I was recently browsing through a study by The Guardian Life called “What Matters Most to America’s Small Business Owners” (see more here) and it got me thinking about business improvements I’d like to make in 2010 and the team I need to get me there. Because as much as I know what improvements and goals I would like to achieve with my business, I know that I need others to bring their strengths to the table to make them happen. If my years as a CEO have taught me one thing, it’s that if you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything.

When small business owners consider setting future goals, they are often looking for ways to build stronger companies with a smaller team, but I have always found being a leader when your main charge is yourself, an even tougher challenge than a room full of VP’s.

Being able to efficiently recognize strengths, both in yourself and others, is extremely valuable in a small office. How do you know if it will be worthwhile calling in a freelancer for a one-off need or if you can/should do it yourself?

“How Full is Your Bucket?” and “Strengths Finder 2.0” author, Tom Rath, has hit the shelves again with a book that aims to shed a little light.

Rath’s latest book, “Strengths Based Leadership”, encompasses decades of research on the topic of leadership. Research organisation, Gallup, had scientists study more than 1 million work teams, conduct more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with leaders, and interview more than 10,000 followers around the world to ask why they followed the most important leader in their life. Published in January 2009, the book immediately became a New York Timesand Wall Street Journal bestseller and an interesting addition to my own bookshelf.

The author encourages leaders to be themselves, rather than trying to imitate an admired role model or follow the latest leadership fads and this is a sentiment I share.

Do you have any examples of good and bad leadership that has had an impact on business?