Characteristics of Successful Business Leaders

Characteristics of Successful Business Leaders A. Introduction: The article on “Follow your leader” (Leadership for Young Executives) has attracted gr...
Author: Jocelyn Gordon
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Characteristics of Successful Business Leaders A. Introduction: The article on “Follow your leader” (Leadership for Young Executives) has attracted great interest and we received numerous comments and feedback. There were many requests for identifying the characteristics of successful business leaders. Based on our knowledge and experience, we have identified the following characteristics of successful business leaders for readers’ reference. B. Characteristics of successful business leaders: 1. Ability to identify business opportunity (有大生意的眼光): The best example is Virgin Records (back in the early 1970s) where a group of youngsters led by Richard Branson saw a business opportunity in providing a cheaper source (alternative business model) for youngsters to buy pop records instead of buying them from retail shops (considered expensive for youngsters). Richard Branson and his team were in their late teens and early twenties. It was no rocket science in what Richard Branson and his team did in identifying the business opportunity. They are just able to see the opportunity that many others could not.

The best example of failing to identify a huge business opportunity is Kodak (filed for bankruptcy in 2012). The irony of this example is that Kodak built the first prototype for digital camera back in 1975. Kodak management decided to stick with selling film instead of venturing into a new product that is counter-productive to their existing business. Unfortunately, Kodak did not see the huge business opportunity in taking the lead in developing a whole new market for digital cameras. 2. Turning dream into reality (捉到鹿識得脫角): There were three important aspects of their business model that Richard Branson and his team did. The first is advertisement through local school publications and popular magazines that youngsters read in order to attract customers. The second is that youngsters can place orders and payment by mail from all over UK. The third is the delivery of pop records through the General Post office (Royal mail) instead of building a costly logistics operations. Richard Branson and his team made their operations users friendly and cost effective for them to make profit from it. 3. Dream big (要有大志): Techtronic Industries Ltd (TTI) was a local Hong Kong power tools manufacturer founded by Mr Horst Julius Pudwill and Prof Roy Chi Ping Chung BBS JP in 1985 as an OEM to overseas brands. In just over a quarter of a century, TTI has grown to become a clear market leader in home improvement power tools (a portfolio of some famous brands that they acquired) worldwide. This is the results of the vision and strategy of the two co-founders. The strategy that they used is simple and bold. They acquired their first well-known brand (Ryobi) instead of building their own brand that would be costly and time consuming and might not succeed. After initial success, they continue to acquire other brands and businesses. I was fortunate to participate in their growth and development as their Quality Management consultant for ISO 9001, Continuous Improvement

Initiatives (Total Quality Management) and Supplier Development and Improvement programme in the 90s and early 2000s. 4.

Persistence (never give up on a good cause) 堅持: Sir Alex Ferguson (former manager of Manchester United) built at least three successful

teams over his “reign” at Manchester United. Many supporters doubted him (some even labelled him for being stubborn) but he was persistence with his plan to build each successful team (replaced established players with new ones). He proved that his plan works because he won more English premier league championships than any other manager. Note 1: One should be careful of own stubbornness over persistence. The advice is, if you and your team think you are right persist with the cause but be careful with thinking and making judgement alone. Note 2: Alex Ferguson managed Aberdeen, the Dons, of Scotland to win the European Cup winners’ cup back in 1983. Aberdeen beats Real Madrid in the final. It was a famous victory for a small club over a huge club. 5. Enthusiastic (熱心): Successful business leaders have the passion for and enjoyment in what they do. If you look at all those tycoons from Hong Kong who are still in charge of their organisations even though that they have passed the retirement age. It should not be greed to make more

money (hope not) that keep them going but the enjoyment and the passion of running successful businesses. 6. Taking calculated risk (值得冒险): In business, there are always risks that business leaders have to consider and take. Sir Alex Ferguson fully supported Ronaldo of Portugal after he got Wayne Rooney sent off in the world cup in 2006. He took risk in fending off hostilities by his own Manchester United supporters and protected his potential star. At the end, Ronaldo became a football superstar and supporters loved him. 7. Courage to lead (敢於去帶領): In the “Iran Arms and Contra Aid Controversy” US President Reagan said, ''the buck stops here with me'' in congress. He was courageous in taking the heat off his subordinates by being a true leader. 8. An eye for talent (慧眼識才): A leader leads and followers follow and do most of the work. Followers must be talented otherwise the goals might not be achieved effectively. Note: Selecting employee based on experience and qualification might not provide you with a talent. It is often extra-curriculum activities that indicate potential talent. 9. Striving for excellence (enhance competitive advantages) 成為領先 者(有競爭優勢): In the business jungle, it is the survival of the fittest. If you look at the Fortune 500 companies over quarter of a century, you will notice that some had dropped out and they are now oblivion. It is critically important that business leaders must strive for excellence (better than the competition) in order to stay at the top of businesses.

Yes, that’s

self-evident – what about telling them how they can do it.

10. Building relationships and influencing others (建立關係和影響他人): People relationship is important in any business and culture. We Chinese called it “GuanXi” and the British called it “old boy/girl network”. In the May edition of our blog (article on utilising external resources), there is a section on Cultivating relationship: The building of network of external resources is like cultivation, there are three steps; first is select and sowing the seeds (allocate time to focus on participating in activities and meeting people), second is nurturing the plant (maintaining the relationship) and third is to share the fruits of success. The reason that I compare building of network is like cultivation because I spend my weekend doing “gardening”. It takes a long time and lot of hard work for plant to grow and there is no guarantee of fruits. However, the process of gardening makes me understand nature better and also good for my character building (become a better person). It is important that relationship is used in an ethical manner (no corrupt practices). As for learning how to improve your relationship building skills, the book “Influence – the psychology of persuasion” by Robert Cialdini is worth reading. C.

Leadership and start from yourself: These characteristics are useful references for potential young leaders to learn and improve their leadership ability. As indicated in the previous article, you are unique and you might not be able to duplicate what other successful business leaders had done. However, you need to assess your strengths and weaknesses for each of the characteristics and build on it. would benefit from a discussion of being a role model.

This part

Note: There will be future articles on type of leadership and improving leadership skills.

Article written by: Leslie Lee 李賢勝

date: August 2015

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