3 Core Differences Between a Boss and a Leader

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StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article |Leaders|3 Core Differences Between a Boss and a LeaderWhen it comes to management in the workplace, it takes a real person to be a leader for their employees. There is a big difference between the word “boss” and “leader,” as these two words do not mean the same thing. Below is a closer look at three characteristics a leader possesses and why employees look up to them.

What a Boss is

Simply put, some bosses are just a boss. They have attained a position in the management section of the corporate world with a nice office and a designated parking space. They sit back behind their desks and make decisions that affect the direction of the company and often dictate how money is spent. Although these aspects are needed, they are not enough to make the people holding those positions leaders. Fortunately, a boss can become a leader by learning the differences and applying them to the job.

Leading, Rather Than Pushing

Leaders motivate their employees and find practical solutions together to make sure the employees are inspired and follow their leader’s example. Bosses tend to push employees into doing something without really giving them much guidance. This not only forces employees to work without having clear directions, but the results will most likely be less than favored. A good leader will present ideas and work alongside their employees to demonstrate that communication is key and working together to achieve goals as a team is the way to succeed.

Leaders Listen

A good leader spends time listening to their employees instead of talking above them. True leaders see the value of asking employees about their opinions and incorporating those opinions into the decision-making process. On the other hand, a boss will dominate the conversation while expecting employees to listen attentively and carry out commands while giving them little or no direction. Listening will build a team of engaged employees who know they are valued for their skills and knowledge and will want to work harder and more efficiently to complete projects.

Invest Time in Their Employees

Some bosses tend to ignore the majority of their employees, giving those employees the sense of an uncertain future within the company. A leader does not ignore an employee. They invest time and effort in helping each employee develop in their profession, teaching them new skills and allowing them to advance in their careers. Not only that, but a leader will look at their management style and make changes where needed to ensure they are giving employees the attention and guidance needed to perform at their best.

Many people in positions of authority seem to think they only need to stand aside and supervise their employees rather than taking the initiative and working alongside their team. Employees that see their leader invested in the project will be inspired to do their best work as well as improving the team’s motivation, creativity, and collaboration. Good leaders in the corporate world lead their employees by example. Employees will respect their supervisor a lot more if they are relatable and make themselves approachable to the staff.

Supervisors at any level are only as good as the employees that work for them. If a supervisor does not respect their employees and treat them well, the employees will not perform to the best of their ability, and this will reflect poorly on that supervisor and the project they are in charge of.

The Customer Really Is Always Right

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StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|The Customer Really Is Always RightIf you are a new startup, the chances are that you are overwhelmed by the amount of things that you need to get done. While you were once a specialist, you are now having to be a Jack of all trades. As well as being the owner, you are now the marketing executive, the financial guru, the social media manager, the reprographics assistant, the web designer and the coffee maker. You have a business plan to write and you might not even know where to start.

While you might be obsessed by getting all of your financial ducks in a row, securing funding for your business and ensuring that you have a buoyant cash flow, you need to consider the customer experience that you provide.

Your new venture will live or die depending on the reviews it receives. Nowadays, people venture online in the first instance when they are looking to research a company. Consumers are now incredibly savvy and want to know more about the startups that they are looking to do business with. If you are keen to hone your positive reputation, you need to have a policy in place that recognizes that the customer is always right.

Under Promise And Over Deliver

As a new startup, you have an array of already well established rivals to compete with. This means you need to solidify your reputation immediately. Ensure that you have a policy of under promising and over delivering. If you know that you can deliver a product in forty eight hours, ensure that you state that you’ll have it delivered in seventy two. This is an effective way of trading. When your customer sees that their item is on their doorstep seemingly a day early, they will assume that you have gone the extra mile. This creates a positive buzz and warm fuzzy feeling about you. This emotive response is vital if you are to encourage positive feedback.

