Small Business Is What Its Leader Is

In this highly personalized world today, leaders set the tone for the company and it is crucial they have high moral and personal standards.

When leaders fail, the company is hurt and may take years to recover if at all.

Leaders set the moral tone for the company and when they compromise their integrity or commit grievous personal mistakes, it affects staff and clients.

This year has been particularly wrought with examples of leaders failing to uphold personal integrity either by seducing subordinates, stealing from the company, or condoning what others are doing that circumvent company policies.

Like Ceaser’s wife, the small company owner/president must be above suspicion; he/she must set and maintain high standards to insure success.

In small businesses where leaders, and especially the owner, are in closer contact with employees and customers, personal integrity and “doing the right thing” are magnified.

With the closer contact and intimacy, employees are more apt to see moral or ethical breakdowns on the part of the leader.

If a leader favors one employee because of an improper relationship, this activity will have a wider, deeper impact on other employees.

Often safeguards against internal theft and other transgressions are often more lax in a small business than in large corporations.  Poor behavior on a leader’s part may be picked up and amplified by employees, hitting the business financials hard.

Most small businesses are a reflection of the leader to a higher degree than in large corporations with established cultures.

When the leader goes wrong in a small business, it will affect the whole organization despite whatever precautions he or she may take.

There is an old saying, the fish rots from the head. If a leader does not maintain ethical standards, then how can employees be expected to remain upright in their dealings?