Do you still sleep on it?

Behind every great entrepreneur or business leader there is always a great… deputy executive

Or, at least that is what my experience tells me. Working with family business owners and SME owners allows you to appreciate and study the qualities that have made them great.

Many of these qualities recur: a strong work ethic, attention to detail, vision, ambition, self-respect and, without a doubt, one that is always present is an extraordinary sixth sense – a ‘nose’ for it, if you like – for surrounding themselves with good people who are committed to them and their project, both within the company and externally.

For the latter to be truly useful and to become people the business owner can trust, they must also possess a number of characteristics that must always be present; without wishing to be exhaustive, it is worth mentioning:

• Independence of judgement and financial independence. Otherwise, they do a disservice with their advice, which is always biased and in their own interests.
• Exposure to the market and first-hand, personal experience.
• Knowledge and expertise that complement those of the business owner and their staff
• A mindset and the ability to explore and propose different ideas
• Time to reflect on the company’s problems and translate those conclusions into actionable steps

Often, SMEs are unable – or rather, believe they are unable – to access a deputy executive who meets the criteria I mentioned earlier, either because of the cost of such individuals or due to a lack of access to high-calibre professionals. This is no longer an excuse, as there are countless ways on the market to engage such professionals, such as the increasingly widespread practice in our country of interim management, which already has professional associations and flexible arrangements for accessing their expertise and commitment.

When was the last time someone told you “the emperor has no clothes”? If you don’t have someone on your team whom you respect enough to tell you when you’re wrong and force you to think things through again, you need one right now.