leadershup styles

Top Ten Most Effective Leadership Styles

“Leadership is not a position or title; it is an action and example.”

“Leadership is not title or position; it is a responsibility.”

You can be the leader in representing a team for a project or present a new idea. It is a responsibility that you carry, and as a leader, you will be accountable for things and decisions you make.

There have been numerous studies on leadership styles and their effectiveness. But, the very basic stands on only two types, people-oriented and task-oriented.
The interplay of these two styles has branched many other forms of leadership styles.

Every style has a different impact on the co-workers and the company in all. To help you understand, I’ll give out a few of the most common leadership styles and their effectiveness.

Top Ten Most Effective Leadership Styles

Each leadership style has its way of making things work.

#1 Autocratic Leadership

Autocratic leadership is also known as Authoritarian. This form of leadership is pretty aggressive. It focuses on gaining control over subordinates. It is a form of leadership that makes you the only one in charge of a department.

This type of leadership allows quick decision-making but discourages creative solutions from subordinates and hurts morale.

It is not flexible, yet it enforces a stern and dutiful environment. Thus, it works well for working conditions like manufacturing and other organizational operations.

Making the decision and taking crucial calls is the most highlighted trait of an autocratic leader. It may look like a dictatorial form, but it can be your greatest asset when you use it.

Such a leader was Helen Gurley Brown, who was the editor-in-chief of the Cosmopolitan. She is a well-known personality as he struggled to get things completed well and on time. The effectiveness of this leadership style helped her to turn a profit in publishing.

#2 Democratic Leadership

Democracy form of leadership is the style of management that involves subordinates in decision-making. It is one of the most effective leadership styles. It is different from the other forms of leadership and also has certain advantages over them.

In a democratic form of leadership, the company gets creativity, tons of opinions, and ideas. It has an open forum for feedback. It gives you a vast range of ideas and a team when you are to decide.

This leadership approach is definitely among the best leadership styles. Also, according to researchers, they say that democratic leadership brings out the best and leads to greater productivity for team members.

Although, there are some downsides to this, like poor decision-making by unskilled people and communication failures.

To make it work efficiently, the leader has to give co-workers a platform to express their knowledge and perception, not feel left out and lose their morale.

Have you ever heard of Mayo Clinic? Let me tell you that this clinic thrives on a democratic leadership style. This healthcare and research center successfully created a collaborative working atmosphere.

Mayo Clinic is a success as peoples’ ideas and opinions were not discouraged. People working here have equal voices.

#3 Laissez-faire Leadership

‘Laissez-faire’ is a French word that means ‘let them do.’ The leadership approach of Laissez-faire is the exact opposite of autocratic leadership.

To make it effective, you need to trust others, track the performance and provide feedback. The leader sets his or her subordinates free and lets them work as they want, with no interference.

This leadership form is like a ‘hands-off’ style.

Leaders using this style need no supervision, which opens the gate to many ideas.

Although, in this leadership style, you can feel the lack of structure that the others offer. It does avoid an autocratic form of leadership, but the manager has to keep track of performances.

Donna Karan, the founder of DKNY jeans and apparel, is well known for her hands-free leadership.

She kept her eyes on profits and followed fashion fads. She trusted her officials on the decision-making, and she routinely checked on the company’s growth.

#4 Coaching Leadership

In a nutshell, the coaching style of leadership is a combination of democratic and laissez-faire.

It is capable of finding out people’s strengths, weaknesses, and potential. In this style, the leader plays a coach’s character, who helps co-workers reach their full potential.

A good leader trains and improves his subordinates deal with performance issues and identifies new skills they can develop.

This style of leadership is a significant investment due to the following reasons:

It takes time to identify the areas of improvement.
Work together to increase efficiency.
Takes time in executing the plans.

This form of leadership enhances one’s quality of performance and improves the team’s performance overall.

Bill Walsh is believed to be the epitome of coaching leadership.

He is a natural coach who is a famous personality renowned for his contribution to a team. He took charge of a disorganized team, strengthened it, and won 5 Super Bowl championships in 14 years.

