Leadership Skill Set
Owners of a Sit Means Sit franchise come from diverse backgrounds. Despite their differences, they share several common traits such as a love of dogs, a quest for financial independence, high ethical standards, and an unwavering commitment to excellence in their enterprise.
Each Franchise owner brings to the table, their work experience, their intellect, business skills, enthusiasm, focus, passion and commitment. Each has turned or is turning, a corner professionally, opting to become a business owner rather than to continue working for someone else.
In a very real sense, they come to Sit Means Sit to lead; abandoning forever being a follower.
Leadership is surely a prerequisite for becoming a business owner. As captain of your own ship, you lead others, such as your clients who buy into your promise of an obedient dog; your staff ready to follow your vision; your family who support your efforts to provide for them without the security of a paycheck earned from working for others.
A failure in leadership often helps define what leadership should be — a fulfillment of our expectations. We expect leaders to deliver first class results. We expect leaders not to fail. We expect inspiration from leaders. We expect good judgment, astute decision-making, fearlessness, cunning strategy and problem solving.
Everyone recognizes the results of leadership. But what is required to be a leader and ensure the success of a Sit Means Sit franchise?
At last count, there are zero colleges offering a bachelor’s degree in leadership. Some come close, such as the U.S. Naval Academy or West Point. These and other institutions transform mindsets
(not wholly dissimilarly to a SMS trainer transforming a dog’s behavior). Management skills aside, leaders surely maintain a mindset that is different from followers. However, self-assuredness, focus and determination alone do not create a leader. Leaders are made, not born –despite the popular axiom. Past experiences help shape judgments made in the present. Skills equip an individual to perform but it is knowledge that hones performance and enables achievements beyond expectation. “Born leaders” are simply an ideal that brings comfort to those with lackluster leadership ability.
There is nothing innate about leadership. It is a skill that you develop. Leadership is pivotal to the success of a Sit Means Sit franchise, so we seek out leaders and work with them to perfect their leadership skills. By doing so, we galvanize the strength of our organization inherently. To meet an SMS franchise owner, is to meet a leader that is improving, personally and professionally every day.
Skill Set Of Leaders
“Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.”
— Marian Anderson
There are countless books and courses acknowledging that leadership is both an art and a science. Entrepreneurs draw equally on both to translate their vision into reality. Here are attributes which leaders display, all of which any owner of an SMS franchise displays:
- Integrity
Routinely doing the right thing without succumbing to a temptation to cheat or take any gain at the expense of others is not the exclusive domain of religious zealots. Leaders know what goes around comes around and doing right as a way of life pays immeasurable rewards. - Speed/Initiative
A sense of urgency is constantly on display in a true leader. They live their life with a mantra:
“If it happens in 5 minutes, it’s 10 minutes too late.” - Quality/Customer-oriented
Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Going the extra yard for SMS customers earns their respect and their continued patronage. Leaders don’t do things because it will benefit themselves, but for what it will do to benefit the customer (what goes around, comes around and good things for others begets good things for oneself). - Effective Communication
Leaders are clearly understood. They are at once persuasive while also being informative. They are inspirational while also being motivators. Leaders tend not to be “slick” or pepper their speech with catchphrases or simple sloganeering. They lay out a plan, resolve questions, and engender “buy in” from others who sign on for a mission because they understand what needs to be done and when. - Strategic Focus
Leaders avoid activity traps and diversions from their purpose. They orchestrate situations with an end result in mind. They see The Big Picture and adjust accordingly, maneuvering to grab the brass ring. - Continuous Learning
Leaders must be ahead of the pace of business, technology enhancements, global influences — leaders must be ahead to stay ahead. Legendary sports stars always have a coach who works the athlete towards peak performance. Leaders seek out information with which to hone their own performance. - Energetic Team Building
Leaders hire team members who are smarter than themselves. They outline a mission and let others execute with no micro-management. - Extraordinary Results
Leaders are anything but mundane and they seek larger-than-life results. Think big, achieve big. Your mother said it and she was right: “You can achieve anything you set your mind to.” - Financially Literacy
If you don’t know, ask. If it’s new, find out how it works. If it could get you where you want to go, investigate. If it won’t work, understand why. These are the laws of finance that leaders adopt.
Innovation in finance is as robust as advances in technology. Leaders are “game on” and tend to expose themselves to news that can advance their cause. - Emotional Maturity
Leaders are stable emotionally. They manage with a degree of personal detachment: “It’s not personal, it’s business.” Leaders play the cards they’re dealt rather than worry over a status quo they wish they had. Mentally push adversity aside and channel your emotional strength towards goal achievement.
