Leadership Style

Happily I am able to operate a seasonal bookstore which I am able to close during the last month of November through December. The bookstore is a family owned and operated bookstore whereby I find myself using command-and-control leadership as the primary management style. We began as small operation with less than 200 customers, two years later we serve over 1000 loyal customers. Our survival demanded strict consistency and conformity to customer specifications because we were a new bookstore to a saturated bookseller marketplace.
During our infancy our staff was small and inefficient and it was vital to motivate and instruct our staff to climb up a steep business learning curve in order to remain profitable and efficient. Each employee was taught one simple operational task and not allowed to crossover due to fear of inconsistency and irregularity falling outside of customer requirements. The tasks became so narrow that all workers were adverse to change or transformation even when change meant increased productivity. Because my employees are family members my leadership style changes rarely which at times can become draining.
Although we have grown and our job duties have expanded and grown I still sometimes find myself reverting to the command and control role. I assumed this role because the organization was new and required absolute accountability and strict quality control. Now that we have expanded into new product lines we require product experts who can motivate workers to make independent decisions that will increase creativity and organizational growth.
Despite tough economic conditions we are growing but I fear that our growth will become compromised if we do not become a more team motivated organization. I believe a great new year’s resolution for our business will be to address the real problem of leadership which is the organizational culture.