#5 Transformational Leadership

The transformational leadership approach is all about the big picture—an intellectual simulation of initiating a thriving and openly communicative work culture.

The followers of this approach are intellectual and charismatic.

A transformational leader is a kind of leader who does not pay any heed to the day-to-day details. They have assigned other managers to deal with and delegate these tasks.

To be a transformational leader, you need to set challenging goals. Follow strict deadlines, work with unity in a team to accomplish these pre-determined goals.

An example of a transformational leader can be none other than Lee Iacocca. The chairman of Chrysler Corporation took a company and established it as a profitable business.

In his book, he also stated about the ’10 Cs’.

  • Curiosity.
  • Creative
  • Communicate
  • Character
  • Conviction
  • Charisma
  • Competence
  • Common sense
  • Crisis

These are the 10 Cs that make a transformational leader.

#6 Charismatic Leadership

Charismatic leadership is a style in which the leader is known for their communication skills and persuasiveness. These leaders are precious for almost any organization.

These leaders may not look the same but share most characteristics, like:

    • They are empathetic and relatable.
    • They are great communicators.
    • Confident in their approach.
    • Motivational.
    • Engaging and charming; and
    • Very optimistic.

You may find some similarities between charismatic and transformational leadership. However, there is one key difference that puts a straight line between these two styles.

Charismatic leaders depend on their skill set and personality, whereas transformational leaders have to work with unity to change.

Jack Welch, the charismatic leader who became the CEO of General Electric, was the youngest CEO in its history. He made a clear statement to develop good relationships starting with the employees. He would visit every office very often as he looked for opportunities to connect with people to share his leadership perspective.

#7 Bureaucratic Leadership

The bureaucratic form of leadership is among the best leadership styles. It is a system of management in which employees have to follow specific rules. It is primarily used in public sectors.

It depends on the transparent chain of commands, stringent regulations, and confirmation. This form of leadership has majorly six contents, including:

  • It has the hierarchy of authority which is the chain of commands with clearly stated jobs or roles for each authority level.
  • It features division of work which means they put appropriate
    people for specific jobs.
  • People are selected based on their experience and performance.
  • Each employee gets an opportunity to prove their capabilities.
  • It has a defined set of rules and regulations, and processes to
    nurture its structure.
  • Individual contributions are not taken into account.

Bureaucratic leadership is very useful for large-scale businesses.

#8 Visionary Leadership

This leadership style focuses on meeting long-term objectives, who sacrifice day-to-day circumstances.

They are persistent and have a tough and determined mindset. These leaders are pretty strategic who love to take risks. These leaders are good communicators and love to work in an organized work environment. Visionary leaders appreciate new ideas and are pretty open-minded.

The visionary leaders see the world differently, which allows them to see the hidden potential of people and quickly find out if something is missing. They guide the employees to see the accurate picture and often unite them to give them direction. These leaders embrace a blank canvas looking for innovation and experimentation and master new skills.

Such a visionary leader is Sara Blakely, the founder, and CEO of Spanx. Spanx is the largest seller of body shapers, apparel, and hosiery.

Most great leaders have a vision for where they want to go. Visionary leaders can transform their vision into reality.

#9 Pacesetter Leadership

Pacesetter leadership style is a well-known style when you need faster results.
It is one of the most effective leadership approaches.

The followers of these leadership styles tend to have high standards with a focus on performance.

Although, it may seem like motivational leadership. Because of a fast-paced working environment, people will not have much time to interact. They expect excellence, self-direction, and good results from a competent group.

Pacesetter leaders are the ones who expect the best from even the poor performers but also show a little empathy towards them. They are pretty straightforward with instructions, and they guide the people who are not performing well.

These leaders seek excellent coordination with their subordinates. Though there are some backdrops to this style of leadership, and it gets too predictable at times.

To get this on a smooth flow, the leaders should often ask for feedback.

This leadership style is not a bad tactic after all, though overdoing it may cause problems.

Jack Welch was a pacesetter leader and also being a charismatic leader.

#10 Servant Leadership

The servant style of leadership works by prioritizing peoples’ needs. The servant approach followers believe that his team can work the best when they feel satisfied.

