14 Qualities of Exceptional
Entrepreneurs
In
many ways, true entrepreneurs are very, very different. Here's how.
Successful
entrepreneurs are just like successful non-entrepreneurs. They come from all
sorts of backgrounds, all types of demographics, have all levels of education
and experience and expertise....
In many
ways successful entrepreneurs are the same as everyone else.
Yet look
closely and you'll see that in certain key ways, they are very, very
different--even if they aren't officially entrepreneurs (yet!) but simply have
an entrepreneurial mindset.
Here are
the qualities Joel Basgall, co-founder and CEO of Geneca,
the custom software development firm and six-time Inc. 5000 honoree, feels exceptional
entrepreneurs (and people who may not have started companies but definitely
have an entrepreneurial mindset) have that set them apart:
1. They hate playing politics.
Entrepreneurs
can't stand playing politics--and to some degree, people who play politics.
They don't care about jockeying for promotions or trying to be
"right" in a meeting.
An
entrepreneur's primary focus is on solving difficult problems and accomplishing
cool things.
2. They love when others
win.
Politically
motivated people hate when other people earn praise or recognition; they
instinctively feel that diminishes the light from their star.
Entrepreneurs
aren't competitive, at least not in that way. They want to be
recognized, but their accomplishments don't preclude others from doing great
things, too.
They want
everyone else who does something awesome to get recognized, too.
3. They desperately want to
see ideas come to fruition.
Maybe
they love to dream up their own ideas. Or maybe they love to help others build
out their ideas. Either way, entrepreneurs want to make things happen--new,
exciting, crazy, groundbreaking things.
The same
is true for employees with an entrepreneurial mindset. Great people are drawn
to working at Google because they know their great ideas will be supported.
Great people are drawn to Geneca because they want to build new things and see
them come to life.
Entrepreneurs
don't want to manage what already exists; they want to create what doesn't
exist--yet.
4. They're meta-thinkers.
Entrepreneurs
spend a lot of time thinking about thinking. They like to think about the best
way to think about a goal or challenge or problem. They like to think about how
to think differently and develop a different angle or approach or perspective.
Entrepreneurs
like to think about thinking, because when they find new ways to think,
they find new ways to act.
5. They prefer to make or
enhance the rules.
Meta-thinkers
instinctively evaluate every rule--and look for ways to improve it.
They
prefer to figure things out. They see rules as problems to solve or challenges
to overcome.
6. They believe nothing
is sacred.
Entrepreneurs
don't say, "Well, that's just the way it is."
Entrepreneurs
never feel what is must always be. Perspectives can be shifted. Laws of physics
can be broken. Conventional wisdom may not be wisdom at all.
Even when
something huge stands in their way, entrepreneurs know there's a way around
it--they just need to figure it out. Changing a paradigm makes new things
possible.
6. They love solving problems.
Entrepreneurs
constantly look for problems to solve: sometimes little, sometimes big,
sometimes technical, sometimes business- or team-related. Drop entrepreneurs
into a static situation and they'll create "problems" they can
solve.
7. They're great at
self-assessment.
Why? They
constantly evaluate what they do, and then work hard to be even better tomorrow
than they are today.
Entrepreneurs
are honest with themselves.
8. They
embrace nontechnical feedback.
Entrepreneurs
readily take input from others. And they definitely don't put up barriers to
feedback--feedback, especially critical feedback, is just another problem to
solve. Becoming better is more important than their egos.
That's
because entrepreneurs don't see feedback as threatening--feedback is enlightening.
Plus they, like employee-entrepreneurs, know they need a lot more feedback on
interpersonal skills and personal growth than on technical skills.
Why?
Technical issues are obvious. Because they are constantly self-assessing,
entrepreneurs know their technical limitations better than anyone else. But
what other issues might be standing in their way?
If you
see what they need to improve on and tell them, you become their hero, because
now they can solve a problem they weren't aware of.
9. They actively create their
future selves.
In
general, entrepreneurs realize they are often their own worst enemy. They don't
see themselves as controlled by external forces; they think the barrier between
what they are and what they want is almost always them.
So
they're constantly trying to be better tomorrow than they are today--even if
the people around them wish they would just give it a rest.
10. They adore taking
things off their plates.
Look at
pictures of Albert Einstein and you would think, "Dude never changed
clothes?"
Nope--but
he did have a lot of identical clothing. He didn't want to waste brainpower
figuring out what to wear every day.
Entrepreneurs
have a similar tendency to systematize, not to be anal but to take small and
large decisions off their plate so they don't have to waste time thinking about
them. So they eat similar things, wear similar clothing, and create daily
routines. They organize so they don't have to waste brain share on things that
don't really matter.
But don't
confuse creating routines with being compulsive. Entrepreneurs will change a
routine the moment they see a flaw or an opportunity to make an improvement.
There's
method to the apparent madness--you just have to look for it.
11. They're awesome at
leveraging self-reward.
Entrepreneurs
almost always do the things they have to do before they tackle
the things they want to do. They use what they want to do as a
reward.
And that
means the more things they have to do, the more they'll get done.
(But that
doesn't mean they're great at celebrating success. Because they're constantly
trying to improve, a "big win" isn't big--it's simply the outcome of
all the things they did to make it come true.)
12. They believe they're
in total control…
Many
people feel luck has a lot to do with success or failure: If they succeed, luck
played a part; if they fail, the odds just didn't go their way.
Entrepreneurs
feel they have complete control over their success or failure. If they succeed,
they caused it. If they fail, they caused it.
13. ...So their egos don't
suffer when they fail.
Entrepreneurs
don't see failure as a blow to their ego. Failure can be fixed. A future self
will figure it out.
Failure
is just another problem to solve.
14. They do everything with
intent.
Like Jason Bourne, entrepreneurs don't do "random." They
always have a reason for what they do, because they're constantly thinking
about why they do what they do.
They're
not afraid. They're not emotionally attached to ideas or ways of doing things.
They just
want to be better and to make the world better.
And best
of all, they know they can--and will.
BY JEFF HADEN http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/born-and-bred-14-qualities-of-exceptional-entrepreneurs.html?cid=em01016week29b
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