To a large degree, the success of any team is heavily dependent on the character of the leadership. If a team is lead by a weak leader, then failure is not only likely, but guaranteed. In order to successfully expand your freelancer business, you must become a masterful leader. You must be able to maintain a strong camaraderie within your organizational unit. It is for this reason that we do not recommend immediately hiring employees as soon as you start your freelancer business.
If you are like most people, you will need time to sharpen your mind and develop the discipline which is necessary to function as a successful freelancer. As you become more knowledgeable and skilled in your area of expertise, you will have a deeper understanding of what it takes to succeed, and once you're ready to expand, you can inculcate this into your subordinates. In the words, if you cannot master and lead the person you see when you look into a mirror, it will be impossible for you to lead a team of individuals.
When a company goes bankrupt, it isn't the employees who are at fall, and it also isn't the fault of the customers. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the leadership. One good analogy that I like to use is to think of your company as being an army, with you as the general. As the general, you are responsible for the life and death of your men. Lead carelessly and your campaigns and wars will end in disaster. Leader with caution and boldness, and your army will emerge victorious.
To be a great leader, you must be able to understand the psychology of men. As the leader, you must always keep your subordinates in check. Never allow them to make critical decisions that could mean the life or death of your operations, these decisions should only be made by you and you alone. Another trait that must be avoided at all costs is indecisiveness. When you make a decision, whether it is right or wrong, make it. Don't jump back and forth between your decisions; an indecisive leader is a weak individual who is unlikely to succeed.
Historically, great leaders have always been individuals who were able to make decisions quickly, and only changed them slowly as circumstances required. Many people, in contrast, make decisions slowly and then change them quickly. As a leader, it is not necessary to worry too much about making the wrong decision, as you will make mistakes along the way, and with boldness you will be capable of overcoming these errors. Timidity is never a viable trait of a strong leader.
The relationship that a leader has with his or her subordinates should be one of respect, and perhaps even a bit of fear. But the type of fear that you should instill in your subordinates as a leader should be a healthy type of fear, not an unhealthy type of fear. It is very important to understand the difference between these two types of fear. A leader who instills unhealthy fear into his subordinates is a person who is by their very nature an autocrat. These individuals will often use overt threats to get what they, and these types of people are quick to yell at or punish those who don't do as they say.
Historically, leaders who fall under this category would include men such as Joseph Stalin, a man who terrified his subordinates. Being this type of leader will get results in the beginning, but ultimately, your subordinates will hate you as opposed to respecting you, and this will lead to disaster. A healthy fear is a type of fear which is based on your subordinates being afraid of displeasing you, not because of what you will do to them, but because they respect you so much that their failure makes them lose face before you. This type of fear is the kind of fear that exists between a loving father and his son. The son loves his father. He looks up to him and wants to be strong just as he is. Therefore, the son works hard so that he can win the respect and admiration of his father. This is the type of relationship that the greatest leaders in history have had. Napoleon Bonaparte was said to be a “master of men” due to his ability to motivate his troops and lead them into battle.
When one of his regiments failed to show the type of bravery that he desired, Napoleon would sometimes visit the group personally, insulting them and questioning their bravery. He would tell them “that they weren't worthy of fighting in his unit, and that they were unfit to call themselves Frenchmen.” He would also add that he would not allow them to participate in the next battle. Though Napoleon only used words to abuse his men, this is all he needed. Many of his men would break down and cry when hearing these words, and begged him to allow them to participate in the next battle.
To become a truly great leader, you must take a page out of Napoleon's play book. Your subordinates should fear and respect you, but in a healthy way. You never want them to hate you. When your subordinates have an unhealthy fear of you, it will eventually bring you down. For instance, in many companies, the CEO is often individual who screams or yells at subordinates when things go wrong. This is a terrible way to behave. When you constantly yell at your subordinates when they bring you undesirable news, you create an environment where people will stop giving you bad news.
Because no one likes being yelled at, they will try to avoid creating a scenario where this will happen. In many companies where the CEO has a short fuse, subordinates will often avoid giving the leader bad news by either having someone else do it, or avoid providing this info altogether by covering it up with good news. The problem with this is that it creates an environment where everyone tells the boss what he or she wants to hear, because they're too scared to tell them the truth. This will ultimately bring down the organization, because no organization can survive unless it is able to handle bad news in the proper way, which is impossible when the leadership is unaware of this information.
Humans have a psychology which is similar to dogs, and I don't mean this is an insulting way. When you have a puppy, and it urinates on the carpet, most dog training experts will tell you that hitting or screaming at the puppy is a terrible idea. Instead, the wise owner trains the puppy calmly, and the puppy grows into dog that loves its master. When you strike a dog or scream at it, it will become afraid of you, and this type of fear is not the type of fear that you should want as a master.