It is a philosophy-based leadership approach that asks the leader to serve. A servant leader prioritizes the need of his employees and the development of people.

Servant leaders have excellent listening skills. And show great empathy towards people. They are very self-aware and persuasive. Servant leaders have a better conceptualization of their business. And most importantly, they are very committed to their priorities.

Any business organization can choose this, as it is a good way of boosting morale.

It is the same form of leadership that Cheryl Bachelder showcased during her 10-year tenure. She became the CEO of Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen.

Cheryl and her entire team shone the lights on the owners and prioritized and responded to their needs.

What Is the Best Leadership Style?

With a more task-oriented mindset, we believe autocratic leadership works best for most organizations.

If you asked, what leadership style do most effective leaders use, they are autocratic, democratic, and bureaucratic leadership styles.

It does not matter if you are a born leader or you find yourself growing in management opportunities. Whether you are fearless or take reigns for the sake of it, it does not matter if you have an entrepreneurial mindset or steady in the hours of sustained growth.

Your leadership style will impact the culture, moral, and success aspects of your organization.

And you know, there is a style of leadership that matches every personality and business organization. And to make the leadership process more effective, you need to find a style you are compatible with your character and organization.

If you’re looking to hire a new employee check out this article.

warren buffett

Top Business Magnates in the World

Business tycoons are often recognized for their significant contributions to the world of business, science, and engineering. Their overachieving personalities and admirable work ethic have been known to change the course of their fields and inspire millions of others to follow in their footsteps.

Many business magnates started their endeavors from the very bottom. They started companies in basements and garages, building them up to the top of their industry via innovation, leadership, tenacity, and the perfect amount of hard-headedness.

To give you some inspiration for your own seemingly impossible endeavors, here are the top ten business tycoons in the world.

William Henry Gates III

Bill Gates Exits Microsoft Board To Focus On Philanthropy Full-Time – Deadline

More affectionately known as Bill Gates, he is a well-known American business tycoon who wrote his first software program at the age of 13. Like many other top tycoons on this list, he is a college dropout who left Harvard in 1975 in order to focus on Microsoft, the world’s largest personal computer software company in the world.

After co-founding Microsoft, Gates went on to co-own the ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,’ a charity dedicated to helping save lives. In 2006 Gates transitioned into a part-time role at Microsoft to dedicate his full attention to the foundation.

Gates has given large donations to various charities and scientific research initiatives. He and Warren Buffet, another prominent name on our list, founded ‘The Giving Pledge,’ an initiative where they and other billionaires pledge to give half their wealth or more to worthy charities.

Mark Zuckerberg

How Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg lets his toddlers use screen time

Originally from White Plains, NY, founder, and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg was interested in computers from an early age. At 12 years old, he developed what he dubbed ‘ZuckNet,’ an early version of what eventually became AOL Instant Messenger. The program was so good that Zuckerberg’s father used it in his dental practice.

Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004 from his Harvard dorm room, eventually dropping out of school to focus on Facebook full time. At 23, he became the youngest billionaire in history.

In addition to his success as a business magnate, Zuckerberg boasts a broad range of linguistic prowess. He can read and write Latin, French, Hebrew, and ancient Greek. After tasking himself to learn Mandarin, he delivered a 20-minute speech in the language at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Warren Buffet

warren buffett

Known as the ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ Warren Buffet is known for being the most successful investor in the world. His penchant for identifying and investing in undervalued companies has led to his accumulated millions. He is the proud owner of over 60 companies, including big names like Geico, Dairy Queen, and Fruit of the Loom.

Buffet made his first investment at age 11 when he bought three shares of Cities Service Preferred. After he sold it for a small profit, the stocks later spiked to over five times the cost of what he initially purchased for. He calls this his first lesson in patient investing.

In the early 1960s, Buffest began accumulating Berkshire Hathaway stock. By 1965 he had assumed control of the company. Currently, Buffet serves as Chairman and CEO of the business tycoon’s company Berkshire Hathaway.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk - Tesla, Age & Family - Biography

South African-born billionaire Elon Musk sold his first software at age 12, a computer game he called ‘Blastar.’ In his late twenties, he made his first million after selling his start-up company Zip2, an online city guide providing content to websites like the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

Musk studied business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania and later enrolled in the Ph.D. program at Stanford. He dropped out after only two days to focus completely on the tech boom happening in Silicon Valley.

