Keep your business moving forward - get unstuck!

[Esha Herbert-Davis]

My husband and I recently gave a presentation to a group of undergraduate students about leadership. We did a short exercise where we showed pictures of diverse, well known personalities. The question posed to them was, "Leader or not...and what qualities made them a leader (or not)?"

The pictures ranged from Oprah Winfrey to Steve Jobs to Gandhi to Phil Jackson. With each picture, the students commented and discussed what traits and qualities made these people good, bad or indifferent leaders.

Here are some of the common leadership traits and qualities they mentioned:

- motivator
- creative
- innovator
- confident
- self-sacrificing
- supportive
- ethical

These are just a sample of wonderful qualities that we discussed as a group, whether the students themselves agreed with the individuals' approaches and ethics.

Let's take a moment to talk about innovation. Your ability to innovate as a small business owner is essential. Let's take Steve Jobs, for example. His ability to lead the introduction of the Mac to the mass market set his product apart from any other computer that was in existence at the time. As I mentioned to the undergrad class, "He blew everyone out of the water. The was no competition."

I'm not saying you need to be Steve Jobs to be successful, however we can all take a page from his book and strive to be innovative in our respective businesses.

If you're "stuck", your ability to innovate is thus diminished and you're not creating. Feelings of overwhelm and anxiety abound, therefore you're not "in the flow", as Eric Butterworth says.

Getting unstuck is vital to you and your business.  Let's talk about it - Are you feeling stuck in your business right now?  I welcome your comments and questions.

If you'd like to learn the secrets to getting unstuck, become a part of the conversation on November 2 as Grace Thompson and I share 4 Secrets to Getting Unstuck. Visit the event page for more information.