The 5 best and worst things you can do as a leader

[00:00:00] Katie Bell: Talked about when to hire, how to hire, and now in this episode it’s all about how to keep great people. And that is all about you. You are the leader. It’s our duty to get better and be better at being a leader. So the next two episodes are dedicated to just that. We are going to look at the f I guess five.

[00:00:24] Katie Bell: I chose five things. Five of the worst and five of the best things that you can do as a leader. When you get this stuff right, you create a world class team who deliver world class results and you get consistent, sustainable income. You become free. Are you ready?

[00:00:44] Katie Bell: Welcome to the Treat Your Business podcast with Katie Bell. I am Katie, and this is the place to learn the strategies, tactics, tools, and mindset needed. To build your clinic or studio into a business that gives you the time, money, energy and fulfillment you want and deserve. My team and I work every day with overwhelmed and exhausted clinic owners like you to shift them from a business that is a huge time and energy drain and is not giving them the income they want to confident clinic owners that are making money, saving money and getting time back in their lives.

[00:01:15] Katie Bell: So if this sounds like something you want, let’s dive in. This podcast is sponsored by HMDG, the leading digital marketing agency for the Clinicare is in the U. K.

[00:01:25] Katie Bell: Diving straight in at number five is I feel like something off the charts that I used to listen to religiously. Do you remember having to put your tape recorder cassette in your cassette player and like press what was it? Play and record at the same time so that you could just get the number one recorded and then you might have to change it over to side B?

[00:01:45] Katie Bell: Now I’m showing my age. But! Diving straight in at number five is having no clear plan. That is one of the worst things that you can do as a leader. Having a group of people who have no idea where the company is going, don’t know why they’re working, what they’re working towards, what the vision is, what the plan is.

[00:02:11] Katie Bell: This is the business owner’s responsibility. It’s your responsibility. They need to know what your promise is. Now, if you haven’t listened back to the episode where we talked about the Queen Bee role in your business, then I would urge you to go back and listen to that. But they need to know what your QBR is.

[00:02:31] Katie Bell: So if you are listening to this and you don’t really have a clear plan that you can articulate that is strategic, that is able to explain the vision of where you want your business to go, maybe in the next 12 months, maybe in the next three or five years, it depends how your brain works.

[00:02:50] Katie Bell: Personally for me, I really struggle to say this is where I’m going in five years from now. I’m a very much a now person. So it’s really. Takes a lot of thought for me to think beyond five, but I can definitely push to get to three. But you want to imagine that you are the driver of the bus. You’ll have heard me say this in a previous episode, and you are the only one that knows where you’re going.

[00:03:17] Katie Bell: And it’s your job to articulate that clearly and pick the right people to sit in the right seats on your bus to go on the journey with you. So the worst thing you can do is have no clear plan. The best thing that you can do is have a set vision and goals. that are renewed, that are refreshed, that are communicated clearly.

[00:03:37] Katie Bell: And as a leader it’s crucial that we set these achievable goals that align with our vision, that aren’t just sporadic, that change all the time, that you do and then stop doing two months down the line because you got busy doing something else because you were distracted by another shiny object down the line.

[00:03:56] Katie Bell: You’ve got to communicate this vision and these goals to your team. We are going How exciting is this? On a KB retreat. I am taking all, yes all, except for the people who’ve gone to Glastonbury, away for the weekend. It’s Friday, 4pm, through to Sunday, 10am, and we are going to be resetting our values, our vision.

[00:04:20] Katie Bell: And our mission as a company, because we are 10 years old this year. So my job as the owner of the business is to bring my team together, is to empower them, is to lead them, is to communicate where I would like the business to go from a I will have all of the financial stuff in the back of my mind.

[00:04:41] Katie Bell: In the forefront of my mind, actually, but that’s not really what I’m there to communicate. I need to be able to make sure. that I empower my people to be the best versions of themselves. To be the best versions of themselves, we’ve got to make a profitable business. We’ve got to make a business that’s sustainable, that’s exciting, that people want to be a part of, that clients love to be involved in.

