How SME Owners Can Improve Their Leadership Skills In The Digital Age

Besides technical competencies like finance and project management, entrepreneurs must recognize the value of soft skills, including leadership. As covered in a previous post, the importance of leadership in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) mainly lies in the fact that organizations of this scale cannot hide behind the hierarchies and bureaucracies typically observed in larger companies.

Thus, SME owners must pay attention to communicating with their staff and clients, contextualizing and asserting their goals, and putting into practice other relevant soft skills like empathy and emotional intelligence. Since leadership is also a continuous learning process, entrepreneurs must use all the available resources, including the following avenues made readily accessible in this digital age.

Read ebooks On Leadership

Reading is one of the most straightforward ways to gain insights into leadership styles and strategies from established business experts. You can choose between fellow entrepreneurs who teach you industry-specific skills like organization and business management or thought leaders like Brené Brown and Stephen R. Covey, whose works focus on cultivating self-compassion and inner habits to better equip yourself as a leader.

Either way, it helps to acquire these leadership-oriented books in electronic formats so you can read them anytime and anywhere, whether between meetings or on the way to work. Top-class entrepreneurs like Bill Gates recommend focusing not only on reading speed but also your takeaways from the text.

Utilize Digital Coaching Services

Whether you’re just starting out or have already established your SME, there’s no denying that running a business entails a busy day-to-day schedule. However, you shouldn’t be worried about finding time to join a leadership development program, as LHH’s solutions focus on creating bespoke pathways of action that work for your talent readiness and potential.

Through its digital coaching service, EZRA, you can schedule one-on-one sessions with world-class coaches who can assess your current leadership capacity through personalized, measurable, and scalable diagnostic tools. Coaches also help you become future-ready through consultations and progress tracking throughout the program.

Find Mentors Online

Some may think it’s no longer necessary to have a mentor, considering the wide range of online business resources like books and YouTube videos available online. However, a Forbes article emphasizes the role of mentorship in imparting personal experiences and insights well-suited to your current leadership capacity and business ventures.

In fact, nearly a third (30%) of entrepreneurs who interacted with a business mentor just once reported business growth, while almost half (43%) who had at least five mentorship interactions reported growth. By joining online communities, workshops, and networking events, you increase your chances of finding a mentor who can provide personalized advice and feedback and ultimately help you navigate the entrepreneurial journey.

Sign Up For Leadership Courses

Lastly, you cannot underestimate the effectiveness of a formal and structured learning process in the form of educational courses. Fortunately, many top universities now host online leadership courses that enable you to learn directly from world-renowned professors in business leadership, communication, and management through self-paced lectures and interactive tools.

Among the promising courses compiled by the global business magazine Fortune is Harvard University’s intro-level, four-week course Exercising Leadership: Foundational Principles, which includes topics such as authority, stakeholder engagement, and conflict resolution. Meanwhile, Indiana University’s Developing Your Personal Leadership Style course focuses on communication and people management skills to help you evaluate your distinct leadership style.

In summary, SME owners looking to enhance their leadership skills can choose among multiple learning pathways, which include ebooks, coaching services, mentorship initiatives, and online courses. Whichever online platform suits your learning needs and style, remember to regularly conduct self check-ins so you can reflect on your progress and areas for improvement. For more resources on entrepreneurship, continue reading Tech Trends Daily.

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