A great leader or business owner not only knows how to run his company, but he is also a great motivator and coach to his employees. Think about it – your business is only as good as the contribution made by your employees and you are only as good as the value you can get from your employees. That is why coaching and motivating your employees to bring out the maximum potential from them is one of the most important jobs of any leader.

The problem is not every leader is a born coach. There are those who are natural at bringing out the best from others and there are others who make employees run away from them. With little help and determination it is possible for a leader to improve his coaching skills. All you need is to put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Below are 3 important steps you need to take to be a better coach.

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There is a crucial difference between being tough and being a jerk when it comes to running small business. Many small business owners take it to the extreme when it comes to being tough and, as a result, end up alienating their employees and everyone else around them. In the previous post I described why you don’t have to be a jerk to succeed in business.
I have received interesting feedback from the readers on that post. Some of them maintained that when you have to deal with number of people, many of whom are out there to take advantage of you, you have no choice, but to be a “jerk”. This is where many of us get it wrong. While you don’t want to come out as too “soft” to make sure people do not take you for a ride, you don’t have to go to the other extreme either to succeed. There are ways by which you can portray yourself as tough and still be respected by people around you. Read on to find out how:
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