12 Apr 2016

Entrepreneurs have been advised to take leadership management seriously as it is the most crucial aspect when it comes to business success.

Addressing attendants at Botswana Innovation Hub coffee session in Gaborone recently, a facilitator at FranklinCovey, Ms Leah Gwangwa said despite leadership management being a vital part of business operations, they have realised that entrepreneurs end up neglecting it in preference of the marketing aspect.

She advised that it was vital for leaders to develop good relationships with their employees in order to build trust and transparency.

“Anyone can be a leader and leadership is a choice, but there are so many leaders out there who are not fit to qualify as leaders because they do not have necessary qualities. Leaders are people who make things happen and produce sustainable results. They are transparent to their employees and engage them in the running of the business.

They are also positive minded and do not panic when faced with challenges,” she said. She said it was important for leaders to be cautious with what they value because they were creating that culture for employees.

She said whatever the leader values, it was what the employee would also value and that it was the way the leaders handle themselves that influences the behavior of the employee. She further advised entrepreneurs to identify any leadership gaps such as inconsistency that could lead them to make wrong decisions which could affect the whole business.

She encouraged entrepreneurs who were leaders to trust those they lead, which would enable them to delegate some powers and thereby give them more time for innovations. She said it would also strengthen the level of trust between leaders and employees.

For her part, one of the entrepreneurs, Ms Lillian Moremi encouraged fellow entrepreneurs to take themselves seriously, stating that their employees and clients would also take them serious. She also emphasised that most businesses fail because of poor leadership management. ENDS