Shayan Rashid, CPA, CA

As business leaders it is our job to rise to the occasion when our teams feel overwhelmed. Our strong experience in the field is what we can rely on to overcome challenges. I find that teams learn best by experience shares from their managers and leaders. We can give them examples of past experiences and let them ascertain how to apply this knowledge to the current problem. By taking an experience share approach we let our employees develop grit and confidence because we are empowering them to make decisions. This is a vital skill if we want to build strong teams and help our staff grow.

Being a leader means constantly learning! As an executive we will never have all the answers but we can strive to make learning new skills a priority. Learning needs to be part of our regular routines and habit stacking is a great way of doing this. With our busy schedules we need to find efficient ways to constantly learn. I personally love audio books and podcasts which can be accessed on our phones and at any time. Also attending webinars and subscribing to newsletters is a fantastic opportunity to stay current on any topic.

Being a leader requires business owners and managers to obtain buy in from our teams. Employees want a leader who they can believe in and respect. This means ensuring our values are aligned with our teams and incorporating those values in how we operate our business and teams. Business is not just about making a profit - it's about making a difference in the lives of our employees, our communities and stakeholders. Listening to our employees and taking in their feedback is important. As a leader we need to make sure there are processes in place for our teams to be heard and their ideas to be valued. The more we engage our teams the better the business will function and alignment will be optimized.