4 Best Leadership Practices for Entrepreneurs & Small Business Owners

Looking for that “magic” formula, studies and experts continue to examine data and anecdotal evidence to identify common characteristics and best practices of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders.

While the search for finite answers is elusive, there is an abundance of shared knowledge that makes for insightful and inspiring fodder. For example, check out these 4 tips on best leadership practices for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Create Your Optimal Routine. Many entrepreneurs point to an untraditional workday or a quirky routine as germane to their successful businesses and leadership.

“A trademark of modern self-starters is their ability to break away from the 9-to-5 parameters of traditional jobs,” says a post by Banknovo.com, a business banking platform built for small business owners.

When it comes to crafting your optimal schedule, the best one will be what fits the needs of your business but also align with your individual natural rhythm and lifestyle.

“From the early-morning tennis sessions of Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour to the daily ice baths of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, tailoring your schedule to your rhythm will enable you to take charge of your responsibilities and create discipline in your life in the most optimal way possible,” says the Banknovo.com post.

“Gain control over both your business and your lifestyle by making daily lists of objectives, blocking off time on your calendar to allocate time for tasks, and setting reasonable deadlines.”

Empower Your Team. Empowering your team creates an atmosphere conducive to business growth.

“Empowering people comes down to an element of trust and freedom,” says Scott Maloney, founder of K2M Design, an architecture, engineering and design company based in Cleveland, in an Inc. magazine post.

“Trust them coming out of the gate,” he writes in the post. “Hire thoroughbreds and let them run!  We give employees freedom within the boundaries of achieving our mission and vision. They give us great ideas and solutions.”

Provide Resources. Part of that empowering process is providing employees the resources they need to do their job well.

“As their leader, those resources are your responsibility,” says a blog on the website of Antoinette Beaucamp, an empowerment mindset coach, author and meditation teacher.

“One of the most pivotal shifts you can make as a leader is to shift the focus from what gets done to how it gets done,” writes Sarah Robertson Miller on antoinettebeaucamp.com.

“Your job is not to produce the product. Your job is making it possible for other people to produce the work product better.”

Persist – Through Repeated Rejections. Just about every entrepreneur has experienced rejection. So it’s no surprise that persistence would be an oft-cited characteristic of successful entrepreneurs and leaders.     

“When times have gotten tough in my entrepreneurial endeavors, it has been tempting to tuck my tail between my legs and walk away,” writes brand strategist Robert Heavrin in Noteworthy - The A Journal Blog (via Medium).

But he was inspired by entrepreneurs on NPR’s How I Built This to keep going, past rejection. Heavrin cited these lessons from the show as examples of persistence.

“In trying to partners for Rent the Runway, Jenn Hyman was on the way to a second meeting with fashion designer Diane von Furstenburg when von Fursternburg’s assistant called to cancel the meeting. Hyman acted like she had a bad connection, hung up, and showed up anyway.

Furstenburg was not interested in partnering, but introduced Hyman to Nieman Marcus, which helped get Rent the Runway off the ground.”

Another example from Heavrin, excerpted from the NPR podcast.

“In trying to gain ownership of the phone number 1–800-GOT-JUNK, founder Brian Scudamore made about 60 calls to find and convince the owner to transfer the number to him.

 “I could have given up after call 54 or 55,” Scudamore said on How I Built This. “I just kept going.”