I’ve been an entrepreneur for a few years now and have gotten to know several other successful entrepreneurs in that time. I’ve noticed a few qualities that are consistent among the best of the best. In a nutshell, all the qualities fall under the strong personal leadership category. Entrepreneurs simply will not be successful without it.
6 Ways Entrepreneurs Must be Strong Personal Leaders
- You must believe in your dream and motivate yourself. This isn’t something that weak people can do. Weak people live a co-dependent motivational life where they wait on others to inspire them. Strong personal leaders recommit themselves every day to their dream, making that dream a reality. They look for motivation wherever they can find it, never waiting on others to move them along.
- You must be resilient. As an entrepreneur, you don’t have the big company security blanket. When you make a mistake, it’s you; your face – your brand – all you. You will make mistakes, lots of them, if you’re really trying hard. You cannot take even a second wallowing around in self-pity or entertain self-defeating thoughts. You must learn from it, bounce back and move forward – quickly.
- You must go the distance… everyday. Running a successful business is similar to having a newborn. It’s always on your mind and often requires late nights and early mornings. It may not give back to you immediately, but you hang in there with it. Eventually all your hard work will pay off. You must believe that and live it.
- You have to invest in personal development. Become the expert at whatever it is that you do. Invest in continuous education. Read. Hire a coach or a mentor. Join a mastermind group. Learn from others. You must be getting better everyday just as you are making your business better everyday. If you stop investing in you, you become irrelevant and your business suffers along with you.
- You must do hard things. Do scary things. Do lots of things. Just keep doing. Being an entrepreneur can be like navigating tumultuous waters at times. You try something, it doesn’t work, then you try something else. You get comfortable with the unknown as you venture into it everyday. You must keep at it. Running a business is fluid, not static. There are ebbs and flows to the process. Be relentless in your pursuit of success to be successful.
- Develop Patience. This may seem counterintuitive to a fast tracking entrepreneur. However, there are times that patience is necessary. Sometimes you need to evaluate if what you’re doing is working. Sometimes we move so fast we don’t realize that we’re moving quickly off course. Patience is also necessary when working with clients and choosing business partners. Don’t jump at the first opportunities that arise, that could mean death to your business. Step back, evaluate and be willing to wait for the right clients and the right business partners.
If you’re not a strong personal leader, you may want to reconsider being an entrepreneur. It may sound glamorous, but it’s really hard work and the pay off may be slow in coming at first. But if you’re tenacious and stick with it, you too can live the dream.
