Within the past month, we saw an incredible example of leadership with President Joe Biden not running for president again. This was the right thing for his party and the country – not too many leaders have this self-awareness.

On the Small Business Radio Show this week, I talk to Patrick Nelson who has gained both local and national accolades for his military service, academic career, and work as a professional speaker and trainer, including being named the inaugural NFL-Tillman Military Scholar. He is an experienced leader who spent nearly seven years in the US Army as a paratrooper and completed three combat deployments leading soldiers. His military awards include the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart.

He discusses that the secret sauce to leadership is actually vulnerability- a surprising observation for a military veteran.

The Challenge of Self-Awareness in Leadership

Patrick begins by discussing the common pitfalls of leadership, using the character Michael Scott from the TV show “The Office” as an example. He points out that many leaders lack self-awareness, which can lead to misunderstandings and ineffective leadership. True leadership involves recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses and understanding the impact of one’s actions on others.

Building Trust and Authentic Relationships

According to Patrick, effective leadership is rooted in building authentic relationships based on trust and vulnerability. He argues that leaders should not only focus on their authority but also on how they can support and empower their team members. This approach fosters an environment where open communication and honest feedback are encouraged, allowing for personal and professional growth.

The Importance of Empathy in Leadership

Patrick emphasizes that leadership is not about being in charge; it’s about how one treats others. He believes that empathy, active listening, and self-awareness are crucial qualities for any leader. By prioritizing the well-being of their team, leaders can create a more positive and productive work environment.

Key Takeaways

Build Trust: Effective leadership is rooted in trust and genuine relationships. Leaders should be willing to show vulnerability and ask for help when needed.

Know Your Team: Understanding the unique motivations and needs of team members is essential for effective leadership. Adapt your leadership style to resonate with different individuals.

Cultivate Leadership Skills: While some leadership traits may be inherent, many can be developed through experience and training. Focus on continuous growth and self-improvement.

Create a Positive Culture: A supportive organizational culture can empower individuals and enhance overall performance. Prioritize building an environment where everyone feels valued and motivated.

Listen to the entire interview on The Small Business Radio Show.

This article, “Why Vulnerability is the Key to Small Business Leadership” was first published on Small Business Trends

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Small businesses no longer have a binary choice in front of them on whether to use generative AI. The technology can now be found within software packages, handling small tasks in the background or being directly enlisted by employees to take care of busy work.

The prevalence of GenAI has done little to diminish employees’ fears, according to a new study, “Data Privacy and Generative AI Usage,” conducted by Zoho and CRM Essentials. The report surveyed 1,000 US employees working across diverse industries, company sizes, and job titles to determine how often they were using GenAI, its use cases, and, most importantly, how employees feel about sharing personal and company data with GenAI for training purposes.

The results demonstrated that fear of GenAI remains across all employees, even if use of the technology is inevitable or it has already been implemented at the company level. However, by drawing lessons from these results, small businesses can implement a successful GenAI launch within their organization—one that reduces employee stress and enables them to focus on the higher-profile tasks so critical to SMBs.

Feelings about GenAI

All employees surveyed in “Data Privacy and Generative AI Usage,” not just daily users, expressed high degrees of concern about the technology: 46% said they believed AI was a threat to their job, and 26% said it was a “necessary evil.” Additionally, 74% of respondents claimed government legislation was needed for training AI with employee data, and 75% wanted legislation to regulate IP rights for AI content creation.

Yet, employees admitted that GenAI has provided numerous benefits, with that trend becoming more pronounced when the data is sliced for small businesses with fewer than 100 employees, constituting 37% of total respondents. For one thing, use of GenAI is more sparse among small businesses, as 45% said they don’t use GenAI at all, compared to 37% of the general survey population.

Among users, however, a higher percentage, 43%, said GenAI has increased productivity significantly, as compared to 40% of the general survey population. Also, 15% said AI has become “indispensable” to their work and only 26% have become more concerned about data privacy since starting to use GenAI.

The data shows that companies of all sizes stand to benefit greatly from use of GenAI once employees better understand how the technology can benefit them. The challenge, then, is to have employees try it for themselves, even if they’re preconditioned to dislike it.

Overcoming Hesitancy

Sales are of paramount importance to small businesses, yet so many sales teams remain disconnected from business operations, or the individual representatives become inundated with administrative tasks and lose sight of bringing in new customers. The situation becomes even more complicated when sales reps maintain their own clients and might, understandably, be hesitant to share that data with the larger organization.

