16/04/2015 by David Gibbens, Director, Poole Waterfield
The great Australian cricket captain and broadcaster Richie Benaud sadly passed away last week. I hold a great deal of respect for this talented sportsman and one of his many great sayings was, “captaincy is 10% skill and 90% luck, but don’t try it without that 10%!”
As with all things cricket, Richie was right. You could argue about the percentages, but successful leadership in sport and business needs a slice of luck, but what about the other skills that are needed to succeed?
I have been fortunate enough to have worked alongside and advised some great entrepreneurs. Although they are all very different personalities, they share a few characteristics that I believe have made all the difference. Here’s my top five personality traits of the best business leaders I know:
- Knowing what they want
Indecisive people don’t succeed in business. The best entrepreneurs know exactly what they want to achieve and how they are going to get there. Nobody wins every time and the good leader will understand when something isn’t working and how to fix it, or even when to walk away from a failed project.
- Obsessive
Having a passion about your business is an absolute necessity. The very best are constantly challenging themselves to understand everything about what they do, looking for ways to improve, searching out opportunities and developing every strand of their business.
- Good with people
Leading people effectively and building a great team who buy into your goals is the only way to grow a truly outstanding business. Every successful entrepreneur I know inspires loyalty, trust and respect.
- Strong work ethic
Those with an energy deficit need not apply! Building a great business takes a level of commitment that compares to little else. The best business leaders love hard work, get stuck in and invariably get things done.
- Judgment
When something really matters, the true leader will never accept second best and is as demanding as they come, but will have the judgment to know when to be more pragmatic. You can’t be taught this and not everyone can learn it from experience – you need to be an entrepreneur or a Richie Benaud!
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Category: David Gibbens Blog
Author: David Gibbens, Director, Poole Waterfield
