Leadership
preparing sme
leaders to lead
BY KASMIN COONEY
European SME Leaders
Over the recessional period the challenges for many European SME leaders was immense and leadership development was probably the last thing on their minds. Development for any management level was quickly put on the back burner, but particularly so for many senior leaders.
But, how should we equip today’s leaders to lead and develop their businesses? Traditional development options for SME Leaders.
For a range of reasons, a lot of small business leaders may not have had the benefit of formal leadership development. Those from the Traditionalist or Baby Boomer generations would have graduated long ago, perhaps in a discipline unrelated to running a business. For many entrepreneurs, higher education may have seemed unnecessary, preferring instead to just get stuck in and make it happen. Leaders working for large corporates often have the opportunity of a company funded MBA; no such luck for those leading the smaller business.
With all that said, many SME leaders would have sought development, either through a short in-house modular management or leadership programme, or by attending an open programme at a university or business school. These options do provide a valuable source of learning either as a qualification or a development award.
However, as valuable as these programmes are, the leadership curriculum is often split between two different areas; internally focussed topics such as: setting objectives, providing a vision for the team, motivating the team, delegation, communicating to direct reports and so forth. The second area of development focuses on the style of the leader; style flexibility, emotional intelligence, image and impact.
But what is the development priority for a leader who is trying to build a small or medium size business post-recession? Are there more useful things we can ‘teach’ our SME leaders? How do we make development options less corporate and more practical? Blended development options
.
50 | TRAINING MAGAZINE EUROPE FEB 2015
48 | TRAINING MAGAZINE EUROPE FEB 2015