First Contact

When a customer first makes contact with you, they need to feel inspired and confident that your company will provide what they need whether this is legal representation or a custom made tee shirt. An answering service for lawyers is perfect for those legal firms that want a polite and professional representative for their potential clients. Outsourcing this sort of service also means that you are more free to deal with more pressing area of your business vision.

If customers contact you via Facebook or Twitter, respond speedily. You can also utilize a less formal and corporate voice. Converse with your potential customers in a chattier tone and enjoy selling and marketing your wares on social media. If this will take up too much of your time or you are not au fait with social media, consider outsourcing this to a professional. These professionals will work with you to achieve your online and customer service goals through analytics and market research.

StrategyDriven Customer Relationship Management Article |Customer Care|The Customer Really Is Always RightIncentivize

While you can’t pay for positive feedback as this is not ethically sound, you can incentivize your customers to leave a review of any kind. When people receive the services or goods that they expect, they aren’t inclined to leave a review. However, if someone is let down or feels hard done by when dealing with a company, they will be proactive in seeking out ways to get their voice heard. You need to incentivize those people who are happy with your service. When you deliver items, place little discount cards in the packaging stating that your customers can receive twenty per cent off of their next order if they leave a review. Ensure that you have a range of platforms that accept reviews of your company such as Amazon, Trustpilot, Feefo and your social media channels.

Social media is the key platform that your potential customer base will flock towards when researching your company. If they spot a swathe of negative feedback, they won’t do business with your startup and will move onto another company providing the service or product they need. You need to hone those positive reviews. Any complaint (and you will receive them) needs to be dealt with promptly. Keep the customer informed and say sorry. Anything aired on social media is public so respond professionally and remain committed to resolving any issues.

You could have all of the funding that you need, a perfect supply chain and incredible cash flow, but if you don’t have the customer backing and reviews, your company will not survive. Provide an exceptional customer experience and your business will thrive.

Increasing Our Wealth For The Future: What You Might Want To Try

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Increase Your Wealth|Increasing Our Wealth For The Future: What You Might Want To TryMany of us have full time jobs, or a job that we do that happens to fund our main income each month. It may be something you love and cherish, or it may be something that you just fell into because you weren’t sure what direction to take with your career. However, many of us can agree that often we want more for our future, and there are thankfully things that you can do, either alongside your current job or as a change of career entirely.

The hardest part is finding the time, and some of us will openly admit it that they won’t feel like there is enough time. But there are big things you can do, and also small things that don’t take that much time that can help you to increase your wealth. With that in mind, here are some of them are.

Constructively Look at Your Outgoings

One of the first things that you may want to think about would be to constructively look at your outgoings and see if there are any changes that can be made. The money we spend each week and month can often be a big indicator as to where we can make savings. Some people will still have outgoings that they thought were cancelled. Others will be paying too much for things like energy and insurance, where changing providers could give you an instant saving and boost your disposable;e income. Take some time to do this and really understand where your money goes.

Developing Our Career

Another great thing that you could do would be to look at your current career. Not everyone has a job they love, but for some people, they are fortunate to enjoy the career that they have and have a passion for it. This is when developing your current career could be a great way to increase your wealth for the future. Maybe it involves learning and getting more qualifications to move up the ladder. It could be that showing initiative means you get more responsibility and alongside that are able to enjoy a big pay rise. The more you climb, the higher pay you can earn.

Buying and Developing Property

There are some great options to consider when it comes to making More money, and property is one of the ways you can do it. Many of us focus on our own property, and that can be a great for the future. You can earn from your property as you live in it or own it for longer, and this can be great in terms of increasing your value. But, you could also do this with intention. Such as buying and selling for a profit, making improvements to earn big money. Our it could mean buying more than one and having a property portfolio that you then earn from monthly as well as long term.

Investing in Something Physical

Maybe you want to invest some of your savings into something more physical. This could be jewellery, diamonds, or art and often this holds a value but it can also increase in value in the future. It might be because of what you have invested in, that all of a sudden interest in that item or even the person such as the artist could then increase the value of it.

