What small business can learn from #libspill

For all their talk about leadership, politicians rarely demonstrate this trait. Instead, they focus selfishly on themselves ahead of the needs of those they claim to serve.

This focus on self preservation is evident in Australia this weekend in the lead up to the vote on the spilling of leadership position of the parliamentary Liberal party. Watching it unfold yesterday and today on TV and online, I have been thinking about what we in small business can take away from this. Not much I think.

The same is true of the the various leadership challenges in the Labor party over their recent years in government.

Our ‘leaders’ are not leading. Despite their spin, they look after themselves first and in doing so lose direction. Here’s my small business perspective on #libspill:

• Knowing what you stand for and clearly articulating this and why is vital. You need to know why you are in business, what your business stands for and to speak to the narrative supporting this. In business, this is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). What sets you apart from the others. Taking others ion your journey in pursuit of this is even more vital.
• Disunity is death. This is as true in politics as it is in business. If everyone on your team is not behind your mission they put your mission at risk.
• This is the era of conversations. We are talking with each other more than ever, especially in business. Yet the Prime Minister through #libspill has held one-way press conferences with no two-way communication.
• The world has changed. Tony Abbott referred to social media as graffiti. Some newsagents mock social media. Anyone dissing social media is out of touch with the people and ignoring how people communicate today.
• Trends can start anywhere. A good hashtag on Twitter is all you could need to get noticed. Social medial is a platform where small businesses can be as noticed as big businesses – yet it is a platform many small businesses do not use. Hashtags take on a life of their own – #ImStickingWithTony
• People know what they want. Whereas in the past you would pitch or offer something and people would respond. The world today is about giving people what they want and this starts with them engaging with you before you even have your products in-store. This is a consequence of a more connected world. Success will come sooner to those connected with this world and giving people when they want. No, that does not mean turning at every demand. Good leadership is about communicating so people learn what they need which may different from what they want.
• People appreciate strength. Like him or not, John  Howard commanded respect. This is vital to leadership. A small business that leads will be more noticed and respected than the small business that follows. While leadership has risks and challenges, it is the place from where you can set the agenda.

What we are seeing among the federal Liberal politicians is poor leadership, self interest and ignorance of the world today. I suspect these are reasons for poor polling. In small business if we lead well, focus on our customers and connect with the world we are more likely to be successful – and show the politicians how it is done.

Footnote: I am frustrated with the business representatives media outlets interview at times like this. They claim to speak for business yet rarely do they say what I would like them to say. They should clarify their statements with a disclaimer that they represent the big business end of town and not the vast majority of business owners.