Finding yourself at the helm of a new start-up can be daunting. Every new business has its own set of challenges, and you have multiple team members looking to you for the answers.
Many CEO’s have made their fair share of mistakes. Here are a few common missteps and how you can avoid them.
1. Lack of Effective Communication
Communication is vital to the success of any organization. As CEO of a new business, you may have a small staff that’s easy to manage, or a larger number of employees who have to be kept in the loop.
Failure to keep everyone up to date with projects, tasks, goals, and organizational needs, you may create a culture of mistrust and frustration.
Fortunately, today’s digital environment makes it simple to keep in touch whether your staff is down the hall or across the country. Mix it up with email, text, and video conferences to keep everyone on the same page.
2. Negativity
When you’re a CEO, the pressure is on, there is no doubt. Much of the responsibility for the business rests on your shoulders. If you let that pressure get to you, it can reflect in the way your employees perceive you.
If you are overly hard on your team members, or too harsh when they make a mistake; you may find that they don’t come to you with new ideas. They may also quit, leaving you to replace them.
To avoid this pitfall, remember that your employees need a positive environment. Equip them to correct their mistakes, and encourage them to present new ideas to you.
3. Being Indecisive
As the boss, people expect you to know what to do when faced with a big decision or a minor problem. While you may not have an answer for everything right away, pushing off a decision can make you look like a weak leader.
Even if you can’t come to a decision right away, take steps in that direction. Don’t push the issue off to another day in the hopes that an answer will magically appear. Get going on research so you can make an informed decision without appearing indecisive.
4. Not Delegating Tasks
In small business, success is a team effort! You can’t possibly manage everything associated with your business, and you shouldn’t. You hired employees for a reason, and they expect to have work.
Don’t hoard big tasks at the office. By making projects a team effort, you give your employees the opportunity to grow professionally while growing the business. It will also gives you more time to focus on other tasks.
5. Making the Same Mistakes Repeatedly
Every manager, CEO, entrepreneur, or human being for that matter, will make a mistake at some point. The real problem develops when you don’t acknowledge the mistake or correct the issue.
If you make a mistake (or when you make a mistake), make sure you acknowledge the error. Then, take steps to ensure that the same mistake does not occur again. Your employees will accept that you’re human, and respect you for working to do better the next time.