Investing in Stock, Shares and Long Term Investments

Maybe you like the idea of long term investments which includes things like stocks and shares and even fixed terms savings and hedge funds. This is when things like algo trading can really help you stay on track with your investments, or certainly make the right level of choices when it comes to what you do invest in.

Turn a Hobby Into a Job

Many people have decided to turn a hobby into a job, especially with things like blogging, writing, or using a skill that you have developed over time. Often this hobbies have been nurtured and your passions and love has been poured into them, so turning them into a job and business often feels like a natural step to take. It can feel like a lot to do at first, but it could certainly enable you to be in a position to earn more money for the future. You may want to think long and hard about how you do this, so enlisting the help of affordable seo services could help you to enable a blog or website you have to get a better reach and in turn reach more potential customers and clients.

Declutter Your Home

Many of us will have things in our home that we no longer want, need or have any use for, and yet they are stored in lofts, attic spaces, drawers and cupboards. Never to see the light of day. You could be making money from these unwanted things. This is when platforms like eBay prove very useful and can enable you to not only increase your income in the short term, but also help you to build up savings for the future.

Change Your Habits in Your Home

Often the future starts with actions that you take today, and habits that you have in your home could be costing you a small fortune. The way you use your energy for example, can be quite costly. Leaving things on charge and also not switching things off can be using more energy than you think is possible. Meal planning can also save you money on your food shopping bill each week.

Use Your Spare Time Wisely With Side Hustles

Finally, you can use your spare time wisely and invest into side hustles that can be completed even when you are relaxing, watching tv, or spending time with loved ones. This is when performing online surveys for a fee and mystery shopping are just some of the side hustles you could consider. There are many more advertised online.

Let’s hope that this has inspired you to consider some options for your future.

Industries That Are Shaping The World We Live In

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StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |Industry Influence|Industries That Are Shaping The World We Live InTo some degree, every single industry is shaping the world we live in. After all, without even the smallest business, the world would be a slightly different place. However, this can be a pedantic way of looking at things. It’s quite clear that there are many industries that hold much more sway over our lives than others, and as someone hoping to start out and follow a career of importance, it can be worthwhile to know what these industries are, and what they are contributing specifically.

The upcoming decade, starting with the year 2020, is sure to be an interesting time. Never before has mankind been so connected with information, had so much terror but also love and achievement, to have so many countries following so many disparate policies, to have so many inventions run our lives and help us in ways we couldn’t imagine. Your life today is thoroughly different from the life of someone living only two or three generations ago.

For that reason, we need more intelligent, caring, ethical and responsible people in positions of power and influence than ever. If you feel yourself to be one of those people, or you hope you could be, consider the following career paths:

Silicon Valley & Big Tech

Silicon valley and big tech are influencing our lives in more ways than one. Apps such as Uber have revolutionized the means in which we consider travelling throughout our local environment, while entire careers and messages have been sustained through Apps such as Instagram and Twitter. In fact, these industries have been facing increasing calls for further regulation, suggesting that their power is being noticed more and more. Deplatforming certain ideas can lead to a very one-sided debate, while our digital presences often take precedence before our actual in-person appearance. This can be important to consider.

The Medical Industry

The medical industry is continually shaping the world in extreme ways, but not only that, recruitment for said industry has never been more open and possible. This is where you may feel a potential opening up for yourself. For example, if you browse available pathology jobs, you can see just how these vital skills are needed more than ever, and how the continual fight against diseases.

Not only that, but the future of the medical industry looks bright, as never before have amputees had such access to restoring limb functionality using prosthetics that function through neural connection to a limited degree. It’s hard to measure exactly, but over the next ten years we can expect seismic shifts in the medical field to begin, and this is exciting news.

Automotive

Vehicles have already shaped the world we live in. The structure of cities and residential districts have been completely changed thanks to vehicles, and of course, environmental impact has been hard to quantify. That being said, it’s important to note just how much potential there is out there, and what the common new trends of the industry are. For example, self-driving cars are just around the corner pending further testing. Hybrid cars are the norm, and electric cars are becoming more and more commonplace, with almost all vehicle manufacturers at least dabbling in the tech, as they know the future will be defined by it.

