Establishing a team and building your marketplace is a step in the right direction but what if you aren’t the “leader” type? Leaders are not born but rather trained through growth and experiences. So how can I further ensure I will be a great marketplace leader for my team? Here are 5 things you must learn moving forward.

Learn to Focus

There is enough that goes on in our own lives whether it's at work or personal. Throw in what is happening around the world and it gets even worse. So how do I get through it? The answer is learning to focus. It sounds simply enough doesn’t it? As a marketplace leader, you will find yourself constantly busy and have little time for the little things. Having a strong team behind you can make this easier but for the major tasks that will be something you need to tackle. It maybe meeting with potential investors or working on establishing channel partnerships.

At first it will be difficult to push out all the noise but as time goes on you will learn at times, you will need to be ignorant. Not listen to everything you here and become less distracted than your competitors. Focus on your goals and what you are trying to accomplish as a marketplace. As you establish that laser focus mentality, ensure your team is right behind you every step of the way.

Related: How to Conquer Distractions to Stay Focused

Be Confident

Confidence is contagious. Especially when it comes from higher up. Imagine if you were working for someone who didn’t show any signs of confidence and even in their own product? Sounds like a disaster. It’s important to be confident for yourself but more importantly for your team. They can sense how you act on a day to day basis and believe it or not, their moods are affected by yours. If they sense you are having a bad day or are upset, it gives them an uneasy feeling and makes them start to question their own jobs and the state of the company.

Now I am not saying you need to demand people to do this or that and raise your voice. It’s simply carrying yourself with a certain “swagger” with the ability to be assertive with your team. Surely you want to be close with your team but ensure there is a boundary between work and play.   

Inspiration to Others

Someone is always watching. Sounds a bit creepy doesn’t it? Well maybe not physically (I hope not), but someone truly is. Whether it’s on your social media accounts, at work, or even your commute to and from work. How are you inspired to get out of bed everyday? If you think about it, we are all or have been inspired by someone else in our life. Some have been lucky to have a father or mother figure to gain inspiration from while others also have friends or other family members.

Be the inspiration you have gained from someone else. Keep the trend going by inspiring your friends, colleagues, family, or even your own kids. The greatest things in life come without a money value and inspiration is one of them.  

Passion for Your Niche

We often hear “do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Sounds cliche doesn’t it? Well it’s true. Whatever your reason may be to pursue your career, be sure to have a passion for it. Many people simply get a degree in something that will make them the most money but end up hating it after a few years. Pursue what you can truly enjoy and lead your team by example not because you feel obligated.

From my own experience, I have many friends who graduated college 2-3 years ago and have been working ever since. They hate their jobs and are contemplating on changing fields. While the money maybe good they simply are not happy. There’s an old saying “money can’t buy happiness” which stands to be very true no matter what context you put it to. It may bring temporary happiness but eventually it will go away.  

Related: 3 Tips for Startup Success

Acquire Patience

Your marketplace will not just make you millions overnight. Think of it as you growing a plant. You must plant the seed, nurture it everyday, and it will slowly blossom. A marketplace in a sense is the same thing. Planting your seed is identifying your niche and what idea you will be focusing on. The nurture phase is your day-to-day and what you do determines how successful the growth will be. You can’t expect results if you aren’t putting in the work.

The final stage is blossoming. Your marketplace is ready to go live and start building your clients. While your marketplace will always have room for improvement, it is important to keep it blooming. Don’t settle and continue to make new connections, improvements to your UI, and admin dashboards. Accept that you will encounter issues and your clients will too. It’s a matter of how you fix those and bounce back from it.

As you look to further implement your leadership to your team, keep in mind it will take time. Your marketplace will go through its ups and downs so be sure to keep the big picture in mind.

If you are looking for more marketplace advice, comment below or send us a tweet @NearMeCo!