What Makes A Good Leader?

Advice from ECI’s leadership team on how to be an effective leader in today’s world.

People often associate leadership with a level of authority or position within an organization, but real leadership is achieved by inspiring others to be the best they can be. To do this, you have to empower others and give people the runway to try new things, make mistakes, and make decisions.

What qualities are important in a good leader?

In my experience, the most influential and effective leaders have two main qualities in common: the ability to build trust and good communication.

• Ability to build and sustain trust - When I think of good leaders, I automatically think of people who create a culture of trust. If trust is lacking, you don’t have anything to build on. You can’t coach, you can’t share difficult news, and you can’t inspire. To me, trust is where it all starts.
• Good communication - A vision or mission is only successful if people understand it so it is important to have good, effective communication. Why is it important? How will we achieve it? What feedback or direction do I need to stay on course? A good leader is a strong communicator and clear about the “why” behind a goal.

As a leader, it is easy to get bogged down with your own workload, but not prioritizing your team is one of the biggest mistakes I see. Coaching and investing in the people that work for you is essential to keep a strong talent pool of future leaders. It’s important to get off the wheel of constant chaos and make time to listen to your employees and develop them. A good leader knows whether an employee needs direction, support, or coaching and gives them what they need when they need it.

If someone doesn’t have leadership experience, where do they start?

Step up and put yourself out there! Volunteer to lead a meeting, mentor a new hire, or help with an important project. Don’t be afraid to reach out to all of your resources and ask questions so you can learn. This can be a great way to identify and connect with a mentor that you look up to whether they are in your company, a past co-worker, or someone within your industry. To grow as a leader, you must humble yourself and learn from other people. I think you will find that most people want to help you in any way they can!

At our company, we have a large team of leaders, so we asked some of those who lead our various divisions:

What advice do you have for small business leaders on leading a successful team?

“I have found over time that to lead a successful team in the SMB space you must prioritize effective communication, foster a collaborative working environment, and invest in employee development. You must also set clear goals and empower your team with the right tools and resources to get their jobs done.”

Brian Bowerfind, President, Global Office Products, Contract Furniture, and NET1 Divisions

“As a leader, it is important to acknowledge the value that others within the business can offer you. We can’t do it alone. By building a team of formal and informal leaders below you who bring diverse strengths that are different from yours, you can ensure that decisions are well-rounded and creative. Having the confidence to delegate to those leaders will expand your leadership and decision-making capacity while identifying budding leaders who can be tapped for business growth and succession. When they succeed, be sure to publicly recognize and reward their achievements to create a positive culture throughout the organization.”

Matt Heerey, President, Manufacturing Division

“Small businesses typically have some of the most dedicated and hard-working team members striving for a common goal. Leaders need to cast a clear company vision and establish goals for the business that will enable success. All businesses want to grow but small businesses need to do so with hyper-focus on the people in the business during this journey. As you develop your business, you must develop your people as they are the most expensive and valuable part of your business. Invest in your team by mentoring them, providing opportunities for continued learning, and most importantly, empowering team members to make decisions. Don’t forget to recognize your team. Most business owners and leaders of small businesses don’t get a lot of recognition for the things their team does, which can subconsciously make you think it is not important. You must actively recognize people for behaviors that you wish to continue and thank them for a job well done.

Is inevitable—Businesses grow, roles change, and needs evolve. As a leader, you need to make decisions for the business and once those decisions are made, you must completely support the decision at all levels. By overcommunicating the “why” behind those changes and taking employees along for the ride, they will be more willing to embrace change than fight it. “

Bob Cain, Business Unit Leader, Residential Home Construction Division

“We are currently going through a sea change in our industry. To establish trust and respect as a leader, you need to embrace these changes and advocate for them. For example, as the ecommerce trend continues in the building supply industry, merchants should consider the ramifications of not moving forward with investments related to online marketing, product content, end-customer account management, online sales, and online payments. On the one hand, it can hold them back from generating new sales, but on the other hand, their team may feel as though their leaders are holding them back and unwilling to embrace technology to better the business and themselves professionally. The same can be said for business operating software. While stand-alone software is generally perceived to be less of an investment, it can frustrate the team members who use the software all day, every day. An omnichannel integration will continue to grow in importance for businesses. No matter the size or scope of your business, good leadership starts with your team, and embracing the changes in the industry, that will lead the team, and your business, in the right direction.”

John Maiuri, President, Building Supply Division

“It all starts with hiring the right people. If you invest in the wrong person, the cost of change is more than business performance. It can negatively impact team morale and culture, both of which are very hard to build back up. Investing in the right resources from the beginning can make all the difference. Make sure you are looking for someone who will be a good cultural fit, brings qualities that will augment the team, and has skills that fill existing voids in your organization. In their early days, stay close to them and have other leadership team members engage with them regularly. This will strengthen the new hire’s onboarding experience and help set the entire team up for success.”

Laryssa Alexander, President, Field Service Division

As a leader, I focus on five main areas to ensure my team is supported, trusted, and successful. These tips are ones that I also encourage my team of leaders to put in place:

- Prioritize psychological safety: Create an environment where team members feel safe to take risks, voice their opinions, and ask questions without fear of ridicule or retribution. Teams with high psychological safety are more innovative, agile, and ready to tackle complex challenges because members are not afraid to think outside the box and make mistakes.

- Embrace vulnerability as strength: Often, leaders believe they must have all the answers and appear infallible. However, embracing vulnerability by acknowledging your mistakes and uncertainties can strengthen trust within your team. It humanizes you, encourages people to speak openly, and shows that it's okay not to be perfect!

- Be the captain your team respects, not just fears: It's easy to bark orders and expect blind obedience, but it takes a true leader to earn the crew's respect. Show them you're in the trenches with them, willing to get your hands dirty. Yes, and don't shy away from a wee dram (shot of whiskey for our non-Scottish readers) with the team after a hard day's work. It's all about building camaraderie and meaningful relationships.

- Celebrate the little victories: It’s great to have a big win now and again, but don't overlook the small successes. Celebrate the small things. It keeps morale high and shows the crew that you notice their efforts. It can be as simple as a shout-out in a meeting or a private message to acknowledge an excellent contribution/achievement.

- Be a bit daft. Yes, you heard me right. Sometimes, you need to lighten the mood. A bit of humor goes a long way in keeping the atmosphere light and stress levels down. Just remember, there's a time and place for everything, including being a little bit silly!

Paddy Donnelly, Business Unit Leader, Ecommerce

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