By Jonathan Edelmann, PhD
Leaders are experts. We consider someone a leader because we see that person as competent and trustworthy. I outline how the economy in the United States of America is changing, and the ways that small business and agency creators have established themselves as leaders in their fields.
The agency leaders I discuss here work for themselves in small businesses and agencies with only a few employees, not for national or multinational corporations. The way that leadership is established in these two contexts differs considerably.
In a corporate situation, one acquires trust in the leadership of an individual employee because there is trust in the corporation of which they are part. For example, I have trust in the leadership of the loan officers at my local bank because they are ratified by the national bank in which they are employed.
A corporation has established credibility by decades of service to sometimes millions of clients in many locations. On account of the success of the corporation, one trusts that the corporation did its due diligence during the hiring process, that it has trained and prepared its employees for leadership, and that it has innate systems of evaluation that ensure its individual employees have the requisite expertise.
Thus, when a potential client is deciding whether or not to work within an individual who is part of a corporation, the trustworthiness of the corporation itself is an important part of the decision making process.
Small agency and business owners cannot establish their role as leaders by appealing to the authority and credibility of a corporate structure.
Today, the United States economy is increasingly run by solo agents who work for themselves in agencies or small businesses. There is a boom of entrepreneurship in many sectors, including but not limited to media, technology, sales, entertainment, and consultation.
A recent article in Forbes Magazine reported two alarming facts. The first fact is that there are 33.3 million small businesses in the United States of America, and this accounts for 99.9% of all business therein. The second fact is that “a vast majority, over 80%, of small businesses are solo ventures.” Thus, 79.9% of all business in the USA is conducted by solo agents!
We can conclude from these two facts that most of the people doing business must establish their role as a leader and their expertise by their own credentials, not by borrowing trustworthiness from a corporation.
Many of the qualities that make a person hirable and competent in a corporation are the same qualities that will make one a trustworthy leader when working in an industry outside of a corporation. However, those who go solo must establish themselves as leaders by their personal qualities, their individual achievements, their unique insights, and their track record with a relatively small pool of clients. How is this accomplished?
Although holding a degree in environmental engineering and not in software development, Mrs Collins saw an opportunity to develop applications for clients and she therefore founded WLCM “Welcome” App Studio. She does not work for Apple, FastCo., and Webby, but they have recognized her contributions.
In a recent interview with 50Pros, Lindsey highlights three things that she does that I believe clients want to see from leaders in our small business economy.
First, the WLCM “Welcome” App Studio does all of their work in house, not outsourcing to other agencies. Outsourcing is risky for the client because the quality of craftsmanship is questionable, but it is profitable for the developer because the labor is cheaper and therefore provides a higher rate of return. But the WLCM “Welcome” App Studio lives by the motto that small is beautiful, to quote Ernst Friedrich Schumacher. She works with a tight-knit group of people in her agency, seeing it as best way to guarantee quality.
Second, the WLCM “Welcome” App Studio focuses on slow growth, not scaling into rapid growth. One could say this has to do with the nature of the software beast which requires constant attention to design, development, management to make quality assurance, and guidance to help navigate analytics and make strategic decisions. Most high level products require such careful and constant attention. Therefore, clients want the kind of business model in which quality is ensured because the values of the business owner do not have the ambition to work at scale.
Third, Lindsey has a long term vision for her relationship with her clients, helping them get a company started and continuing with them even after business is booming. The underlying values here are partnership, care, and attention to the client.
Returning to the topic of the article, it seems that Lindsey has established her role as a leader in software development by demonstrating her values through her business model: producing the product in the business so that the agency is immediately and directly responsible for the result; focusing on slow and sustainable growth, and eschewing the temptation to scale growth at the expense of quality; and focusing on long term relationships with clients and providing support at all levels of growth.
Jeff Nordstedt is a musician and director of user experience at eDesign Interactive, based in Morristown, New Jersey. eDesign creates websites, landing pages and interactive campaigns; they encourage sharing and they try to make learning more like play. The other team members are also artists, and they bring that sensibility to their work.
