The vast majority of pet brands are small business led by passionate professionals and influencers of their field. These superstars wear the hats of multiple job functions so it is no surprise that being a strong and engaged leader in this space comes with its own unique set of challenges.
As busy as you may be and as much as you have to do, staying accessible and engaged is absolutely critical to the development of your organization and team members. Many people have adopted the notion that always 'being busy' and inaccessible is a sign of importance and status. When that attitude is consistently expressed, it actually shows people that they are not a priority to you and that you are somewhat inflexible. And over time, you will simply become unapproachable and lose key engagement from others.
So, what are some ways to stay engaged with your audience, your team and your industry?
Consider 4 simple tips:
1)Avoid dismissing people or simply saying that 'you will get back to them.' Rather, take 30 seconds and find an available time on your schedule and propose a date/time that you can make work. Then, stick to your schedule!
2) Work on adding some flexibility to your schedule. Even if it's just 15 minutes of time between meetings or engagements, these small pockets of time can be really refreshing and give you ample time to wind down from a previous task or prepare for what's next.
3) Let people hear from you! Take advantage of blogs, social media, LinkedIn, newsletters and other updates to let people hear from you directly. Can you share some cool updates? Discuss some coming services or products? highlight some recent events, partnerships or collaborations? This is especially critical for internal communications but can also add a lot of value to your target market.
4) Specifically with your team, get trendy with your team interactions and meetings: group chats, video meetings, team events, volunteering together. Building camaraderie is not just a job task or quarterly goal. It is a mindset and a way of doing business, and you, as the leader, must spearhead that effort.
At the end of the day, the Chief Everything Officer is a difficult role to lead so as long as you continue to grow, learn, and work better with others, you will be successful.