[00:05:03] Katie Bell: So regularly revisiting and refining your goals and, as needed, adapt to changing circumstances. In COVID, we had a three year COVID plan that was not, can I just say, anything to do with my original plan because I did not plan for COVID. None of you did, I know. I didn’t just go, oh, okay we’re just not gonna hit our goals this year and it’s just gonna be a really shit year.

[00:05:29] Katie Bell: Nope, okay, we reacted. We adapted to the changing circumstances and we changed to a three year COVID plan. And each year had a title, it had a, it had a focus for the year. We are year three, just finished year three in fact like two days ago, depending on when you’re listening to this. I’m recording this in April, beginning of April, we’ve just finished our year end.

[00:05:51] Katie Bell: And we have just finished our three year COVID recovery plan. This final year was Thrive and Expand and we have done just that. And then we reset for this year. Number four, hiring and and performance managing people, or let me rephrase that, hiring people because you like the person, that’s the worst thing that you can do as a leader.

[00:06:16] Katie Bell: Your job as a leader is to foster a positive company culture an inclusive work environment where employees feel valued, they feel motivated, they feel empowered. You’ve got open communication, collaboration, teamwork. It is not your job as a leader to know it all.

[00:06:35] Katie Bell: It is not your job as a leader to dictate. It is not your job as a leader for you to be the one that has to think of all the ideas and drive the business forward. That’s not what running a team is about. And you just need to encourage and empower your team in the right way. You also need to performance manage people And hire people based on your company values.

[00:07:01] Katie Bell: The worst thing you can do, please imagine that we are driving on the bus together. You are the leader of your business, you’ve picked me up because I am your coach. And you need me on your bus. But we are now having to get other people on the bus. to sit in certain seats and we are going to recruit those people based on our company values and if they are wired to do the job to fill the seat that we are looking for.

[00:07:31] Katie Bell: The worst thing that you can do is hire people just because you think they’re quite nice or because they fit a bit but not in all of it.

[00:07:39] Katie Bell: You’ve got to really stay strong when it comes to hiring. Go back to listen to the last two episodes because we talk a lot about who and how and how you recruit people. And finally, number four, you’ve got to recognize and reward your employees for their contributions, not for just doing their job.

[00:07:57] Katie Bell: Can we just say for their contributions because you need to pay fairly and provide opportunities for growth.

[00:08:04] Katie Bell: Coming in at number three. The best thing that I think you can be as a leader is to say what you do and do what you say. Be vulnerable. Your job is to not know it all. A great leader leads by example. It demonstrates the values and behaviors you expect from your team members. So you need to be authentic, you need to be transparent, you need to be ethical in your actions and decisions.

[00:08:30] Katie Bell: You’ve got to show resilience as a leader. There are so many people, I could get on a soapbox about this, but I won’t, that are not resilient, that are not adaptable. They’re not willing to learn from both success and failure, and they are too worried about failing and how that will make them look that they actually don’t really ever step out of their comfort zone.

[00:08:55] Katie Bell: Your behavior sets the tone for the entire organization, so you need to Say what you’re going to do and do what you say. I never have expected anybody in my company to do anything that I’m not prepared to do myself. And believe me, I have done it all. Because that’s what happens when you grow your company, isn’t it?

[00:09:15] Katie Bell: You have to hire for what the business needs. But before, before you get to hiring, you’re having to do it all. But you’ve got to lead by example. You’ve got to be vulnerable. You’ve got to be able to ask for support, for help, for ideas. And not feel like you can’t do that because you’re the leader and you should know it all.

[00:09:36] Katie Bell: You don’t have to know it all. You just need to have the right people that knows it, that know it all. Because we can’t all be great at everything. We can’t all be good at everything. It’s recognizing as a leader, what you’re great at and what you’re competent at and what you’re incompetent at. And butt out of the things that you are incompetent at.

[00:09:58] Katie Bell: And the minute that you just, you think, Oh, I’m just going to get back involved with that. I’m just going to, I’m worried that’s not being done. I’m going to step back in. Is when you, I don’t even know if this is the word, but I’m going to use it. Disempower your people. It’s when they don’t feel confident anymore because you’ve stepped on their toes.

[00:10:15] Katie Bell: You’ve not allowed them to really develop and grow and take responsibility for their own actions and for their own responsibilities within your business. Okay. Number two, the worst thing I’ve again, three, three and two are a little bit similar is when you try and be the person that’s like hovering all the time or needs to be involved all of the time.

