ENTREPRENEURSHIP & EMERGING LEADERSHIP
I had the pleasure of interviewing Jim Canterucci on my internet radio show the other day (The Dino Herbert Show – Every Day Hero Entrepreneurs) and it was quite interesting. Jim’s the CEO of Transition Management Advisors, author of the best-selling book “Personal Brilliance”, a professional speaker and founder of his newly created Emerging Leadership Circle. You should definitely listen in to the interview and also go to Jim’s website (www.elcircle.com) when you get a chance.
We talked about Jim’s “7 Essentials of an Emerging Leader” and what intrigued me was how appropriate these 7 essentials are to entrepreneurs. Here they are:
1. PERSONAL BRILLIANCE
Every emerging leader (and entrepreneur) must have a taste of personal brilliance inside. What’s meant by “personal brilliance”? Jim book goes into greater detail about each one of the following four traits that are prerequisite to having personal brilliance. They are:
Awareness – You MUST know what’s going on – in the global economy, the national economy, your industry and definitely in your company. It’s only then that you can be creative in terms of giving your organization a competitive advantage.
Curiosity – Curiosity may have killed the cat, but curiosity is a necessary trait for entrepreneurs. “What does the market need and want?” “What is the competition doing?” “Why are our customers buying our ‘best’ product? “ What If….?” Successful entrepreneurs are ALWAYS questioning, wondering and probing for solutions to sometimes unanswerable queries.
Focus – Entrepreneurs have to focus on a venture until it’s successful. The field of entrepreneurial battles is littered with who quit when the going got a little tougher and the outcome seemed uncertain. Oftentimes the situation is made worse because the entrepreneur begins to attempt to diversify in the name of achieving success, when in fact the solution is to continue to focus on core competencies.
Initiative – This goes without saying. Entrepreneurs take the change when others won’t. Sure it’s a risk, but with successful entrepreneurs it’s a calculated risk.
2. LISTENING
The importance of listening for entrepreneurs cannot be understated. Listening to customers, to the market, listening to your employees and even listening to the stockholders! NOTHING ever gets worse by listening a little longer, listening more closely, listening for understanding.
3. INFLUENCE
Entrepreneurs must have the charisma that is necessary to influence others. Perhaps the business owner is attempting to convince a venture capitalist that your organization is worthy of funding; maybe there is a key individual who has the exact set of skills and experience that are needed to really make this company “sing”; perhaps the employees need to be inspired again to see where the company is headed or perhaps a potential client needs to understand how your product will, indeed, directly bring financial rewards. In any of these situations an entrepreneur must be able to exert influence on those around him. Devoting time to interpersonal skill building is always time and money well spent.
4. Why don’t we stop here for now…we get the rest of them next time.
Until next time……Geronimo!
Dino