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Leading with Inspiration not Fear

Posted on by Philippa Abbott
23
Aug

In keeping with this month’s theme of power and influence I thought is was necessary to discuss the topic of leading with inspiration; not fear. All the great women we have featured this month have all managed to get this right.

They inspire their teams to be amazing. They have open door policies and allow for growth in their companies by giving their staff platforms to develop and become more but always keep their staff inspired to stay on top of their game. And this is how they have become so influential in this awesome industry we call ours.

We all need to be more like these women all the time and everything we do.

There are 2 main management styles; that can be categorized into two main contrasting types,

  1. Autocratic; a ruler who has absolute power.

Features:

  • Likes to retain control
  • Likes to tell those working under them what to do
  • No consultation
  • Subordinates are expected to obey instructions with no argument

Impact on the business / relationships:

  • Helps complete urgent tasks that need to be done quickly or where there is an element of risk about the work
  • May lead to a lack of creativity or resistance if other employees have no input
  1. Permissive; allowing or characterised by great or excessive freedom of behavior.

Features:

  • Encourages participation from employees
  • Shares information with team members
  • Provides opportunities for team to influence the decision-making

Impact on the business / relationships:

  • Gains team commitment , particularly when changes need to be made
  • Makes decision making slower but employees are more likely to into / support the decision

Who would you love to be your mentor?

What qualities do they possess that do you think constitutes a good leader?

How do or would you try to emulate this in your work?

Do you see yourself as an authoritarian or a LEADER?

Answer these questions for yourself and begin to harness all these characteristics in everything you do.

Allow your team to follow the Leader ; not have someone who shouts orders and waves a finger in their faces.

A true leader is a mentor for their staff. Someone they look up to and see as their north star – the person they look for when they are lost.

A leader takes responsibility for:

  • Vision
  • Guidance

Obviously; you always have to have a level of authority – do not allow yourself to be taken advantage of –  Have clear and concise boundaries and do not allow staff to cross the line. Yes we want ot inspire our teams but we are not friends – we are here to get a job done. Lead with Inspiration not fear

So how do I get inspired and stay inspired?

INSPIRATION….WHATS THAT?

It is not easy as a spa manager. We have to be incredible multi-taskers – the pressures of running a spa are huge. In most other businesses there are 5 people that do our role. We have to be so many different people too; mothers, psychologists, best friends and evil stepmothers.So it is understandable that we get inundated; things fall off and last thing we feel like doing is bringing happiness to the world.

BUT; this too is one of our many job roles and it is important that we maintain composure and stay inspired at all times.

Our teams are looking to us for constant guidance and motivation – we can’t let them down.

Be Inspired – but also informed. It is so easy now in this wonderful world of technology to do both at the same time. Fo example;

  • Pinterest
  • Spa and salon Associations
  • Industry Specific Magazines eg. Pro beauty and Les Nouvelles Esthetiques
  • Industry specific blogs – see what bloggers are talking about and use this information to not only be inspired but get it into your spas.
  • Networking events and shows
  • Play an active role in the industry

Inspired individuals created people below them that aspire to be like them. How amazing would it be if we could all rally together and inspire everyone we come in contact with; to make them aspire to be more every single day!

If you need to get some inspiration and direction in your career and you are not winning – give us a call and get yourself booked onto the management course we offer. It’s amazing and it will not only benefit you from a professional perspective but it will inspire you to grow personally too.

Call 0116160833 / 25 or email Philippa for more information

Philippa Abbott

I qualified as a Somatologist in JHB in 2001. I began my career in the spa industry working on cruise ships for Steiner Transocean. I furthered my studies on my return to SA qualifying in advanced make up and special effects. I then moved to London where I worked in 2 of the most prestigious spas. I acquired knowledge in all aspects if the spa business and moved quickly from hands on therapy to part of the management team. When I finally came back to South Africa to settle for good I joined the management team of the Spas of Distinction where I grew my skill set even further and established a professional network throughout the South African Spa Industry. It is here where my roots are now deep seated and where I will remain for good. I started Spa Sense in 2010 and we have grown from strength to strength every year since then; forming key relationships with all the industry specialists. I head up the consultancy division of Spa Sense and run many of our training courses including Front Office, SOPs and Spa Sales and Retail. I also oversee our recruitment division making sure that all my clients and candidates expectations are always exceeded by the level service they receive from my team. I am incredibly passionate about what I do and hope I remain blessed enough to be in this exciting industry forever. This blog is a place I can share my views and experience so I hope you enjoy the articles and find them useful enough to use in your business.