Latest / Small Biz Florida / Ep 424 | Lead from Within: Building Better Leadership Habits with Dr. Adriene Wright

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Ep 424 | Lead from Within: Building Better Leadership Habits with Dr. Adriene Wright · Small Biz Florida

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  Welcome to Small Biz Florida, your go-to podcast for all things small business in the Sunshine State.
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  This podcast is sponsored by Florida First Capital, your trusted partner for financing and support.
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  Here, you'll discover the latest news, trends, and invaluable resources to help you grow and succeed.
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  From startup strategies to scaling your business, we've got you covered.
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  Join us as we explore the vibrant Florida small business ecosystem
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  and connect you with the experts who can make a real difference.
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  And now, please welcome your host, Tom Kindred,
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  Regional Director of the Small Business Development Center at Indian River State College.
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  This is Small Biz Florida, the podcast and broadcast that's all things business across the state of Florida.
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  I am Tom Kindred, your host, and it is all about small business and entrepreneurship
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  here at the 2026 Small Business Success Summit.
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  It's all taking place in beautiful Charlotte Harbor.
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  I'll get it right here.
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  Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
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  And all taking place at the beautiful Sunseeker Resort.
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  The room has been full of small business owners, operators, and entrepreneurs.
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  And the lobby was full of exhibitors and vendors talking about all their tools and resources available to help small business owners across the state of Florida.
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  Incredible list of presenters, keynote speakers.
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  And we have with us right now one of those standout presenters at the summit.
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  It is Dr.
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  Adrian Wright, who is an SBDC consultant at Florida A&M University.
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  Dr.
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  Wright, welcome to Small Biz Florida.
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  Well, thank you.
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  I'm excited about being here.
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  Yes, ma'am.
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  So, as we do with everyone here, Dr.
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  Wright, a little bit of your background, pathway to your current role as a business consultant with FAMU.
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  Yes, well, thank you, Tom.
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  I began my career as an engineer in engineering technology.
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  And over the course of the years in my profession, I worked at different levels.
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  And I worked in leadership positions and worked with leaders in organizations like the U.S. Senate as a Brookings Congressional Fellow.
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  I led small business programs in a state governor's office.
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  And I have also worked in corporate America with nonprofits and higher education.
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  13 years ago, I decided to launch out into business myself as an entrepreneur.
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  And I established Abelita LLC as a management consulting company working across market sectors.
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  In my profession today, as a consultant in business, I work with small businesses, corporations, nonprofits.
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  And I connected with the Small Business Development Center.
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  And I began to assist their clients in business, business startups, how to manage and grow and operate your business.
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  And so I have been an independent consultant with the SBDC at Florida A&M University now for over five years.
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  Wow.
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  Thank you for your support and assistance with Florida Small Business Community through the SBDC at FAMU.
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  Let's talk about you were a presenter here.
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  Let's talk about that presentation you provided.
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  It was on leadership.
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  Yes.
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  Leadership skills that are needed by entrepreneurs, small business owners.
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  Kind of give us an overview of your topic.
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  Yes.
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  Well, thank you.
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  So the title of the workshop was the Leadership Alignment Gap, What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Their Leadership.
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  And so it was very narrowly focused on the leader and their inner leadership and how it's reflected around and with the people and the organizations that they work in, the organizations that they lead.
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  And so it wasn't so much about looking at the type of leader that they are.
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  There's so much in the marketplace today about leadership, talking about the servant leader, the democratic leader, the authentic leader, the transformational leader.
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  And so this particular workshop focused on the inner being of the leader and whether or not those inner habits that we have, how do they reflect outwardly with the people that we're working with?
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  And how do they impact the organizations that we're working in and leading?
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  Nice.
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  Talk to us a little bit about some of those inner habits.
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  I probably have all bad inner habits, but talk to us about some of the inner habits, maybe the ones that one would need to be an entrepreneurial leader.
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  Yes.
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  Is that a fair question?
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  Good question?
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  Well, it is.
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  It is.
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  And so it's important to recognize that we do have patterns in life.
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  These patterns come from a number of sources, our upbringing, our education, how we learn.
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  And over time, those patterns with repeat activity become habits.
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  And those habits then can begin to impact our way of thinking, our behavior.
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  And so these are the things that happen within our leadership.
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  And so habits aren't bad, but we need to be aware of what they are because there's research that shows that approximately 90% of all of the decisions that we make every day, the things that we do, we do them unaware.
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  We just do them out of habit.
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  It's like being on autopilot.
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  And so when we're leading organizations and we're leading people, these habits can actually be good because it's a way that the brain operates to enable us to make things, make decisions quickly, to be able to respond in different situations.
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  But if we're not aware of what habits, we can draw on some habits that may not come across the way we intend for them to come across.
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  Would it sort of be a good idea for an entrepreneur as they're beginning to think about launching a new venture, a small business owner thinking about starting that business?
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  Would it be a valid, would it be a valid, would it be a valid, good idea for them to maybe do an inventory of my strengths and my weaknesses and my good habits and bad habits?
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  This is really kind of understand who I am before I start this business.
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  Absolutely.
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  I think you hit the nail on the head because so many entrepreneurs start a business because they have a talent.
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  They have an idea.
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  They have something innovative that they want to promote and advance.
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  How many actually pause to think about, do I have the right kind of leadership or am I aware of the kind of leader that I am that would help me to start a business, to grow a business, and to sustain a business?