In a recent interview with 50Pros, Mr Nordstedt outlines his values and vision, both of which may account for why people see him as a trustworthy leader in the field of web media design.
Perhaps it goes without saying that the birth of the internet has allowed people to communicate with one another in ways that were not possible before, but key industry leaders like Jeff think more progress can be made in this regard. The personal ownership and control of a website democratizes the distribution of information.
eDesign’s clients work directly with them and without the mediating control of corporate or political ideology standing in between them. This allows Jeff to “make an absolute commitment to doing the best work possible without the external political pressures to cut corners or attempt an approach that didn't prioritize quality.”
Recent data suggests an increasingly large number of people want media that is free from censorship and external pressure. Pew reports that the prime news time slot (8 to 11 p.m.) for mainstream network media decreased by 25% for CNN and by 6% for MSNBC in 2021-2022. Another study by Pew reports that the primary reason people consume alternative media sources is that they associate them with lack of censorship. Fox News’ audience increased by 10% in the same period, and perhaps one reason is that they brand themselves as an alternative source free from political bias, but whether or not that is accurate is not my topic here.
Going solo and developing one’s own business model may be the best route for the consumer because it is the best route for the business owner. Jeff’s advice to those going in this direction is to find something one enjoys doing, and building a culture of respect, freedom and creativity around the joy one finds in the work itself.
Part of that process might involve, as it does for Jeff, blending together two or more passions in one’s life. Many likely know that the physicist Albert Einstein loved to play the violin, but it is less well known that the guitarist Jerry Garcia was also a painter. Jeff thinks about the layout of the websites he makes in terms of musical rhythm, and he goes back and forth between the art of design and of guitar.
Lastly, I want to touch on an issue that is virtually inescapable today: the role of AI in the future of content development. I have argued elsewhere that AI cannot replace human writers because humans and (at least at this point) humans alone have creative interests.
Jeff is optimistic that AI will enhance our ability to answer questions without having to visit a website, and this will in turn allow content developers to produce better research, but this technological development will also put the onus on content developers to “deliver satisfying content experiences that go beyond something that AI can scrape and repackage.”
To conclude, the values that have made Jeff Nordstedt an industry leader are that clients know he has autonomy, personal interest, and interdisciplinary.
There is enough small business that some people make a living helping individuals make a small business, going from concept to execution. That is what Mr Imlach does. He is a Partner at Argona, which is based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a Strategic & Management Consulting agency. They have helped dozens of entrepreneurs make an impact.
Offering a Blog, Podcast, and eBook on their website, Argona focuses on intellectual virtues like insight and challenging established thinking, and moral virtues like courage.
In a recent interview with 50Pros, Jeremy speaks about bringing concepts into the world in ways that benefit the environment and the local community. And yet consistent with the virtues discussed above, Jeremy speaks philosophically about the nature of work itself. Through meditation and contemplation, Jeremy has found a way to separate his personal identity from that of his life as an entrepreneur. “Life is about exploring and enjoying the Universe, your business is only a small fraction of your reality.” This bigger perspective on the nature of our existence allows him to enjoy his time in work and outside of work.
Jeremy’s philosophical perspective on life is one reason clients trust him, but he also advocates values such honesty and clarity by not over-promising and under-delivering. But it takes time for these qualities to come out in a professional (and personal) context, which is why Argona focuses on long term relationships.
In addition to developing relationships, Jeremy continues to develop his knowledge base with courses, and learning through partnerships and campaigns, and by studying feedback. Consulting is about developing a strategy to put ideas into implementation. He uses his knowledge to create a repeatable process that can turn out a product, and then he sells that process.
It is not alarming that clients who offer testimony on his LinkedIn page speak highly of his insight and connectivity. As an industry leader, Jeremy has established trust in clients because of the self-cultivation and education in which he engages on a regular basis, and because he offers practical advice on how to systematize their process.
Technology, design, education – all are changing. Going small is big business. The key industry leaders examined here have created new agencies that have generated trust for their clients in a wide range of ways. What is clear, however, is that in each case, their roles as leaders are their own; they are not borrowed from a larger corporate structure. That’s good because that’s what people want.
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