Be The Example

Set an example in terms of your behavior. Strive to be your own ideal of the perfect worker, especially in front of the team.

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'Servant Leadership' and How Its 6 Main Principles Can Boost the Success of Your Startup

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entrepreneur.com

6 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Any experienced entrepreneur or manager will tell you that as a business grows, one of the biggest challenges is leadership. That challenge begins the moment you hire your first team member, and the challenge only grows with each addition.

Key Ideas

The concept of servant leadership

The actual term for a leader who upends the power pyramid to put others' needs first was introduced by Robert Greenleaf in his influential 1970 essay "The Servant As Leader" in 1970.

The 6 main principles of servant leadership

Empathy. Give trusted co-workers the benefit of the doubt by assuming the good in them. It goes a long way toward instilling loyalty and trust in you from your team.
Awareness. Care deeply about the welfare of the team members. Don't view them only as cogs in a machine.
Building community. Build community where both employees and customers can thrive.
Persuasion. Rely on persuasion rather than coercion to create internal motivation required to complete the task effectively.
Conceptualization. Servant-leading entrepreneurs focus on the big picture and don't get overly distracted by daily operations and short-term goals.
Growth. Care passionately about the personal and professional growth of each member of the team.

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How Low-Value Work Is Hurting Your Bottom Line

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entrepreneur.com

6 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. "It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials." - Bruce Lee At the beginning of this year, a rare few could have predicted how abruptly life would soon change.

Key Ideas

Don't waste valuable energy

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We can't waste valuable energy on mindless activities while putting off what matters most for later.

In business, wasting energy means working on low-value tasks, and thinking b...

Cut out the optional

Being overwhelmed may be the new normal, but taking on too many responsibilities may be watering down our overall impact.

Bring back your focus to what matters most. Work on the projects that are the real game-changers. Delegate the discretionary work and eliminate unnecessary meetings.

Design an action plan

Running a thriving business means understanding how to organize your work by importance and knowing when to delegate.

Find your sweet spot. When you consider taking on a project, see if it aligns with your purpose and the organization's broader goals. Ask yourself if you're the right person with the right skillset.
Automate. As your company grows, use automation tools for low-level work. It also allows your employees to make more meaningful contributions.
Set boundaries. Learn to say no to low-level tasks. Set your own limits about what you'll take on.

one more idea

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The Steve Jobs Equation for Tough Leadership

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entrepreneur.com

6 min read Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Close your eyes and think of the most iconic founder in recent memory. We're willing to bet that an image of Steve Jobs floats through your mind. That's no surprise.

Key Ideas

Steve Job's effectiveness boiled down to this:

He inspired team members first so that they were driven to live up to his exacting standards when the situation called for it.

Get this equation backwards and you will wonder why&...

The formula for being an inspirational driver

Know your "noble cause." Jobs understood that if teams don’t find their work meaningful, they perceive challenging directives from a leader as arbitrary demands rather than a call to sacrifice for a higher purpose.
Tell your story early and often. If you can’t weave your ideas into a clear, compelling story, those ideas remain abstract words likely to be forgotten.
Push, but within boundaries. Make sure you have a clear end point and time line in mind before you go into "push" mode. Intense work with no clear end in sight is demoralizing.