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  Because sometimes what we see in leadership is that there are behaviors that leaders have.
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  They're not aware of those behaviors.
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  And over time, those behaviors can impact the way they lead.
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  It can impact their effectiveness.
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  Well, and impact the success of the business.
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  Absolutely.
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  And or failure.
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  Yes.
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  Yeah.
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  It's easy to Monday morning quarterback this whole thing, too.
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  So having been in a business for 20 years, when I exited that business, it was easy for me to say, well, I now know what I was good at and what I was bad at, but I really needed to know that first day.
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  Yes.
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  And I often say, and I tell my students in entrepreneurship class and I share with clients at the SBDC that if I had it to do all over again, I'd give myself half the salary and I'd use the other half to hire an HR person.
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  Because that wasn't a strength of mine.
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  You know, managing and dealing with those HR issues was not my strength.
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  I was a salesperson.
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  I was a little bit of an innovator.
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  You know, I was the face of the company.
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  I was out, you know, fronting with customers and clients.
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  That was not my strength.
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  And looking back on it now, I'm sure it had, you know, negative effects on the business and the operations.
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  Is that a fair story to tell?
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  Well, what I would say to that is I think it shows the importance of giving thought and consideration to one's leadership abilities and capabilities.
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  We can all, and so I kind of disagree with the thought that we are born leaders or there are born leaders.
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  We are all born with the capacity and the capability to become leaders.
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  There are many people who rise up in organizations never really aspiring to leadership, but they can become great leaders.
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  And so like anything else that we do in life, we learn.
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  And so in our leadership, being aware, one of the things I talked about in the workshop, the first step is awareness.
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  Being aware of our defaults, understanding what they are, when they surface, what are the triggers.
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  And when we understand what those triggers are, then we can work or start to work to minimize them, to mitigate them.
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  Well, and I very much appreciate what you said because I agree with you.
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  I don't think maybe you can be a born leader, but those that aren't can also be trained and taught and improve their skill set.
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  Yes.
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  There's all kinds of opportunities.
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  This summit was an opportunity for small business owners and entrepreneurs to come and be trained and enhance their skill set in all kinds of different areas.
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  Finance, you know, management, supervisory skills.
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  So there's all those opportunities.
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  So I agree with you.
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  You can enhance those skills.
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  Talk a little bit about the difference in being a manager and then being a leader.
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  What are those, you know, differences?
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  Yes, I'm glad you asked because there is a difference.
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  So I'll start with manager.
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  A manager is a person who is responsible for carrying out a vision, has a very specific set of responsibilities, has a process for carrying out those responsibilities.
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  A leader is a person who is more visionary.
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  They have an idea.
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  They want to take that visionary idea and they want to make something of it.
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  And so a leader is a person who is plotting the pathway, the course to achieving and realizing the vision.
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  Yes, absolutely.
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  Very nice.
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  So I guess kind of in closing, if when you meet with an entrepreneur, when you meet with that individual that's got, you know, the idea, the passion, the skill, they're looking to launch that business.
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  What is that conversation look like with you in terms of the leadership?
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  Here's what you're going to need in terms of leadership to launch this new venture.
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  Yes.
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  So I would start with the question.
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  And that question is, have you given thought to your leadership?
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  Who are you as a leader?
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  And how do you see yourself as a leader?
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  Because if you are launching into business, you have already designated yourself as a leader.
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  And so being able to start that conversation and bringing a level of awareness to them about their leadership, the things, understanding those defaults that they may have.
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  And one of the tools that I would like to just kind of leave people with, too, is we call it a mirror moment.
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  It's where you take a deliberate pause when you recognize one of those defaults in action.
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  And to be able to know that it's there and have some kind of plan for how you're going to deal with that habit.
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  If it's a good habit, then great.
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  But if it's one of those unintended habits, we need to see them, know them, and be able to own it and work to transform it.
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  Very nice.
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  It is Dr. Adrienne Wright, who serves as a business consultant with the FAMU SBDC in Tallahassee.
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  How would one find you, Dr. Wright, to maybe have a leadership conversation?
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  Yes, well, I can be found through the SBDC at Florida A&M University through the website, www.sbdcfamu.org.
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  And I can also be reached directly through my own website at www.abelitac.com.
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  Very nice.
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  Dr. Wright, thank you for your time here on Small Biz Florida.
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  Thank you for all the work you do at Florida A&M University and the SBDC there.
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  And thank you for sharing your expertise, your knowledge here with the attendees at the 2026 Small Business Success Summit.
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  Thank you.
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  Thank you, Tom.
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  Thank you for having me here today.
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  Absolutely.
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  This is Small Biz Florida.
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  I am Tom Kinninger, your host.
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  It is all about small business and entrepreneurship here at the 2026 Small Business Success Summit.
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  All taking place in beautiful Charlotte Harbor here at the Sun Seeker Resort.
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  Stay tuned.
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  More to come.
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  This is Small Biz Florida.
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  That's all for this episode of Small Biz Florida.
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  We hope you found valuable insights and inspiration to fuel your entrepreneurial journey.
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  So follow us for exclusive content and connect with fellow Florida small business owners.
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  That's floridasbdc.org forward slash podcast.
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  Until then, keep innovating and keep growing.
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  Thanks for listening.
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  Bye.
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  Bye.
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  Bye.
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  Bye.
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  you
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  Thank you.