[00:10:41] Katie Bell: The best thing you can do is empower and delegate. You’ve got to trust your team members and empower them to take ownership of their work. You’ve got to delegate tasks and responsibilities according to their strengths and their expertise. So if you don’t know your team’s strengths, and their zone of geniuses, and how they’re wired, and what really makes them tick, You need to find out.

[00:11:04] Katie Bell: We have certain strength tests and personality tests that we encourage our clients to get their team to do and themselves to do, but it means that we hire based on those, we fire based on those we performance manage, and we will re reward based on those. And then we find the right people to fill the seats that the business actually needs.

[00:11:24] Katie Bell: And then you can provide the necessary resources, the support, the guidance, but you don’t need to micromanage. There is nothing worse than micromanaging. Micromanaging usually comes because the leader hasn’t delegated and empowered their team member well enough, or they haven’t put They haven’t been clear about what they want the outcome to be, so they’re not really 100 percent sure that the person that they’ve told to do the job is actually going to do it in the way that they want, because you haven’t been clear enough in the outset, so then you micromanage the shit out of it.

[00:12:01] Katie Bell: Empowered employees are more engaged, they’re more innovative, and they are committed to achieving their shared goals, or your shared goals. And number one. In fact, before I tell you number one, I’m going

[00:12:15] Katie Bell: to tell you how I came up with some of these. And I’d love to tell you that this has come from a place of being led and managed by great people. And it doesn’t. This comes from being led and managed by leaders who shouldn’t have been leaders or didn’t commit to being better at being a leader. They just through organic growth and growth of their business got into this role, but they didn’t really commit to go going and learning the skills and the knowledge and the expertise and the vulnerability.

[00:12:52] Katie Bell: That is needed to be a great leader and to also acknowledge that you can always learn as a leader. I am always learning what my team needs, what makes a great leader what I can refine, what I can do better at. So these things that I’m talking to you is actually from experience. It’s from seeing it done really f ing badly.

[00:13:13] Katie Bell: And it’s about saying it’s not okay. It’s not okay to use the fact that I’m just a physio. I don’t really know how to do this. Learn it. Stop doing CPD courses if you have a team. Stop it. Use your time, your energy, your money. your investment in learning this stuff because this is the only way you are going to free yourself of the day to day grind.

[00:13:38] Katie Bell: So my number one worst thing that you can do as a leader, I apologize, there is a swear word coming up, please hold your children’s ears, when you have shit communication. Have you ever been in a business, I have, where like the communication channels were just absent, or The scattergun, scatty, nobody really knows what’s going on.

[00:14:01] Katie Bell: You find things out after it’s happened. Oh, again, it’s just this lack of clarity. And I get it, as leaders we’re busy, as visionaries, we’re all the ideas, we don’t necessarily be, want to be the one that have to like, disseminate it down to our team. So if you don’t have those people in your business right now the book still stops with you.

[00:14:21] Katie Bell: But you’ve got to prioritise communication and feedback. You must establish clear channels. of communication throughout the organization. Ensuring that information flows freely between team members, departments, leadership, and encourage feedback. Listen, actively listen, don’t just talk, to the perspectives and the ideas of your team members and you as the leader cuts through that and comes at it from that business and that financial perspective and then really allows your team to go, okay, this is how we’re going to move forwards.

[00:14:58] Katie Bell: Make sure you’re feeding back in time in a respectful manner, fostering. Continuous improvement and continuous growth in your people.

[00:15:07] Katie Bell: What stands out for you? From 1 through to 5, what are the things that you need to be better at, do better at, try harder at? And it’s okay if you go, Oh, all 5 are not that great, I’ll probably score myself, maybe, a 2 out of 10, if I’m being really honest with myself. I was this person as well when I first opened my physio clinic.

[00:15:30] Katie Bell: I didn’t know how to be a leader. We weren’t taught, we didn’t talk nothing at uni about leadership and business management and financial forecasting. We just, I just went into the business and then I had to figure it out. Now a part of that is my wiring. I’m naturally wired to be a certain way as a leader.