The data points to a straightforward strategy: Small business owners should take a step back and consider where the data nucleus of their company should reside. For many, a centralized CRM makes the most sense, particularly when working with a remote workforce or a tight-knit team of jacks-of-all-trades. When a piece of information is updated within a CRM, other employees can receive alerts and rest assured any data they try to access later will be fully current. This unlocks better strategic decisions and a spirit of collaboration.

In addition, many CRMs now come equipped with GenAI woven into their fabric. These helpers, such as Zoho’s Zia, can handle complex calculations, data analysis and visualizations, recommendations for next steps, and automatic meeting transcriptions, leaving sales representatives free to conduct research on potential clients or hop on calls with distressed customers without worrying about falling behind. They’ll feel these tangible benefits, at which point companies can educate them on how training GenAI with customer data can improve its output exponentially.

This would also be a great time for these companies to emphasize their commitment to data privacy.

Lean Into Limitations

Despite the hype, GenAI is not capable of accomplishing every task under the sun—and, even those it can handle are prone to errors that only humans can suss out.

However, the imperfection of the technology can turn into a tool to increase adoption. If a small business has decided to implement GenAI, they can ask its employees to try and break it. Have them ask complicated questions, produce impossible results, or perform tasks of near-infinite complexity. Employees will see GenAI fail, sure, but most importantly, they will see GenAI succeed and have a better sense of how human fail safes can be incorporated into workflows to avoid errors. Once employees see themselves as part of the process, they can begin to explore GenAI’s benefits as a helper rather than something coming for their job.

Employees will be able to see the types of tasks GenAI can handle. According to the survey, 19.9% use it to quick answers to work-related questions; 15.3% create email content; 12.2% video-creation; 11.6% summarize long business documents; 11.2% to write content; 8% to edit videos; and 4.6% to write code. These represent a wide variety of work that employees will likely be happy to offload.

What’s Next?

The GenAI conversation has moved beyond the tech industry, as evidenced by the fact that all employees surveyed, regardless of industry, company size, or role within the organization, remain skeptical about the future of AI—even those who have never used it before. Changing overall sentiment is a gargantuan task no small business should ever take up, but by introducing GenAI strategically, these companies will show employees that the end goal is to increase their productivity, not replace them.

This article, “New Study Reveals That Small Business Can Benefit Greatly From GenAI – If They Can Get Employees to Use It” was first published on Small Business Trends

Slack has announced significant updates to its Workflow Builder, introducing new features that make it easier than ever for users to create time-saving automations.

The updates include plug-and-play workflow templates, enhanced developer tools, and additional workflow steps from popular third-party apps like PagerDuty, Asana, and Bitbucket. These enhancements are designed to make no-code automation more accessible to users across various industries, enabling teams to streamline routine tasks and focus on more strategic activities.

Key Updates to Slack’s Workflow Builder

1. Plug-and-Play Workflow Templates: Slack has introduced 50 new plug-and-play workflow templates that allow users to build and customize no-code automations quickly and easily. These templates simplify the process of creating workflows by providing pre-built structures that users can modify to fit their specific needs. Examples of these templates include:
   • Onboarding New Hires: Automatically add new team members to relevant meetings, share important files, and send a welcome message when they join a Slack channel.
   • Managing Recurring Meetings: Collect agenda topics, track them in a Slack list, and post the agenda in the team channel on the day of the meeting.
   • Streamlining Incident Response: Gather incident details, create a dedicated channel with the appropriate team members, and log the issue in tools like Jira Cloud to track progress toward resolution.

   These templates are designed to save time and reduce the complexity of building workflows, allowing users to automate both common tasks and more intricate processes with ease.

2. Starting Workflows from Third-Party App Actions: One of the most powerful new features is the ability to initiate workflows in Slack based on events occurring in integrated third-party tools. This integration helps centralize project management and reduces the need for context switching, which can drive down productivity. For example:
   • If a critical mobile app outage is logged in PagerDuty, a workflow in Slack can automatically be triggered. This workflow might include creating an incident channel, adding the right team members, setting up a canvas, and sharing all relevant information from PagerDuty.

   This feature ensures that critical updates and actions from external apps are seamlessly integrated into Slack, enabling teams to respond more efficiently.

3. Enhanced Developer Tools for Custom Workflow Creation: Slack has also introduced new developer tools that make it easier for developers to create custom workflow steps. These tools are part of Slack’s open API platform and allow developers to build and deploy specialized workflows faster. Key enhancements include:
   • Custom Step Management: Developers can create and manage custom steps directly from the Slack app settings page through a new, intuitive user interface.
   • Flexible Hosting Options: Custom steps can now be hosted anywhere, giving developers the flexibility to securely bring their services into Slack.
   • Integration with Existing Slack Apps: Developers can enhance existing custom-built Slack apps, such as bots, by adding custom steps that can be used within Workflow Builder. This allows for deeper integration between Slack apps and time-saving workflows.

