A serial entrepreneur myself, I spend the majority of my time coaching other entrepreneurs and business owners on how to grow dynamic businesses that focus on people, planning, processes and profit.

This month, I am excited to travel to Philadelphia for the Entrepreneurs’ Organization NERVE conference, where hundreds of entrepreneurs from around the East Coast will join together to learn from one another, network and share ideas. Next year, Nashville will be the host of this entrepreneur learning conference.

One of the topics I will be speaking on is leadership. Regardless of what you have been told, leaders are not born, they are made. Anyone can lead — you just need to know how and how not to lead.

Here are some do’s and don’ts for leading your business:

• DO hire well. Hire slow and fire fast. Understand what you are looking for in a new hire, including character, capability and involvement. If you don’t have the right team members, you cannot entrust them with important tasks that are vital to growing your business.

• DO show others how to lead. If your goal is to expand your organization, your focus must be on growing leaders. Be a model for your employees and show them what you want to see in a leader. You must invest time and effort in your employees to help develop them, and in turn they will equip others with the same leadership potential.

• DO teach people to excel in life outside of work. There is more to life than work, and a good leader recognizes this. Encourage your employees to pursue passions outside of the 40-hour work week, such as community service, sports or travel.

• DON’T micromanage your business. This goes back to showing others how to lead. If you want your organization to thrive without your continuous personal involvement, you must develop leaders. Stop micromanaging your business and get in the driver’s seat.

• DON’T take on all the work yourself. Many leaders don’t want to share responsibility because they don’t want to lose power and/or they think that no one else can do something as well as they can. When good leaders delegate duties, they not only gain time to strategize, they also empower other leaders in the organization.

• DON’T hide the state of your business from employees. Be open and genuine with your employees about the state of the business, including financials, struggles and successes. When your team is involved in the company’s mission, they will be more passionate about helping you achieve its goals.

The leader’s focus should be on others. Developing team members into leaders not only brings your organization success and your employees satisfaction in advancement, but it also gives you, as the leader, the joy of creating a sense of community in your company.

This story was originally published in The Tennessean.