SCORE: Identifying and Developing Leaders In Small Business

ST. LOUIS - Nov. 13, 2014 - PRLog -- Do an Internet search on “leadership” and you’ll find no shortage of articles, books, and quotes about what it takes to be a successful leader. That’s because no two leaders, or leadership situations, are alike. Each leader brings different skills, talents, and experiences to the table.

SCORE has a program that offers free mentorship to people who want to start and keep a small business. SCORE shows business leaders how to apply those various raw skillls to multiple situation in the business world. Leaders like Theodore Roosevelt, General George Marshall, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are all great leaders.

Leaders like these all had respectively great approaches to particular problems. Taking some of the skills and practices of these leaders, and instructing them into leaders of today's small business leaders is something

SCORE does Still, there are skills shared by all successful leaders, including those at the helm of small businesses. Most are developed through experience and education. Business plan writers and consultants have identified distinctive keys to business leadership. You may not fully develop them all, and have to compensate in other ways.

But SCORE believes simply being familiar with them will make it easier to engage your employees, partners, vendors, customers, and associates. SCORE recommends small business owners have a initial plan. Leadership of a small business involves identifying potential problems and solving them before they reach crisis proportions.

As such, small business leaders are continually analyzing new data and adjusting their plans to conform to the changing landscape. Small business leaders should have a vision. Vision provides direction and without direction, there’s not much point to all that planning. That makes it critical to develop a vision statement that defines your business, and what you want it to achieve.

SCORE teaches business owner to be open and talk about it. Sharing that vision with others starts the cycle of getting them to believe in you, which reinforces your own belief in what you want to accomplish, and your ability to do it. Business leaders must have the courage to take charge. This is when all those thoughts and ideas are turned into decisive actions. You can't just ‘talk a good game to be a leader. and inspire through example.

The role as a small business leader doesn’t end at 5:00 pm, or when you step outside for lunch. People respond to leadership when they know you are fully committed to those objectives. Small business leaders have to act in ways that are fitting to their leadership vision all the time. For more leadership ideas, contact SCORE.

SCORE is a nonprofit organization of  volunteers who provide free, confidential business mentoring and training workshops to small business owners.  The SCORE Association Chapter 21 1222 Spruce Street, Suite 10.103 St. Louis, MO 63103 (314) 539-6600 xx242

John Parker is a senior public relations and marketing professional, and President of Parker Public Relations in St. Louis, MO. He is well experienced in crisis, situational, and executive communications, and public affairs with over 15 years of diverse experience in media relations, political campaign operations and connecting individuals and corporations with the world through communications.