Keeping his hands in many different facets of the tech industry, Musk is the founder of several different successful companies, including Neuralink, Tesla, and Paypal. He is the founder, CEO, and lead designer of SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation), a NASA-recognized company whose goal is to build spacecraft for commercial space travel.

Carlos Slim Helu

Carlos Slim Helu | Biography, Pictures and Facts

Carlos Slim Helu is the richest person in Mexico, boasting ownership of over 200 businesses in various industries. These companies have helped him derive his fortune via his syndicate, Grupo Carso. Communications, banking, retail, mining, publishing, telecommunication, and finance are just a few of the industries Helu has a hand in.

In addition to being one of the top tycoons in business, Helu is a noted art collector and philanthropist. He owns an extravagant museum located in Mexico City, Museo Soumaya, named after his late wife. He is a prominent promoter of the revitalization of Mexico City’s historic center, and in 2000 established the Foundation for the History Centre of Mexico City.

He openly and actively supports the President of Mexico in the fight against gang violence, corruption, and the promotion of economic growth.

Larry Ellison

Larry Ellison | Biography, Oracle, & Facts | Britannica

American businessman and entrepreneur Larry Ellison is the co-founder and CEO of the business tycoon’s company, Oracle Corporation. After spending the early years of his career working as a computer programmer in California, Ellison joined up with coworkers in 1977 to form Software Development Laboratories (SDL).

SDL was founded with the intention of performing contract programming for other companies. After a few successful years, Ellison wanted SDL to do more. He subsequently received a contract from the CIA permitting his company to begin work on Relational Software, Inc., a commercial relational database program.

From this company, Oracle was born. Oracle quickly gained popularity for being the earliest commercial relational database program that used Structured Query Language. After just a few years of operations, Oracle was the largest database-management company in the world.

Mukesh Ambani

India's Richest: Mukesh Ambani, Top Of The League | Forbes India

Indian business magnate Mukesh Ambani earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bombay before moving on to study business administration at Stanford. Like many other business magnates, Ambani dropped out of his program of study in order to focus on his business.

After leaving Stanford, Ambani joined his family business to diversify the company past its limited history. He expanded the small textile manufacturer by venturing into a wide range of industries, including communications, petrochemicals, polyester fibers, and gas and oil production.

Today, Ambani is the Chairman, Managing Director, and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Limited, India’s most valuable company. In addition to a highly successful business tycoon in the world, Ambani strongly advocates in favor of an equal opportunity for everyone.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos - Wife, Kids & Amazon - Biography

From an early age, business magnate and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos displayed a strong interest in computers and electronics. After graduating from Princeton, Bezos became the youngest-ever Senior Vice President at investment firm D.E. Shaw.

Bezos took a leap of faith and quit his job at D.E. Shaw in order to pursue more entrepreneurial aspirations. He founded Amazon.com in the garage of his Seattle home, and from there, his success skyrocketed almost immediately. Without press promotion, Amazon.com sold books across all 50 states and in 45 different countries within the space of 30 days. Less than two months later, Amazon.com sales had reached $20,000 a week.

Now, Amazon.com is one of the leading online marketplaces in the world. Success has enabled Bezos to pursue his more niche interests. In 2000, Bezos founded aerospace company Blue Origin in response to his passion for and interest in space travel.

Bernard Arnault

The coronavirus pandemic has cost LVMH's Bernard Arnault $30 billion

French billionaire, business tycoon, and noted art collector Bernard Arnault has been dubbed the ‘pope of fashion’ by his admirers and is known for being the man responsible for revitalizing French couture. He is Chairman and Chief Executive of the largest luxury goods company in the world, LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE.

After getting his degree in engineering, Arnault took over his dad’s company in 1971 and shifted its focus to real estate. Later, he and a friend purchased a bankrupt textile company and subsequently sold most of its assets but kept the fashion house of Christian Dior.