[00:15:52] Katie Bell: But then I had to see what the as Philippa would say, what the light and the shadow is to that. What then allows that to be a strength? Where is the weakness there? Where is the opportunity for development?

[00:16:04] Katie Bell: Prioritizing being a better leader is your key to freedom and flexibility. It’s your key to financial freedom. It’s your key to experiences. It’s your key to travel. It’s your key to being able to get out of the daily grind.

[00:16:25] Katie Bell: You can cultivate a really positive and productive work environment. You can drive success. You can inspire your team to achieve their full potential.

[00:16:36] Katie Bell: So I encourage you to focus on one. Focus on one this next month and be better at it. Are you going to improve your communication channels within your team? Are you going to try and empower and delegate and get out of micromanaging? Leave people to it. Be clear about the outcome that you’re looking for and let the process driven person run the process.

[00:17:03] Katie Bell: Are you going to say what you do and do what you say? Be vulnerable. Your job’s not to know it all. Are you going to lead by example and demonstrate those values and behaviors you expect from your team members? Are you going to hire and performance manage people based on your company values? Or are you going to get clearer on your plan and articulate your vision to your team?

[00:17:26] Katie Bell: Whichever one it is, it can be improved. There are ways you can improve it. And I would love to invite you to a very exciting New concept, new Oh, it’s exciting. Okay, let me just tell you about it. Talking about scoring, you’ve just scored yourselves maybe a 2 or a 3 out of 10 when it comes to leadership.

[00:17:48] Katie Bell: And we have developed a I’m smiling, a massive big smile here, so if you’re not watching this, the video on this, just know that I’m smiling. We have developed a business health check for you guys. It’s completely for free. You can access it online and within about 10 minutes, you are going to get a tailored personalized report back that is going to assess your business in all five of the key areas .

[00:18:18] Katie Bell: From your finance, so knowing your numbers, to your sales strategy, to make sure that you are, all of those inquiries that are coming through you’re keeping, you’re converting, you’re retaining, your marketing strategy, how many clients you can get through the door, how visible you are, to your mindset, the things that are holding you back as a leader and as an owner of your business.

[00:18:44] Katie Bell: And team. So you’re going to answer 25 questions. This is done through AI. It’s a really powerful bit of feedback for your business, but you’re going to answer 25 questions and within minutes, maybe even seconds, it is going to deliver you a tailored report back, and it’s going to give you a score in each of those five areas.

[00:19:05] Katie Bell: It’s going to give you an overall score, individual scores, and it’s going to then give you specific feedback for each section, and it’s going to tell you what order you need to do things in. Because if you score really low in marketing, but you also score really low in sales, which one comes first? What do you fix first?

[00:19:24] Katie Bell: I can tell you it’s the sales bit, not the marketing bit, but hey, you need to do the test to establish that. So below this episode, there is going to be a link for you to click that is going to give you access to your online business health check. It is super exciting. You are, you guys are the first to know about it.

[00:19:46] Katie Bell: So make sure you head there now. And, as I said, it’s going to take you minutes to do. Don’t overthink the questions, answer them just what is your gut, what’s your instinct, what’s your gut reaction that comes, and just answer. And then watch the report pop into your inbox. How exciting is that?

[00:20:06] Katie Bell: I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode. Don’t forget to set your alarms for next Wednesday morning when the final one of this series drops, and it’s a really good one. You are going to get not one brain, not two, but three brains. For what? For one episode, three brains, and we are going to tie up the leadership and team theme.

[00:20:32] Katie Bell: See you next week.

[00:20:33] Katie Bell: Thanks so much for listening to this show. Remember content consumption does not make changes, so commit to doing something from today’s episode. Maybe it’s taking action on what we talked about. Maybe it’s reaching out to me and learning more about our transformational coaching programs. Or if you have not yet, join our free Treat Your Business Facebook group, a free access to over 30 business masterclasses.

[00:20:55] Katie Bell: All of that is over at thrive businesscoaching. com or linked in the show notes. And the last favor I will ask, because social proof is endlessly important, is to leave a rating or review. I would love to know what you think of the show, how the show has been helpful for you. And I can’t wait to chat with you.

[00:21:12] Katie Bell: This is just the start of our conversation. Reach out so we can keep it going. Talk soon!