The Entrepreneur as a Leader

Entrepreneurs are leaders! That was how a colleague expressed her opinion when I asked her about her thoughts on entrepreneurship and leadership. According to her, there is a well-thought relationship existing between the roles of an entrepreneur as a leader. For an entrepreneur to fully fulfill his/her roles in business, one of the critical factors that must come into play is mastery. The entrepreneur must master the art of wearing different hats in his/her bid to expand his business and scale up the organization.

As an entrepreneur, the direction of the business, daily decisions and how team members communicate in line with the corporate policies of the organization must come from one source- The founder/CEO who most definitely is an entrepreneur. However, regardless of the technical competencies of the entrepreneur, his managerial skill seems to be at risk IF he cannot manage people.

As an entrepreneur, you must know the nitty gritty of people management. You must be able to coordinate, manage and control the resources, processes, and activities that collectively will drive your organization's vision and objectives. It is therefore required that the entrepreneur grooms properly, his people management skills to help bring out the best in others. If as an entrepreneur you aren’t bringing out the best in others, then you are not doing enough!

People management is a subset of human resource management, which deals with strategic, financial and policy issues, as well as people management. However, industry leaders explain that an entrepreneur’s leadership ability is manifested in his mastery of people management as it can contribute significantly to organizational performance. Here’s how it works. If organizations treat their employees in a way which the employees perceive to be fair and ethical, then, other things being equal, they are likely to suffer lower levels of turnover than organizations which treat their staff badly. This means that for a one man business trying to gather momentum, there is need to know how to balance leadership of how you relate with vendors, partners, investors and gradually the people whom you are likely to employ as employee team members.

Across the globe, Government’s fiscal and economic decision cannot be concluded without prior notice of leaders in the business world this is so because business opinions formed by top business leaders go a long way to influence consumer demands and market policies. Imagine Dangote stopping cement production for three months? Talk of Virgin Atlantic halting their flight operations for a week. Imagine if MainOne cable refused to operate for one week? The actions of this business will no doubt have an adverse effect on the business sector they occupy. If an entrepreneur is to develop the leadership capacity he/ she has, then these three key leadership laws must be adhered to;

The law of Influence

As an entrepreneur, one of the traits that will make your leadership different is the ability to replicate what you carry on the inside of you, your managerial skills, abilities, and experience.

A leader who exerts positive influence should be able to grow his ‘likes’ so that long after he is gone, his business will continue even in his absence. As a leader and entrepreneur, if you don’t have influence, you will never be able to lead others.

In the words of Colin Powell “You have achieved excellence as a leader when people follow you everywhere if only out of curiosity “ 

The law of Process

Let’s take an example from God. He is man’s creator and a universal leader yet everything about him speaks about the process! That is why there exists seasons in life- winter, summer, dry and rainy seasons.

It is true that some people are born naturally with great leadership potentials, but this doesn’t rule out the fact that the ability to lead is really a collection of skills which can be learned and improved. Becoming a leader is not like investing in a quick rich scheme.

It takes deliberate steps, dedication, discipline and learning to arrive at the peak of one’s leadership ability.

The law of Navigation

This law is obviously the most difficult and challenging of all the skills to be learned as an entrepreneur who is also a business leader. According to a popular quote “, Anyone can steer the ship but it takes a leader to chart the course” Jack Welch, a renowned author on leadership maintains that “A good leader remains focused.” Controlling your direction is better than being controlled by it.

Leroy Eims, another prolific writer on leadership says that “A leader is one who sees more than what others see, who sees farther than others see and who sees before others do. If all of these are true, then your capacity as an entrepreneur and leader lies in how well you are able to lead your team to be successful and be able to recognize obstacles before they appear to hinder your business decisions.

About the Author

Chukwuka Anslem Ozor is the Programme Manager at Apostles in The Marketplace. He is an Incubator Africa 2014 fellow and a mentor at Cheri Blair Foundation for Women & Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Foundation. Chukwuka holds a Bachelors degree in Petroleum & Gas Engineering from the University of Port Harcourt and certificates in Stakeholder Engagement &Sustainability in Project Management from the Lagos Business School.