowed to be unsure and lacking confidence are they!? Who wants to work for a boss who is even slightly unsure about management? It’s at this point they realise the need to learn something about managing and leading a business.

Which is where I come in.

I work exclusively with operational business leaders on leadership, strategy and growth. I coach and mentor some.  I speak, I interview and I facilitate. And I offer a free online conversation to help any real business leader (Click here) Yes to help, NOT to talk about helping.  I won't be pitching.  If afterwards you want to ask for more help, great.  If not, I'm pleased to have helped!