After becoming Chairman and Chief Executive of LVMH, Arnault began adding huge amounts of fashion companies to the brand, incurring Christian Lacroix, Seline and Berluti, Givenchy, and more. He’s known for his wheelings and dealings with huge names in fashion like John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Hubert de Givenchy, and Marc Jacobs.

Lawrence Edward Page

How Larry Page Launched Google and Became One of the Richest People in the World

Lawrence Edward Page is the last name on our business magnate list. An American computer scientist and engineer, Page created the well-known search engine Google with his friend Serge Brin. Page and Brin met at their doctorate program at Stanford and were both interested in the idea of enhancing the internet’s ability to extract meaning from its enormous mass of accumulated data.

After working on their new ideas for search engine technology, they devised a strategy for their product that leveraged the Internet’s existing ranking abilities against the number of ‘backlinks’ (number of other pages that were linked to them) on an existing webpage.

After raising over $1million in financing from friends, family, and investors, Google was born. Page served as CEO, and by the next year, Google had received $25million in venture capital funding. Every day the search engine was processing over 500,000 queries. While Page stepped down as CEO in 2001, he is still closely involved in all aspects of running the search engine giant.

Interview with Scott Frith Lawn Doctor CEO and Chairman of Happinest Brands

What is your background, and did it help you get where you are today?

I got my first exposure to franchising when I was 6 years old. My father would sell Lawn Doctor franchises from a home office. He was good at it and constantly refined his craft, seeking advice from others and educating himself. I learned the value of hard work as I watched him work day and night. He was an incredible role model. As a young man, I worked in our manufacturing plant, learning how our equipment and vehicle outfitting was built. To this day, I am amazed by how our team turns raw metal into state-of-the-art machines that are an essential part of our models and generate a lot of revenue for our franchisees. When I graduated from college, I had an opportunity to join the marketing team at Lawn Doctor as an entry-level assistant. I have had many interesting roles in the Company in marketing, development, and management over the span of 25 years. The various experiences enabled me to move into CEO and Chairman’s role, having first-hand knowledge of many of the important business drivers from the vantage point of those seats.

What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?

Candidly, seeing my father create something special was truly inspiring to me. I loved seeing everyone roll up their sleeves in a smoke-filled conference room to solve problems and create strategies. I got a front-row seat and learned what it was like to collaborate with a group of people you really admired. I was hooked.

What kind of culture exists in your organization, and how did you establish it?

Our culture is all about positivity, collaboration, and fun. Life is too short, so you need to have a team that exudes positive vibes and wants to have fun. The work happens almost organically when you have all the right team members in the right environment.

What motivates you?

I’m motivated by creating something truly unique in the world of business and franchising. I want to create a win for everyone involved in our businesses; customers, franchisees, employees, and shareholders. We have been fortunate to create a winning formula that allows us to do just that.

How do you generate new ideas?

Ideas come in all shapes, sizes, and directions. In some cases, our franchisees or team members who are close to the action have the best ideas on how we can do things better. Sometimes I may be inspired by something I see in an aspect of my daily life that creates a “what if” moment. Often ideas flow out of sessions we have together. It is really incredible what you can accomplish when people openly share and build off one another’s ideas to continuously improve.

Do you believe there is a pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?

I don’t think there is anyone way or template to become a successful entrepreneur. I do think certain attributes are necessary, such as passion, vision, and resilience.

If you want people to join your quest and follow you, you need to really believe in your where you are going.

While the path to get there may change, you need to have a very clear picture in your head as to what you want to build and be able to clearly share it with others.

As with anything worthwhile in life, there will be failures along the way. Lots of them. You need to have the ability to get up, dust yourself off, and get back in the game. It is OK to fall; you just can’t stay there for very long.

What are some of the mistakes you wished you could’ve avoided?

I have made a lot of mistakes in my career. I try to learn from the ones I make and not repeat them.

In a franchise business, you always have this tension between the need to innovate to stay completely relevant to the customer and the need for good franchisees who are executing the model to have stability in their day-to-day operations. I have tried to strike a balance but don’t know that I have always been successful in keeping us fully aligned as we drive necessary change.

