By Rieva Lesonsky
One of the biggest challenges of being an entrepreneur is the leadership role you have to fill in your company. Before you launched a business, you may have headed a department or even a division, but being in charge of an entire business is something else altogether.
That’s why smart entrepreneurs are always looking for ways to boost their leadership skills. In a long-range, in-depth study, researchers at McKinsey & Company assessed successful leaders and pinpointed 5 components of what they called “centered leadership”:
1. Finding meaning in work. Centered leaders see their purpose as greater than themselves. They often use storytelling to convey their passion to their employees, and to convey the meaning they find in their businesses. This might not be the most “efficient” means of conveying information, but it can be the most inspiring.
2. Converting negative situations into opportunity. Fortunately, entrepreneurs tend to be natural optimists. But for those entrepreneurs who aren’t, change and uncertainty create stress and can cause paralysis. The good news is, you can learn to “reframe” negative events as positive opportunities is by spurring employees’ creativity. Brainstorm ways to turn a problem into an opportunity, and give people the OK to try and fail.
3. Leveraging connections and community. Bringing the right people together—both inside and outside your company–is key to leading successfully. Often, this means nurturing relationships that may not pay off right away, or bringing together people who may not seem to have a natural fit.
4. Acting in the face of risk. “Engaging”—facing up to what scares you, and inspiring others to do the same—is crucial for leading in times of change. The McKinsey research suggests the best way to do this is by imagining the worst-case scenario, fully feeling the fear that comes with that, then strategizing plans for dealing with it.
5. Sustaining energy. Entrepreneurs are “idea people,” but seeing an idea through to completion is hard, and often our energies fade along the way. Good leaders know how to replenish their own energy from time to time, as well as how to enable their employees to do the same. This can be accomplished by taking brief “technology breaks,” fitting in regular exercise or meditating—whatever works for you.
In a recent McKinsey global survey, leaders who master just one of these skills are twice as likely as those who have mastered none to say they are ready to lead through change. Those who have mastered all five skills are four times as likely.
Being a centered leader pays off, not just in your business, but in your life as well: Leaders who have mastered all five skills are more than 20 times as likely to report being satisfied with their lives in general. Isn’t that what we’re all aiming for?
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Rebecca is a guest contributor to 
