Top Six Business Skills Business Owners Must Have
Quick Answer: The six business owner skills that enhance all others are mindset, planning, listening, hiring, leading and letting go. The most vital is letting go: a trained owner's job is to move on from every job in their own company, replacing themselves through a system so the organization can grow.
The Six Business Owner Skills
While there are many skills a business owner should develop, in this article we will look at the top six that, when applied, will enhance all other skills.
The top six skills are:
1. Mindset
2. Planning
3. Listening
4. Hiring
5. Leading
6. Letting go
Mindset for Growth, Expansion and Scaling
Our universe is entropic. This means that if you're not growing, you're shrinking; if you're not expanding, you're contracting. In an environment where it is all too easy to fall into the trap of shrinking or contracting oneself, a trained owner always finds a way to grow, expand, and scale themselves and their business organization.
Planning for the Future
A business without a plan is like a ship without a rudder. An owner who doesn't plan, plans to fail. It's as simple as that. In our company, we call planning "future design." In the future design process, we take an in-depth look at three types of planning: big-picture planning, next-level planning, and ground-level focus planning.
Listening
Listening is a skill that is a lifelong practice. We often say in our company, "An owner is a beginner practicing the basics forever." Listening is one of those basics. When you practice something, it is an acknowledgment that you can always continue improving, and never reach a pinnacle. There is always the next level, and the level after that. Listening is a skill that compounds year over year and increases an owner's ability to tune into themselves, their team, and their market to be able to provide what's needed and wanted.
Hiring Exceptionally Well
A business works when it's an organization. It is not about self-employment. It's about a system that provides what's needed and wanted. Hiring well for that organization is essential. In today's "contactless" environment, the outdated hiring methodologies of the "revolving door" are no longer sufficient.
In our group, we are partnered with a company that provides a world-class hiring technology that is the most accurate we have ever used. We provide access to this technology to all of our clients as a way to troubleshoot employment problems, position people correctly, promote within the company, and effectively hire the best talent available in the marketplace.
Leading
Being a leader means sharing the company vision and the future it speaks of in a compelling way to those inside and outside of your organization. As a structure, an owner requires a company design with six core components: vision, external mission, internal mission, core values, definitions, and culture codes.
Letting Go
The final and most vital skill of an owner is being able to let go and move on from jobs in their own company. A trained owner gets, in an operational sense, that their "job" is not to hold onto any job within his or her organization. In fact, the longer an owner stays in a job, the more they become a liability to the company and will inevitably stifle business growth.
In our company, we say that an owner's ultimate skill is the rate at which they let go of jobs and effectively replace themselves through a system. That's who a trained owner is. They build the organizational structure and give it to other people to fulfill the work within it.
Your Business Journey
We hope this list helps you on your journey. If you're someone who is interested in being a true owner of your business, please contact us. We are here to help guide you in the right direction.
- If you're not growing, you're shrinking: a trained owner always finds a way to grow and scale.
- Planning, or "future design," covers big-picture, next-level and ground-level focus planning.
- Listening is a basic an owner practices forever, and it compounds year over year.
- A business is an organization, so hiring well is essential.
- The most vital skill is letting go of jobs and replacing yourself through a system.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important business owner skills?
Mindset, planning, listening, hiring, leading and letting go. When applied, these six enhance all other skills an owner develops.
Why is letting go the most important skill?
Because the longer an owner stays in a job inside their company, the more they become a liability and stifle growth. The ultimate skill is how fast you let go of jobs and replace yourself through a system.
What is "future design"?
It is what RSC calls planning. It looks at three types of planning: big-picture planning, next-level planning, and ground-level focus planning.
What does a company design need for leadership?
Six core components: vision, external mission, internal mission, core values, definitions, and culture codes.