Black Enterprise Small Business University TEAM LEADERSHIP Course Review Week 5 by Lashana Thomas

WEEK 5 Course Review TEAM LEADERSHIP

This week for Black Enterprise Small Business University expert teacher Scott Gerber, Founder of the Young Entrepreneur Council, teaches a course on Team Leadership.

LESSON 1: HIRING A GOOD TEAM

A manager is only as good as his or her team. Serial entrepreneur Scott Gerber tells you about the ups and downs of hiring the wrong team, and helps you avoid mistakes many entrepreneurs make.

Based on poor hiring decisions from a previous startup that Scott and his business partners started that led to bankruptcy they quickly learned DOs and DON’Ts to hiring a good team.

           ·          Don’t hire people you know because they’re your friends and a part of your family. Instead hire people who are qualified to do the job and based on talent and ability. Do hire people who are the best people for the job, know the risk, when you get involved, find the best people by putting the right information out, talk to the right experts, and other peers in your industry to make sure that the people you decide to hire are the best people for the job.

           ·          Don’t stick with bad hires because you feel obligated to them because you know them personally. Do hire people who you’re confident in and can do the job, these are people who are productive, skilled, and know how to get the job done.

           ·          Don’t create a bad working environment or culture. Instead of environment that breads tension and unproductivity. Create a culture that’s fueled by creativity and brand identity and pride.

3 Tips to Hiring a Good Team:

1. Hire people who are smarter than you:  Bring in people that are specialist who can get it done. You want to be able to rely on these individuals instead of them relying on you.
2. Test out and try out new hire before you hire them: Don’t want to be stuck with a new hire that isn’t the right fit, try them out in a shorter time period to see if they can manage the work.
3. Always think about the company culture in addition to ability:  Having a great company culture leads to great collaboration and creativity. This will encourage the company’s overall goals and brand identity.

 LESSON 2 HOW TO BE A GOOD MANAGER

The recipe for a good manager has many ingredients. Possessing the right qualities will ensure you and your team are successful.

Having an effective, productive, creative environment are some of the key ingredients to managing a successful team. It’s your responsibility as manager or owner to foster and support instead of micro managing and not showing trust your team.

When selecting a good team look at people who know how to execute and who are innovative, think to include everyone in your company when sharing and discussing company goals, everyone’s input matters.  It’s important to let your team know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish on a high level and from a vision and mission perspective, by doing this your team is able to execute your vision according to their area of expertise and specialty.

Another ingredient to successfully managing your team is allowing your team to be intrapreneurial. Provide them with a creative license and expect them to deliver and fulfill all promises, this will ultimately allow them to feel a part of the mission and vision of your business. If they succeed with their goals they’ll be rewarded, if they fail they me demoted, job on the line, or not looking at the best they could for the entire team, this ultimately puts engagement in the mission and philosophy of the business, and make them more successful, because they will strive to accomplish all the goals they set forth.

3 Key ingredients to remember

• Don’t be a micromanager - Your team won’t be creative, innovative, and productive if you stand over their shoulders.
•  Allow employees to be intrapreneurs - Give your team the tools, resources, and guidance they need to be successful and take your business to the next level. This is going to help innovate and create all new products and services, and can create the next generation of your executives.
• Set goals and milestones with team leaders. Then delegate and automate those opportunities. – Once you scale you can create new products and services, by finding new  ways to create something different and innovative, you can find new ways to streamline it, you've learned how to make that process effective.

LESSON 3: KNOWING WHEN (AND HOW!) TO LET GO

You can do no greater disservice to your business than holding on to players who are simply wrong for your team. Learn how to know when and how to let it go.

You began as a solopreneur building your company with every ounce of your being and now you find yourself in the position that requires other people supporting that effort. Making a decision to let go is often tough for entrepreneurs, but if you could find a way to let go,  your business will benefit as the result, as long as you have the right team.

3 Tips to Knowing When And How To Let Go

1.  Ease into backing off by watching progress as you pull back. – It’s not an overnight process, you want to ensure that your team is fully prepared and capable handling tasks assigned. It’s important to work with them and track the progress so you can comfortably let go.
2. Work toward scale and full delegation so you can move on to the next business opportunity or need. –   As an effective manager you need to be constantly growing and being innovative in your business, be sure to find ways to give responsibility to other key team members so you can move forward and do pay attention to other key areas.
3. If you can’t let go, why can’t you? Assess and correct your choice in new hires. – Always assess why you don’t feel secure in making this decision. If it’s a hiring reason, fix it. Hire new people who you can effectively get the job done. Ultimately by letting go your business should be better now worse.