While comparing oneself to others may be likened to judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree. Yet, it is a fact that one reaches a goal and completes a task faster by considering how successful people before you did it. It is based on this principle that we have compiled this list from about.com for your benefit.
Do be inspired by these traits of successful entrepreneurs.
1. They Listen More Than They Speak
This might surprise some people. In an interview, Richard Branson named listening as one of his three most important leadership principles. He says, “Listening enables us to learn from each other, from the marketplace, and from the mistake that must be made in order to get anywhere that is original and disruptive.”
2. They are Ready to Embrace Failure
While no one ever rode to success on the back of recklessness, you do need to take risks and accept that there will be failures as well as successes. Nearly every successful entrepreneur has some failures in their life.
For example, when Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple as CEO because the board disagreed with his decisions; it was only after he spent time developing NeXT and Pixar that he made a triumphant return to Apple.
Steve Jobs did not lose heart when he was dumped from the successful company that he built. It merely gave him the impetus to embrace that failure and move further forward.
3. They Are Extremely Curious
Always keep this saying by Naveen Jain in mind: “Ensure to always remind yourself that the day before something is a breakthrough, it’s just a crazy idea.”
Thomas Edison would never have come up with his inventions, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the electric light bulb if he had not been curious.
Curiosity is a fundamental trait of any successful person. Entrepreneurs do not make it through life by being indifferent to the activities occurring around them. They are always looking for the next way to make something better.
4. They Are Determined to Follow Their Passions
One sad fact of life is that too many people make their way through life without ever discovering what they are truly passionate about.
Not only do successful entrepreneurs determine what their passion is, they put out all the stops to ensure that they wholeheartedly follow that passion. Most entrepreneurs spend long hours running their businesses, hence, it is much easier to devote the time if you are doing something you love.
5. They Admit What They Don’t Know
Surprised? You are likely to find that most genuinely successful, self-made entrepreneurs are not anywhere near arrogant. Most successful entrepreneurs are the first to admit that they do not know it all. The more they learn, the more they discover what they don’t know.
To truly succeed, you have to learn from your life experiences, keep an open mind, and be prepared to handle criticism the right way. And just as Richard Branson said:
Learning and leadership go together. Too much credit goes to me for what we have achieved at Virgin, but the successes happen from working and learning with some of the world’s most inspiring and inspired people.
6. They Know When (and How) to Say No
Truly successful entrepreneurs can see a multitude of opportunities for their business to take. More importantly, they can also see that it would not be beneficial or possible for them to pursue every opportunity that comes their way. They need to be selective and concentrate their focus on only those ideas with the greatest potential.
Steve Jobs was the master of saying no. When he returned to Apple in 1997, the company had a range of 350 products. Jobs reduced this number to 10 products in a two-year period. He was able to give Apple a real focus, a process they continue to this day.
7. They Know the Importance of Balance
Truly successful entrepreneurs know that there is much more to life than just running their business. They spend quality time with their family. They take breaks and vacations.
8. They Know How to Build a Good Team
If you intend to be a successful entrepreneur, you will very quickly discover that you cannot do everything by yourself. It is a physical impossibility, and you would certainly burn out.
Also, any human being, no matter how intelligent, educated and experienced they are, is unlikely to have all the skills needed to run a successful company by themselves.
No entrepreneur have become successful solely of their own accord. They have all built a team of loyal, creative, and skilled people. They also know how to share the workload, and make decisions in their areas of responsibility.