What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?

Pursue something you love (or think you could love if you have no idea yet). Things seem to come together when you are doing just that. Never be intimidated by hiring smarter than you and having skill sets you don’t possess. This has been said by many people many times, but often those who have not been there yet hesitate out of a sense of understandable pride.

What is next? Where do you see yourself and your business in 10 years?

Lawn Doctor has evolved from an almost bankrupt start-up to become one of the most respected brands in our category with over 600 locations. More recently, we have embarked on a journey to be a catalyst for young entrepreneurs who want to move their emerging franchise brands to iconic in the right way. Under our new Happinest brand, we have partnered with Mosquito Hunters and Ecomaids on our way to become a world-class home service platform with cool franchise brands in every major home service category. I’d like to be able to look back and see how many lives we have changed through the power of franchising.

Famous Entrepreneurs Who Didn’t Go To College

It’s common to believe that the best way to become successful in business is to go to school for 4+ years. The truth, however, is that there are many famous businessmen out there who never even finished high school. These famous entrepreneurs just had a dream and took their chances with it – and as the below entrepreneurs prove, this is what really matters in the end.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney, Founder of the Walt Disney Company, dropped out of high school at 16 to join the army but was too young. Instead, he forged a birth certificate and joined the Red Cross war effort. He landed his first job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He the founder of the Walt Disney Company and eventually was awarded an honorary high school diploma at 58.

Michael Dell

michael dell

Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Computers, began his business from his dorm room at the University of Texas. He dropped out at the age of 19 to work full-time on the company after making almost $200,000 in his first year.

Steve Jobs

steve jobs

Steve Jobs will always be the leader for college drop-outs. Steve Jobs was known for his tenacity. Not only did he drop out of college after just a few months to start Apple, but he also famously said that if he had not dropped out, then he “would have become the person I always said I hated.”

Richard Branson

Another billionaire “dropout,” Sir Richard Branson, is one of the world’s most powerful businessmen. At the age of 16, Virgin’s creator dropped out of high school to start Student magazine, which became his first lucrative business venture. He bought his own Caribbean island when he was 24, was knighted in 1999, and is now believed to be worth $4.1 billion.

Bill Gates

bill gates

Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, dropped out of Harvard to concentrate on his company. Bill Gates was the world’s richest man from 1995 to 2017 when he was surpassed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, proving that degrees aren’t always needed.

Evan Williams

Evan Williams

Evan Williams only spent a year and a half at the University of Nebraska before leaving to pursue a career in information technology. He co-founded Twitter in 2006 and later founded the publishing sites Blogger and Medium, making him worth $2.2 billion.

Daniel Ek

Daniel Ek

Daniel Ek co-founded Spotify at the age of 21, after dropping out of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden after just eight weeks. The business currently has over 217 million users worldwide, and Ek is worth 4.5 billion dollars, making him the most influential person in the music industry.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg built Facebook from his dorm to help fellow students learn the people’s names in their classes. Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard in 2004, during his sophomore year, to work on Facebook full-time and remains its CEO to this day. He is now worth an estimated $86.3 billion.

Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg

Matt Mullenweg has been an integral player in the evolution of WordPress from a blogger’s tool to the world’s most used Content Management System (CMS). Now powering over 30% of the web, WordPress is in all likelihood the most widely used CMS in existence. The former political science major dropped out of the University of Houston to work at CNET Networks. He left CNET two years later and founded Automattic, the business behind WordPress.com, Akismet, Gravatar, Tumblr. He currently manages the WordPress Foundation.

Rocco Fiorentino

Interview with Rocco Fiorentino of Benetrends Financial

What was the first business you started?

My first business was a mechanical contracting business which I started with my partner in 1976. I was still very young and had a lot to learn.

What is your background, and did it help you get where you are today?

During the early years of my first business, most of our customers were franchise brands like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and many more. This was my opportunity to learn about franchising.

How did the idea for your current business come about?

