When you hear the word “leader”  Alexander the Great, Martin Luther King Jr., Teddy Roosevelt are just a few names that come to mind but, what about great business leaders? How do you become a strong leader in your organization? Leadership skills are not something you learn overnight; developing good leadership skills takes time. To me, a leader should not only demonstrate courage, competence, and a clear vision of where he/she wants to take the company but a leader should also visually look the part. It’s important to be confident in your leadership role. Jeff Tempone from East Coast Refrigeration felt a lack of leadership respect in his organization. After spending some time with Jeff, we found out that the issue began with Jeff not his employees.  It was Jeff’s fault for not positioning himself as the driver of his company. It’s important for Jeff to become a leader to achieve breakout success and navigate his company to prosperity.  Comment below and let us know what characteristics you think a leader should have.

A company mission statements helps your employees understand what you’re trying to do as a business owner and what exactly the company should strive for. Your mission statement is the driving force behind your company philosophy. Mission statements should be succinct and easy to understand so that it paints a clear picture of what exactly you want your business to accomplish. When employees feel confident in their mission and rally around it, it makes it easy for others to feel confident in your services.  Since we last visited Jeff Tempone from East Coast Refrigeration, we learned that Jeff not only created and applied  a company mission statement  to his business but asked all of his employees to create their own personal mission statements to help them reach their full potential.  Take a look at your mission statement and ask yourself; is it driving clients to your business?

Written job descriptions are not always easy to put in place but they shape the duties of your employees. Creating job descriptions and implementing them will help your employees fulfill their daily duties. East Coast Refrigeration had some difficulties creating job descriptions for their employees. Since those job descriptions did not exist, they were unsure of their  responsibilities and were not capable of achieving daily tasks. Since the show last November, East Coast has made some significant changes to their organization including providing job descriptions to all of their employees. Now, the staff is held accountable for specific tasks because they have certain guidelines they must follow. Be sure to help your business by helping your employees first.

How often do you receive advice about your business that you don’t take literally? Many of us discuss our business plans with consultants, business coaches, other local business owners, and family but it takes a special type of person to take the advice and essentially apply it to their business. At Basso on Business, we would like to highlight particular individuals who not only listened to the recommendations we presented them but took action! Our “Actions in Action” blog will quote our past featured business owners of 2010 and prove that when you act on advice and forge forward, positive change will flourish...

The act of refrigeration is simply the removal of heat from an enclosed place or a material.  Simple, right?  I bet Jeff Tempone from East Coast Refrigeration in Bohemia, NY begs to differ.  Everyone in the Western civilized world takes the simple luxury of ice as a given, but not Jeff. He works long hard hours making sure his clients stay cool. 

His technical skills are unsurpassed and he can fix nearly anything mechanical. That's how he got his start working in the refrigeration business. Like many small business owners, he learned a trade and opened his own shop. For the last five years he has worked hard making his small enterprise grow....and then he realized he was really stuck...