Partner Article

Third of bosses ‘don’t enjoy’ being leader

One third of business owners do not enjoy being the leader in the current economic climate, according to new research.

Just over 50% of those surveyed said that their work/life balance was only “okay”, while 35% labelled it good and 12% very good.

A quarter said their business was currently either “treading water” or “declining slightly” with 51% more upbeat claiming they were “growing slightly” and 25% even more bullish saying their company was “growing rapidly”.

Looking ahead, only 4% of owners were “very optimistic” about the prospects for the UK economy in the next 2-3 years, while 41% were “optimistic”, 27% saw “no change”, 22% were “pessimistic” and 6% “very pessimistic”.

Jerry Hopkins, founder of The Leadership Team, who carried out the survey, said: “The survey’s findings show that many business owners are finding life tough and lonely at the top in the present economic climate and the majority see either no change or things getting worse over the next couple of years.

“However, it is also clear that business owners believe that having a strong vision, being able to maintain focus in difficult conditions and building a strong team around them will be hugely important in determining just how successful they are over the coming years.”

Asked who they most admired in business, a quarter said Virgin tycoon Sir Richard Branson, 8% opted for former Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy while 5% chose Sir Alan Sugar. Many other business leaders received single mentions including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the late Apple founder Steve Jobs, retail bosses Sir Stuart Rose and Justin King, golfer Jack Nicklaus and former Dragons Den star James Caan.

The only women leaders to receive a mention were Dame Anita Roddick, the late founder of the Body Shop, and Chrissie Rucker, who launched The White Company.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .