Why courage is the most important leadership skill a franchisor can have

Corporate chieftains like Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs have all proven how important strong leadership is in business. But successfully mimicking these entrepreneurial icons and spearheading your own enterprise isn’t without difficulties – especially if you’re running a franchise. “Franchisors face huge challenges,” says Adrian Knight, CEO and founder of Knight Franchises, the franchise broker. “Not only do they have to lead their internal team but they also have to inspire a network of franchisees who are independent business owners. And given that some of these systems include over 500 people, that’s an incredible task.” So anybody considering franchising their business must make sure they’re up to the job.

The size of the undertaking also means that being a franchisor isn’t for the faint of heart. “You need to have courage to lead,” says Robert Allison, managing director at Expense Reduction Analysts, the procurement franchise. While this advice may seem rather self-evident, any franchisor who’s come up against opposition from franchisees knows that demonstrating grit is easier said than done. However, Allison advises that when faced with dissent, franchisors have to remember why franchisees signed up to the network in the first place. “They have a desire to be steered by some sort of central leadership,” says Allison. “So you can’t be too subservient to your franchisees because then you may end up with the tail wagging the dog.”

There may even be times when the company’s head honcho has to remind franchisees who the leader of the business is. “The franchisor will often be accused of sitting in an ivory tower and not understanding the coalface of the business,” says Allison. Franchisors are advised to accept the criticism when offered but not to let it discourage them from leading the business. “If your organisation lacks the conviction to lead from the top down and provide direction, you’ll find your franchisees filling that void,” says Allison. “When the franchisor isn’t leading, franchisees will start to wonder what they’re actually getting for their money. When that happens, you know the franchise is heading for trouble.”

The trick to acquiring the courage to lead lies in a second important skill: knowing where you want to take the business. “Unless you’ve got a strong vision for your franchise you probably shouldn’t be running it,” says Paul Callow, CEO of Cartridge World UK and Ireland, the ink-cartridge franchise.” And intimately linked to being able to envision a brighter future for the business is having an ability to make it a reality. “The last thing I want to do as a leader is to present my people with a vision that may sound great but that my franchisees don’t know how to achieve,” says Callow. “If I do that, they’ll quickly become demotivated.”