Leadership Teachings for Small and Medium Enterprises: Our perspectives for creating an effective leadership practice.

In charge of a small to medium-sized business? In addition to wearing several hats, you are a marketer, innovator, consumer advocate, and yes, a leader. But leading a small, dynamic team could present unique challenges. One minute you can be preparing for growth, and the next you might be dealing with a supplier or customer escalation. Do you realise this? We can guarantee you that the principles of leadership still hold, albeit with a special SME twist, as the leading HR consultancy in the United Arab Emirates. In light of our work with companies in the Middle East, we wanted to provide some practical and helpful thoughts that can greatly enhance your everyday leadership:

Basic competencies: The key to your SME Success

We have observed far too frequently that little things add up to create a significant difference in the way leadership is exhibited in your organization. Let's concentrate on the fundamentals of leadership, particularly for smaller groups:

Clear Communication

Messages or water cooler conversations spread quickly in small teams. The word gets around quickly if you treat people fairly. Conversely, if you turn down a last-minute, spontaneous vacation request, the word gets around even quicker. Communicate in a straightforward, succinct, and transparent manner. Always give a justification for your choice together with the larger business context. People dislike being lectured, as we have seen, and they should be treated like responsible adults.

Active Listening

It's crucial to hear your team because, in an SME, everyone wears many hats. Pay attention to the thoughts and worries they have. Instead of reacting, listen to comprehend. Although it is simple to say, it will require a lot of practice to listen intently while putting your judgments aside. This improves morale and cultivates trust.

Delegation for Growth

Leaders who adopt superhuman or superwoman personas become exhausted over time. Give your team assignments that play to their strengths to empower them. This will assist you in freeing up time to concentrate on strategic expansion. You should do some serious introspection if you are spending more than 60% of your waking hours doing administrative tasks or putting out fires. Do you feel overburdened? It would be beneficial to consider external HR consultancy services if you wish to develop an effective delegation strategy. 

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Developing Your Team: Fostering a Family Atmosphere

Your team is like your family. Here's how to cultivate a thriving and collaborative environment:

1. Focus on their strengths: Every employee brings a distinct set of talent into your enterprise Each person's input counts in a small team. Your role is to acknowledge this distinct talent and channel them to benefit your business. The simple rule is not to hire a fish for a role that involves flying. There are several methods for evaluating a person's strength. To find out how to harness a person's talents at work, for instance, you can utilize the Gallup Talents Based Assessment.
2. Honour Every Victory: While large victories are wonderful, every accomplishment is significant for SMEs. Small victories like these are what will propel us to greater heights. It is your responsibility as a leader to set an example for acknowledging and applauding accomplishments of all sizes. A small token of appreciation goes a long way towards maintaining team motivation. A handwritten note or a five-star vacation package can suffice as expressions of appreciation. Your leadership style sets the tone, so don't let the money stop you from acknowledging accomplishments.
3. Conflict Coach: Disagreements are unavoidable when working in small teams with few resources. It will be your responsibility as a leader to promote candid dialogue and lead your group toward solutions that will satisfy everyone. When attempting to mediate a problem and bring about peace, suggest to the involved parties that they consider win-win scenarios rather than win-lose ones. Eventually, there will be a fundamental shift in the way people handle problems on their own without assistance from authorities. Do you feel inadequate? Contact us as the only Dubai-based HR consultancy with extensive experience in the SME space and get a custom solution for managing conflicts.
4. Needless to say, SMEs thrive and even outperform well-established peers because of their unique ability to remain agile and perform some crazy manoeuvres in response to dynamic market shifts. Flex your agility muscle by focusing on the following two key aspects.
5. Root for practical innovation: Innovation is not always about the budget unless you oversee colonising Mars. SMEs can still innovate and bring out customer-centric solutions without spending a fortune Having a large budget isn't always necessary to foster innovation. Through brainstorming meetings, you can as a leader harness the collective wisdom and promote safe experimentation within reasonable bounds.
6. Embrace change: Set an exemplary example. Keep an open mind and assist your team in adjusting to the ongoing change. Always remember, that we humans desist change and look for certainty and comfort. You will play a crucial role in helping employees understand the change, and create that desire or urge to change. Our HR consulting services in Dubai, UAE can help you manage change within your organisation.

Write to us if you want to provide your firm with specific real-world leadership solutions. Consider working with one of the best HR consulting firms in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai. We are here to provide real-world, practical insights and solutions to drive performance.