In an ever-changing economy, the importance of good leadership within any business should never be underestimated.
Creating a leadership team that strives and succeeds in achieving business goals, will help it see continual growth. Whatever external factors are impacting the market, solid leadership is the sure-fire way to steer the ship during challenging times, whilst also leveraging opportunities during booming times.
So, what is leadership and why is it important for car wash businesses?
Often used synonymously with the term management, leadership is in itself a distinct concept. A leadership team is there to motivate, communicate and inspire growth, whilst maintaining strong interpersonal relationships to ensure employees understand the importance of the tasks they have been given. If leadership is effective, the likelihood is it will result in a lower turn-over of staff and a body of employees that work closely as a team to evolve with the times.
Whilst leadership often overlaps with management, a useful example of differentiating the two might be to consider how they work within your car wash business. A manager, for example, may set targets on the time taken per customer (a process which keeps the business running) whilst the success of the target being met requires a good leader to motivate employees on the importance of meeting that target in line with the business’ vision and develop strategies and systems that may improve the effectiveness of meeting the target.
Creating a Leadership Team for your Car Wash
With an understanding of the crucial role a leadership team has within a business, you can then consider the qualities needed to create a successful leadership team. We discuss not only the qualities but the impact these have on the success of your business in the 5 tips below.
- Create a Positive Culture
A successful business does not have to be a ‘them and us’ culture. Whilst the leader might set the vision, a trust in employees leaves scope for other talents within the organisation to offer solutions. Trusting and listening to employees with their ideas can help develop of feeling of worth within the business and in turn motivate employees to help the business grow whilst spurring all important teamwork.
- Act Decisively
If change is what is needed to ensure your car wash business innovates with the developing economy and with new technology, it should be said that a good leader must act decisively. Indecisiveness may often lead to a lack of trust and confidence in the leadership team and it can make taking a chance at change more difficult to get your employees on board with. Acting decisively may mean to take a chance. Playing it safe may leave your business floating behind your competitors and so a good leader should not be afraid to take a chance in helping a business succeed.
- Passion and Pride
To innovate and grow successfully, the leadership team should ensure they understand the facts at hand (this may be an in depth knowledge of the technology you intend to embrace or perhaps new acquisition strategies) and communicate in a way that inspires and shows passion for the growth of the business and its employees.
An example of this could be considering how new car wash technology will help improve the day-to-day running of the business in a way that values employees’ time and enjoyment of their job. This shows a passion for not only the success of a business but for the welfare of the employees. This may help improve employee engagement, leading to a happier, more productive workforce.
- Be ‘human’
A good leader does not have to be the stereotypical ‘scary’ big bad boss of the world! Showing a compassionate side is important in developing that level of trust between the leadership team and employees. Of course, it is important to show strength in decision making but if employees are to be on board with change, a good leadership team should make sure they behave in the same way they expect their team to behave and that being ‘human’ requires you to act as a positive role model. If you want your team to get their hands dirty at the car wash, why not spend the day every now and then getting your own hands dirty at the car wash. A good leader understands the working day of the business from its roots to its shoots.
- Forward Thinking
An awareness of market trends and cutting-edge technology can be the key to a leadership team successfully taking a business to the next level and outshining competitors. Taking the time to research new ideas, approaches and technology should be a focus of any successful leadership team and communicating new ideas helps employees feel that the business is growing with the market. Importantly, consistently gaining feedback from employees on how their working day pans out in terms of the targets they have, can ensure that when you take that step to implement new and exciting ideas, you have the confidence to do so in a way that has considered the positive impact it can have on the business and its employees.
Successful leaders may also actively look to engage with customers directly and try to understand their needs better so they can create services and products that are highly sought-after.
Learn More About PSD Codax
We hope that the above has offered some guidance on how to create a successful leadership team.
Here at PSD Codax, we help car wash operators get more out of their business through innovative technology and products.
To learn more about our range of products, download our brochure or get in touch with our expert team today.
