Welcome to Break the blueprint – a new series of blogs exploring the unique business challenges and opportunities black business owners and entrepreneurs face. Learn how they grew or scaled their business, researched entrepreneurial ventures in their companies or created sideline jobs, and how their stories can inspire and influence your own success.
Leadership is a combination of skills that executives use to run entire companies.
Whether you’re the VP of Marketing or informally seen as a leader on your team, knowing how to help others achieve a common goal is critically important as a leader.
Here we asked black business leaders from a variety of industries what they learned about running a black-owned business. Read on to see what they had to say.
1. Know your numbers
“You know your numbers,” says Kimberly Bryant (@ 6Gems), founder and CEO of Black Girls Code, whose mission revolves around a very big number: empowering 1 million young women of color, ages 7-17, “innovators Fields to be in STEM until 2040.
Knowing your numbers is key to measuring your business growth and securing investments.
Bryant recommends “[understand] Your reach, customer conversion metrics, income and expenses from top to bottom. “
Hiring a professional is also highly recommended, but doesn’t negate the responsibility of a business executive to “understand the intricacies of your business finances. This will help you lead and propel your business through storms and triumphs”.
2. Strengthening emotional intelligence
During any company’s growing pains, it becomes increasingly important for executives to manage their emotions.
“Emotional intelligence will make or end your leadership journey with your team and your customers,” says Sherrell Dorsey (@sherrell_dorsey), founder of TP Insights, a newsletter about black founders and innovations that results in an investigation and coverage of black technology trends and stories has developed and breaking news.
Black business owners, in addition to the everyday challenges of building a business, face harsh and even humiliating experiences fueled by racism and sexism.
When work gets frustrating and tempers get hot, Dorsey warns, “It is a lifelong journey to learn the art of mastering ourselves, to cope and guide in difficult times, when we are feeling the weight of the world, but training this EQ muscle will make our progress if we invest in it frequently and ruthlessly. “
The Harvard Business Review confirms this, with emotional intelligence “accounting for nearly 90 percent of what distinguishes high achievers from colleagues with similar technical skills and knowledge.”
3. Practice self-care
One way to build emotional intelligence is to take care of yourself – as the common saying goes, “Always put your own oxygen mask on first”.
A longtime serial entrepreneur and industry leader, Wayne Sutton (@WayneSutton), founder of The Icon Project – a company addressing the mental health and professional development needs for Black & Brown men in the tech industry – says, “You have to practice self-care in order to To be emotionally prepared to lead others, “says Sutton.
It’s hard to show yourself to others when you’re having trouble showing yourself. All too often this can lead to stress, exhaustion and burnout. Take time for yourself to shine as a leader.
4. Be adamant … with your calendar
André Blackman (@mindofandre) is the founder and CEO of Onboard Health, a specialist executive search and talent consulting firm dedicated to building a just future for health. Backman encourages “being relentless with your calendar to create buffer / space for reflection”.
Time is a precious resource that we can never keep or replenish. That is why it is important to know where your time is going and to have time for yourself. In order to make well-founded decisions, managers need space for reflection and deep thought. It’s hard to do with a busy schedule.
“While it is sometimes necessary to fight fires, write emails, and deliver customer or customer results, it is important to have time for yourself to process them and move forward,” urges Blackman.
5. Ask big, bold, and extensive questions
Tony Robbins once said, “The quality of your questions determines the quality of your life and your business.” This quote applies to Felecia Hatcher (@FeleciaHatcher), co-founder of the Center for Black Innovation, a research think tank that builds equitable ways to free black communities from innovation deserts.
Hatcher is no stranger to asking and receiving big, bold questions. Because of this, she encourages black business leaders to make a habit of doing the same with their team – and themselves.
“We have to ask ourselves and the people around us big, courageous and far-reaching questions.” “Insights” can arise from these questions [that] will help inform your best next steps. “
You may be the leader, but you don’t have all the answers. By asking “big, bold, far-reaching questions” you and your team can find the opportunities.
Leadership begins with taking care of yourself, your team, and the company as a whole. The lessons in leadership these black business leaders shared is just the tip of the iceberg and a great starting point for others to apply now. Using these tips now can help you improve your leadership in the long run.