   Additionally, developers can choose their preferred programming languages, such as TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, and Java, when developing custom steps using Slack’s SDK or Bolt framework.

This article, “Slack Enhances Workflow Builder with New Automation Features and Developer Tools” was first published on Small Business Trends

Xero has announced the launch of its new inventory management software, Xero Inventory Plus, designed to help small goods-based businesses in the U.S. grow profitably. The software, which was unveiled at Xero’s premier event, Xerocon, in Nashville, aims to simplify inventory management across multiple locations and sales channels, providing businesses with a real-time, comprehensive view of their operations.

Key Features of Xero Inventory Plus

Xero Inventory Plus is tailored to meet the needs of small businesses, particularly those dealing with goods and inventory. The software offers several key features that enable business owners to streamline their operations and make informed decisions:

• Unified Inventory Management: Xero Inventory Plus allows small businesses to track and manage inventory across multiple locations and sales channels in one centralized platform. This integration ensures that business owners have an up-to-date view of their inventory, sales, and product costs, which is essential for making strategic decisions that improve financial performance.
• Amazon and Shopify Integration: A standout feature of Xero Inventory Plus is its seamless integration with Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program. This allows businesses to manage their inventory across Amazon and other sales channels from a single platform. The software also integrates with Shopify, enabling businesses to synchronize product information, sales orders, and inventory across these popular e-commerce platforms.
• Automated Processes: The software automates key inventory management processes, including syncing product information and sales orders, generating low stock alerts, and setting reorder points. These features help business owners stay on top of inventory levels, reduce manual work, and minimize the risk of stockouts.
• Comprehensive Fulfillment Process: Xero Inventory Plus includes embedded shipping features powered by Shippo, allowing users to obtain shipping rates and print labels directly from the platform. This integrated fulfillment process helps businesses save time and access discounted shipping rates, eliminating the need for additional systems.
• Easy Onboarding and Expansion: The software is designed with a simple guided onboarding process, making it easy for businesses to connect new sales channels and get set up to sell to customers quickly. The user-friendly interface ensures that even those with limited technical expertise can navigate the system with ease.

This article, “Xero Launches Inventory Plus Software to Empower U.S. Small Businesses” was first published on Small Business Trends

Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) has announced the general availability of Adobe Workfront Planning, a new offering within its enterprise work management application, Adobe Workfront. This innovative tool provides marketers with a unified view of all marketing activities, enabling teams to be more strategic in planning and execution while dramatically reducing the time it takes to launch new campaigns.

Key Features of Workfront Planning

Adobe Workfront Planning addresses the growing complexity faced by marketing teams as they manage multiple campaigns across various channels and stakeholders. By connecting fragmented workflows and data, Workfront Planning offers actionable insights that help brands execute their marketing strategies with greater speed and precision. Key features of the new tool include:

• Unified Campaign View: Workfront Planning delivers a comprehensive view of campaign goals, timelines, and objectives, providing marketers with the insights needed to streamline operations and enhance productivity. This single view helps teams answer crucial questions like “How many campaigns are we running this year?” and “Which tactics are most frequently used?” with ease.
• Curated Visualizations: The marketing calendar within Workfront Planning visualizes day-to-day marketing activities in an easily digestible format. The timeline view displays all active campaigns in chronological order, customizable by team or stakeholder. Additionally, a spreadsheet view offers a deeper dive into each campaign, providing end-to-end visibility on key messages, project status, individual contributors, and more.
• Generative AI-Powered Brief Creation: One of the standout features of Workfront Planning is its generative AI-powered capabilities. Marketers can quickly create marketing briefs by uploading existing assets, such as presentation decks, to generate comprehensive campaign records. The AI also supports a conversational interface, allowing users to query details across campaigns and answer pressing questions during the planning stages.
• Efficient Record Keeping: Keeping marketing records accurate and up-to-date is essential for effective planning. Workfront Planning’s generative AI can automatically update records as plans evolve, ensuring that details such as target audience, region, and tactics are always current. These records are then connected into a marketing graph, which visualizes the connections between teams and workflows, driving alignment and speeding up the time it takes to bring campaigns to market.

Global Adoption and Impact

Several global brands, including Deloitte, Interpublic Group (IPG), and NASCAR, have already implemented Workfront Planning, experiencing significant productivity gains and improved marketing efficiency. These organizations have been able to meet the rising demand for highly personalized marketing campaigns by leveraging the tool’s capabilities to streamline operations and enhance collaboration across teams.

This article, “Adobe Launches Workfront Planning to Enhance Marketing Campaign Efficiency” was first published on Small Business Trends

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