As a company grows from the start-up to the scale-up phase, every entrepreneur will become more aware that their leadership skills are critical to helping the business grow and scale.

In this post, I will share five reasons why developing leadership skills is essential for entrepreneurs, CEOs and Business Leaders scaling up their businesses.

5 Reasons Why Leadership Skills Are Important for your Scaling up Business

1. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

For many start-up companies, the CEO and staff all chip into work on multiple projects. If you ask for a job description, the typical answer is ‘everyone is all hands on deck’!

Therefore, the leader must realise that as the business scales, more systems and processes need to be put in place.

This change usually upsets some staff members, and some might even complain saying, ‘the business is going too corporate.

However, if the leader has hired staff with little experience working elsewhere, then it is their responsibility to educate themselves on this transition and do the same with all staff members.

Leadership Skill needed: Adaptability

2. Focus on Getting Results Through and With Others

Another skill an entrepreneur needs to develop as they scale is focusing on getting results through and with others.

This can sometimes be a big challenge, especially if the task is something that the leader loves to do.

In this case, delegation is the skill to develop, which empowers team members to be just as effective and efficient as you are in this area.

Again, this sometimes could be challenging because knowing how to do something and teaching someone else how to do it are two different skill sets.

Leadership Skill needed: Delegation

3. Your Strengths Become Weaknesses

Entrepreneurs, business leaders, and CEOs are typically fast-moving and quick decision-makers.

As a company scales, the business owner might cause more chaos than calm.

If it is their strength to come up with ideas, they might find that they need to help their team think and start to come up with the ideas.

They might have a straight-talking character, which has helped them become who they are, but now they realise that people no longer want to share the truth with them out of fear of being reprimanded.

The opposite is also true in that you might be a great relational person, and now you have a person on the team who no longer benefits the company.

Your relationship-building strength could now become a weakness as you find it hard to tell this person the truth and confront the situation.

Leadership Skill needed: Emotional Intelligence

4. Your Biggest Problems Will Be People

Developing the skill of attracting, selecting and training the right people will become your primary focus.

These, again, are leadership skills different from the technical skills needed in the business.

Knowing how people operate, their personality types and how to engage varying personality types become a much-needed skill.

As the business grows, creating the right culture becomes the leader’s focus; therefore, having clear values you are striving to live out and encouraging others to do the same will prevent many challenges.

Developing the skill of attracting, selecting and training the right people will become your primary focus.

These, again, are leadership skills different from the technical skills needed in the business.

Knowing how people operate, their personality types and how to engage varying personality types become a much-needed skill.

As the business grows, creating the right culture becomes the leader’s focus; therefore, having clear values you are striving to live out and encouraging others to do the same will prevent many challenges.

Leadership Skill needed: People Skills

5. Your Influence Becomes More Than You Are Aware Of

Sometimes when leaders grow their business from the ground up, they need to realise that the staff members around them typically start to view them differently.

Therefore, owners of companies must become more aware that what they say and do matters as some people around them will change how they interact with you.

As much as we might not want to admit it, leaders need to factor in that if you pay their salary, it is reasonable that they want to be on your good side, and some people will do so at all costs.

So, for a leader, it is vital to know how to get your people to be authentic.

Leadership Skill needed: Influence

Conclusion

Taking your company from the start-up to scale-up phase should be viewed as your personal and professional development plan because this will help you more easily let go of old redundant skills and pick up new skills relevant to your business’ new stage.

Which area do you need to focus on?

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