The current businesses I am currently involved in have all stemmed from my early days as an entrepreneur. I am always wondering what else we can do to serve our customers better and what other products we may provide to them that would fit our current model, and we would be able to execute with “Best in Class” service.

What was your key driving force to become an entrepreneur?

Since my first job at the early age of 14, I wondered what we could do better, whether it was the restaurant that I worked in as a busboy or any of the jobs after that. When I could start a service business since I was already in the business working for someone else, I knew I wanted to do it, and I knew I had the passion for doing it better than anyone I have worked for in the past. Since then, I have always enjoyed entrepreneurship, and I truly enjoy going from one mistake to the next… Very enthusiastically!
I enjoy taking risks, and I try to take a calculated risk, and I enjoy the opportunity to see some of my vision come to reality in whatever I do.

Did you raise funding for your business or bootstrap it?

As a young man, I always was interested in engineering, and I wanted to go to trade school. My dad thought I was just wasting time, and we made a deal. I would pay for the engineering school while I was attending by working nights and weekends. If I did graduate, he would have the money waiting for me and re-inverse to my tuition. I graduated at the top of my class, and my graduation present was my full tuition returned to me by my dad. I used that tuition money to start my first business, buy my first service truck, and purchase the parts I needed to get started in my business.

How did you build a successful customer base?

I always pride myself on building personal relationships, especially with the initial customer base for any of the businesses I have been involved in.

Customers are just simply people who need a product or service. Any of us in business has a unique opportunity to serve and provide that product or service better than anyone else.  Customer service and customer relations are what I love best about business in general.  Regardless Of the product or service, you will always know what Is best for your customers and your employees if you have passion.

Which marketing tactics have been the most successful for you?

Marketing tactics continue to change and evolve and are certainly different in the many businesses that I have been involved in. Technology has allowed us to step up our game and be much more effective and efficient in our marketing efforts. I always try to focus on the messaging as I believe it is very important in any marketing type. My philosophy is “keep it simple” No need to overstate or over-engineer your message to a consumer who may not be aware of your product or service.

My rule of thumb in marketing is “always state the obvious.”  How many times have we all seen a commercial or an advertisement and have no idea what the company does or what the product is?

This is a simple rule that everyone should follow in whatever you are marketing or advertising can certainly be done in the simplest format.

What kind of culture exists in your organization, and how did you establish it?

Culture is a very tricky word. All entrepreneurs aspire to develop an amazing culture within their organizations. That is certainly a tall order. Culture typically comes from the top but not always. How many times have we seen mission statements that are so long that no one can remember them? I’ve been a trans financial, and our mission statement is simple.

“We make every client a champion.”

All of the staff members at Benetrends Financial can certainly remember that line and can certainly practice our simple policy and mission to make every client a champion. Culture also requires the senior leadership team to live the culture and mission statement in the most obvious ways. That allows The entire organization to be aware of their actions at all times. It is not prudent to allow the culture to get in the way of building a solid profitable organization that is dedicated to the customers and the employees and is an organization that everyone is proud to be part of.

Can you describe your typical day?

My day starts at 5:30 AM. I usually do not set the alarm, but my body clock wakes me at 5:30, whether I like it or not. I typically take 20 to 30 minutes in the morning to get my thoughts together, walk on the treadmill a little bit, make my coffee and get my day started.

Time management is something that many entrepreneurs struggle with. I’ve taken several time management courses over my years, and humbly enough, I have learned how to better manage my time and have become better at managing my time and schedule with my direct reports.

How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?

Family life and work is always a balancing act for every entrepreneur. Today, it is even harder to separate ourselves as we carry our mobile phones and devices with us everywhere we go, whether it’s the office, the car, or our homes. We have access to everyone in our personal and professional lives, making it even more difficult to balance. There are times when my personal life and my family Are certainly my priority, and there are times when my professional life is my priority. That doesn’t mean that you have can’t do both. When I am on vacation, which is not often, I will always take time every day to view my emails, make a few calls and take care of business. Conversely, if I am in the office for long periods of time, I will always check in on my personal life and take care of anything I may need to do. I think the secret Have a good balance has been for me to prioritize and manage my time as best I can.

What motivates you?

