Small Business Leadership Lessons
04/19/2012 — Scott Frederick
There was a great article by Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs, in the April 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review, also posted on the HBR.org website. Mr. Walter summarizes some of the key leadership lessons that he observed through his work on the biography. I have bulleted-pointed them here:
- Focus
- Simplify
- Take Responsibility End-to-End
- When Behind, Leapfrog
- Put Products Before Profits
- Don't Be a Slave to Focus Groups
- Bend Reality
- Impute
- Push for Perfection
- Tolerate Only "A" Players
- Engage Face-to-Face
- Know Both the Big Picture and the Details
- Combine the Humanities with the Sciences
- Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
Among these lessons are some great stories and anecdotes from which every small business can learn. Frankly, the author had me at "Focus" - and I absolutely love the white board story - but the rest are good too. Although the PartnerShip business model is radically different from the Apple situation, there are some parallels in terms of the entrepreneurial spirit we have, and the intense focus we place on our LTL Freight, Small Package, and Tradeshow shipping services.
So - no matter what small business model you are in, if you are looking for some entrepreneurial inspiration, then you should definitely check out this article.