The other day as I was reading some information on the current stock market I saw this quote, “Narrowing leadership is rarely a good thing for market health”.  The quote pertained to the current tech company stock market and pointed out that leadership, as referenced by value gains, in that segment had narrowed to the companies of Microsoft and Apple.

 

Now, we are a death care medium at Funeral Director Daily so I took that statement and wondered is “Narrow Leadership” good for a company, such as a funeral home?  Or, is a much broader sense of leadership a better way to go?

 

It’s probably fair to say that in the American funeral home business about 85% of the businesses are still family owned and operated by a leadership team that only involves the owner. . . and sometimes the owner’s spouse.  It’s the way my funeral home was operated  —  I made the decisions that affected every one that worked there.  Yet, I don’t think I ever had a “Narrow Leadership” personality.

 

I think a narrow leadership personality needs to be avoided and it can be avoided if the leader, in this case the owner/operator, is willing to acknowledge that they don’t always know the best answer for every single subject and decision that comes up.

 

At the end of the day somebody has to make the decisions and in a small funeral home that is the owner/operator.  However, those major decisions should never be made without looking for advice and counsel from others who may have an opinion on the subject.  When I made decisions I always looked to others to get input and used that input to make the decision that I thought was best for our firm.

 

Who can a funeral home owner/operator look to for help in making the decisions on a wider platform?  You pay for advice from bankers, accountants, and advertising experts so make sure you solicit their opinions on many of the business aspects of your decision making.

 

When it comes to staffing and protocol issues I always solicited opinions from employees.  I was amazed at how many times that I overlooked something that they found was instrumental in the decision that needed to be made.  Often times those employees on the front lines with families we served or in the prep room doing the work had a much better feel for what was going on than I did from my office.  Failure to implement decisions without their input can not only cause the wrong decision to be made but, sometimes even more detrimental is the fact that those team members feel a lack of worth from the decision maker not even soliciting their opinions.

 

There are a lot of ways to lead in today’s business world.  I think the word “collaboration” is probably the best one that I can think of for today’s leaders.  Leaders need to “collaborate” with those that they lead on ideas that may need to be implemented.

 

Using the stock market analogy, I think using an old-fashioned “boss type” narrow leadership style will only bring about more issues and will not be healthy for your business.  So, work on bringing more people into the decision-making process at your business and I think your business will be better for that effort.

 

And, if you are an owner/operator who wants help with the business aspects that are unique to the death care profession, companies such as Johnson Consulting Group and/or Roosevelt Investments stand by ready to add their expertise to your decision making process.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Deathly silence from Perretott and Minns to Sydney’s burials crisis as state election looms.  Michael West Media (Australia)
• Funeral directors call for changes to offset staff shortage impacting families in northwestern Ontario.  CBC News (Canada)
• How to give your pet a green burial.  Idaho Press (ID)
• Letters:  Proposed amendments to Illinois’ Cemetery Regulation Act would hurt families.  Chicago Tribune (IL)

 

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