Especially if you’re new to entrepreneurship, the prospect of actually leading people and managing them effectively can be so daunting. Personally, I work in the fairly new industry of social media and video marketing and my team connects virtually on our daily huddles and meetings during the week. Most of us haven’t even met each other in person!

So especially in this new virtual environment, there isn’t necessarily a roadmap for how to manage a team and build a strong company culture.

A lot of people think it’s not possible for a virtual team to really be connected. They often say these things because they don’t understand how a strong company culture could possibly exist for an online company. 

And I have to say, it isn’t always easy. When I was first starting out, there were a lot of roadblocks to overcome. But now I have this amazing team and we really do feel so connected even though we work in different cities, and some of us in different countries!

Of course, a strong company culture starts with hiring. You want to hire the type of people who align with your vision and mesh well with your personality. And if you’re leading an online team like I do, you want to make sure you’re recruiting people who have the self discipline to get their work done. Trust me – micromanagement is never fun for anyone. 

Spoiler alert: at some point, you’ll probably hire someone who doesn’t end up meshing well with your company, and that’s okay. It’s important to learn what to look out for and over time, you’ll have a really clear, focused idea of the type of employee that fits well with your company.

Regardless of the type of business you have, no matter what industry you’re in, if you’re an online business or a brick-and-mortar business, my mentor Alex Charfen says “culture is always a reflection of leadership”, and that quote really struck me the first time I heard it.

If you have a team – or even an audience – that isn’t doing what you want, there’s a good chance they’re mirroring yourself back to you. It can be hard for some entrepreneurs to hear, but it’s true. If your team isn’t showing up the way you want them to, examine what you are mirroring for them first and you’ll find the root of the problem. 

Managing a team is hard work – no one can deny that. But when you have that strong company culture in place, it’s really hard to tear it down. When you can rely on the trust and reliability of your team, it’s so much easier to steer your business in the right direction.

If you’re just starting out in the world of entrepreneurship, lean on your mentors and other business owners you know and trust, and ask them what a strong company culture means to them and how they went about building theirs. As I said at the beginning of this episode, there is no roadmap for how to run an online business and maintain a strong company culture in a virtual environment, so relying on the knowledge of others can be really helpful.

If you want to learn more about how to build your business, value ladder, messaging, and completely revamp your content strategy for impact and profit success – be sure to sign up for my Infinite Impact Challenge! Head to InfiniteImpactChallenge.com now for everything you need to know!

Thank you for taking the time to tune into the VIP Code! Be sure to subscribe to the blog or my podcast! And share it with your friends on social media! Until next time, I’m Marley Jaxx and this has been the VIP Code podcast.