What is the most important trait for success as an entrepreneur?
by Stewart Borie | posted on March 27th, 2008 | Strategy
What is the single most important characteristic of successful entrepreneurs? And if you had one question to ask an entrepreneur that would uncover that characteristic, what would you ask?
The most important characteristic of successful entreprenuers, I believe, is integrity.
There are countless definitions of what, who and how are entrepreneurs. There are countless definitions of the meaning of “success.” And there are countless traits and characteristics of successful entrepreneurship and successful leaders.
Much of this data is myth and folklore, and some of it is derived from decades of academic research, which has yet to be definitive. Moreover, success is interdependent with time, and a key test of success is, does it withstand the sands of time?
Are we asking about entrepreneurs who lead an organization for 30 years, or serial entrepreneurs who start them up? The arena of entrepreneurship is fraught with complexity and definitional variability. But there is one least common denominator. An entrepreneur must lead, through good times and bad, and through the stages and travails of personal and organizational transformation.
This means leading individuals, groups, the organization as a whole, and stakeholders as well. It also means leading oneself. It has been shown that entrepreneurial leadership is a highly dynamic continuum, full of paradoxes such as the differences between leadership and management. Kotter (1999) suggests that leadership is about the management of change, while management is about the management of complexity. But these lines are blurred and confused, and the two are diametrically opposed.
Leadership is about risk and adaptability. Management is about limiting risk and maximizing reproducibility of productivity. Hence an entrepreneur must have the leadership characteristics to ride a continuously changing continuum of dynamically opposing forces and challenges of growth. And yet throughout this, the number-one metric of leadership is trustworthiness, and the number one metric of trust is integrity, meaning personal authenticity and congruence, where “what you see is what you get.”
Personal integrity is the measure of how a person is in action, how a person embodies their beliefs, how a person can hold and carry forth a vision and mission. But most importantly, it is what followers follow over the long term, and this is key. Followers will intellectually, emotionally and intuitively measure the integrity of their leader(s) against their own values and their doctrines of fairness, and will over time decide to what measure they place their fate in the hands of their leader(s).
Moreover, the integrity of an organization is a direct reflection of the integrity of its leadership, and the marketplace will also measure the integrity of the organization’s brand, its products and services and its market presence.
Hence the long-term survival of an organization also depends upon the integrity of its leadership. Therefore, the question I ask is “How do you lead?”
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March 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
That’s a great question.
I’ll throw in my answer: Self Respect.
Over and over I see entrepreneurs spreading themselves too thin, undervaluing their time and talents, not taking care of themselves, and playing with people who don’t appreciate them.
It’s amazing what happens overnight when an entrepreneur learns to say “No.”
I have a client who was in economic crisis when she first called me. Two calls later she says the money and the opportunities are pouring in.
I’ve seen the same issues with clients who own businesses and lead teams in coporations.
I’d say more, but a call is coming in.
Warmest regards,
Morgana Rae
March 29th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I lead by my dedication to myself First.
This is my responsibility to myself to feed my soul with precision of advanced thinking.
To date the greatest source for me is Johns CDs set I listen to it most mornings and evenings.
This creates the engery to lead in the passionate integrity manner that I am committed to.
June 4th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
A couple characteristics that, I believe, are fundamental to a successful entrepreneur:
1) Self-Challenge - The successful entrepreneur isn’t competing against the rest of the world (at least initially). He is competing against himself, his inner voice that challenges him to succeed - breaking apart larger goals in objectives and milestones - destroying all of them
2) Adaptability - Adaptability is crucial, being able to adapt leadership tactics and skills when transitioning from the small business leader into the larger company. Few people are able to make this transition successfully. Adaptability also comes in the form of being able to adapt your products or you business model. The market, competition, and trends (or fads) are sometimes hard to successfully predict. One must be able to adapt their business to the changing world.