Not only that, but a wave of new awareness regarding diesel vehicles, driving within city centres and additional regulations that are being set up to mitigate this can suggest that governments are becoming increasingly aware of manufacturing development, and this is important. There are exciting shifts happening in this space, and they will come to define how we interact with travel into the far future.

Charitable Ventures

Charitable ventures are not only becoming more competent at spreading awareness for certain issues, but charitable measures are slowly starting to erode that lumbering mass of prior ineffectiveness that we may have become accustomed to.

Now, awareness, good intentions, the stories of individuals and groups and the spread of international understanding can happen in a moment’s notice. Most charities are able to bring their work into the fullest picture, potentially offering a more comprehensive set of beliefs to those who were yet unaware of a particular problem.

For example, charities helping to mitigate some of the damage caused to the Hong Kong people at the moment have begun to surface, allowing for those in the international community to extend their support without a lumbering charitable organization to work through. If that isn’t a sign of progress, it’s hard to know what is.

With this advice, you are certain to appreciate and learn more about the industries that shape the world we live in.

4 Reasons Entrepreneurs Resist Migrating To The Cloud

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Cloud Technology|4 Reasons Entrepreneurs Resist Migrating To The CloudWe have talked before about the benefits cloud technology can offer to a business. For most business owners, learning of these benefits essentially makes the decision for them: they want to switch to the cloud as soon as possible.

For others, however, the response can be less absolute. It’s entirely possible to understand that something is an inherently good idea – and capable of providing multiple advantages to a business – but still hesitating, wondering if it’s really necessary to make the transition. Often, this hesitancy is powered at least in part by lingering doubts or fears about the technology – a problem that is particularly common when entrepreneurs contemplate migrating to the cloud.

In this piece, we’ll look at the four most common concerns entrepreneurs have about cloud technologies – even when they are aware of the overarching benefits.

1. Loss of control

With on-premise storage, a business has physical access to their servers. This means that they’re in direct control of an essential asset that the business relies on in order to function. With cloud technologies, however, this direct control over servers is lost, which many business owners find rather difficult to deal with. The good news is that this issue tends to fade over time, as business owners realize the benefits of cloud computing and experience the reassurance that their servers are well-maintained by their chosen, expert, trustworthy cloud provider.

2. Disruptions during migration

Migrating to the cloud can sound like a long, laborious task that – entrepreneurs often assume – can be highly disruptive to the function of their business. Given that disruption can be costly to businesses, it’s no surprise that entrepreneurs find themselves a little reticient about the undertaking. However, while there is no denying migration is a significant task, the likes of Kosh Solutions can help to ensure that every aspect of the transition is simple and hassle-free from start to finish.

3. Lack of familiarity

If a business has been operating in a certain way for a set period of time, then there is a certain sense of comfort that comes from that familiarity. Strangely enough, this fact remains true even if the operations are familiarly bad or troublesome; generally, people like to know what to expect – which can make cloud technologies seem unfamiliar, strange, alien, and discomforting to contemplate. Nevertheless, the change is usually simply made, with companies quickly transitioning to their new method of operating and, in no time at all, wondered how they ever managed without their cloud-based systems.

4. Security worries

Last but not least, many entrepreneurs have concerns about how secure cloud technology can really be – and they’re far from alone. In truth, security has been a major issue for cloud computing largely since its inception. However, cloud security is in fact very robust, and is actually safer than on-premise solutions according to security professionals – so entrepreneurs can embrace the technology without undue worry.

In conclusion

With any new development, it’s natural for people to experience concerns and doubts over making the switch in their own business. However, as the above information hopefully demonstrates, concerns over cloud technologies are often unfounded, and it is therefore advisable that any business owner who has not made the switch should consider doing so at their next convenience.