Entrepreneurial leaders are often much more connected to the growth and success of their businesses than corporate leaders may be. It’s not good or bad, but it really is different. In many cases, the entrepreneurial leader has leveraged everything they have to give their businesses a chance to succeed.
That emotional connection can act as both a positive and negative force for the business owner’s success. Emotion can be positive when turned into passion, it can be negative when it causes self-deception and indecision.
Entreprenurial leaders need strong doses of some basic elements to move toward success.
Today I’ll list three of them.
Initiative: It’s impossible to have your own business without it. A person with initiative exploits opportunities, gets tasks done quickly and often displays much creativity. There is a line of risk which one cannot cross without initiative to start a business. Entrepreneurs need a healthy amount of it in order to cross that line and give up the seemingly safe and secure job to venture into the world of the possible. It comes in handy not only having to do with starting the business, but also in having to plan and manage projects which determine the success of the business.
Sacrifice: Every business owner I know has made sacrifices. They have surrendered something very valuable for something of equal or greater importance. In many cases, the thing to be gained is not financial gain, it’s freedom. Regardless of what it is you want to strive for, one thing is for certain, being an entreprenuer will require a high degree of sacrifice. It’s very much part of the trade you make. Sacrifices come with varying consequences, you will get much leadership training in your business simply deciding which sacrifices to make and which consequences to choose. It has everything to do with calculated risk-taking and risk-management.
Maturity: In the course of running your own business, your ability to manage your own growing pains will be key to long-term success. Only those who gain a mature business mindset will develop the ability to locate their strengths and weaknesses and have a bold confidence to act on them with transparency. Mature business owners are relentlessly conducting self-analysis and self-evaluation to make sure the business is getting their very best. The business will go through distinct growth phases just like people do, and so will the entreprenural business leader. You will need the muturity to develop yourself as your business will get better as you get better as a business leader.