I am a servant leader, and I am very philanthropic. What motivates me is when I can help others become more successful and help those that may be less fortunate than others.

How do you generate new ideas?

New ideas are easy for me. I have an amazing vision and see beyond what may be visible. That allows me to expand on whatever I am thinking of or working on. It is hard to describe, but it is so clear in my mind. My theory is that every good business today was just a crazy idea yesterday. If you believe in that and are willing to take some risk, great things can happen.

What is your greatest fear, and how do you manage fear?

Truthfully, my greatest fear is my health and the health of my family. That is something none of us can control. We take good care of our bodies and hope that we are healthy for as long as we can be. None of us have any idea how much time we have left, and none of us can make enough money to buy one more minute when our time is up. We must always consider that as we live our lives To the fullest. When my time is up, I know that there is nothing I can do, and I do not fear death. If I fear death, I will for your life, and I do not want to do that. I want to live my life to the fullest.

How do you define success?

Jimmy, success is the ability to achieve your goals. They will always continue to change and evolve. I also believe that no one can have success unless they also have a failure. There are two words that some up success for me… Health and happiness for me, my family, and the many people in my life.

Do you believe there is a pattern or formula to becoming a successful entrepreneur?

As I share with many of my friends and colleagues, I believe that I became successful the day I lost my ego. I guess everyone has an ego at some point in their life; I certainly did. It seemed to get in my way a lot and prevent me from really being successful in terms of what was really important to me instead of when I perceived what is important to me through my ego’s lens. Having an ego was fun, but I hope I never get one again 🙂

What is your favorite aspect of being an entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur is very rewarding on a personal level and professional level. My favorite aspects of entrepreneurism are that I can be creative, be independent, help others be successful, and build an organization that all of us could be proud of. Being a successful entrepreneur, he’s not easy for anyone. Every morning when I get up, I know there will be obstacles in my way; however, I just don’t know at what time they will surface or what types of obstacles they will be. I do know, with certainty, but I will overcome those obstacles and get where I need to go at that moment.

That being said, the way you address obstacles defined you as a person and an entrepreneur. At all times, I try to consider what is best, not just for me but also for the organization and the people involved in the decision. All decisions are multi-dimensional, and without multi-dimensional thought, you may make decisions that may be shortsighted in the long run.

What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

What is most satisfying to me is to see a dream become a reality. That has happened several times in my career and knowing you are capable of building something that is in your mind and making it really is most rewarding.

What are some of the mistakes you wished you could’ve avoided?

The very costly ones!

Truthfully, I have probably made mistakes with people, and I have probably hurt feelings along the way, not knowing that I have done so. Those of the mistakes I wish I would’ve avoided the most. People are the most important thing to me now in my life, and I am very conscious Of treating everyone with dignity and respect regardless of their status.

How did you handle adversity and doubt?

To be honest, I never struggled with doubt. Probably to a fault, I was always able to make decisions and live with the decisions I’ve made. I’ve never procrastinated and doubted myself at times where decisions needed to be made.

Adversity has never been an issue for me. I have a 25-year-old son who was born blind, and his twin brother died at birth. I’ve never considered that a difficulty or a hardship, and instead, I have embraced it. My son is very independent and lives alone in Nashville with his guide dog, and is a very successful music producer. Together, we started a foundation to help blind and visually impaired children adapt and Live a very normal life. I never felt victimized and always looked at an opportunity to see if we can make it better or who we can help with our knowledge.

Are there any books you suggest other entrepreneurs add to their “must-read” list?

My latest read that I enjoyed is a book titled “Thank You For Being Late” by Thomas L Friedman, who is also the author of “The World is Flat” It is an optimist guide to thriving in the age of accelerations.

What is a favorite quote from an entrepreneur that has inspired you?

“ try to be interested… Not interesting“

What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?

Welcome to the wonderful world of entrepreneurism. Try to get rid of your ego as quickly as possible and treat everyone around you with dignity and respect.

Where do you see yourself and your business in 10 years?

I am currently working on a few new projects that are very exciting, and I am very excited about technology and where it is taking us. Stay tuned…

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