What These Successful Young Entrepreneurs Have in Common

From Mark Zuckerberg to Garret Camp, young entrepreneurs are making headlines for their unprecedented success. No matter what industry they’re in, these startup visionaries have certain qualities in common. What gives these entrepreneurs their unmistakable panache? There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for business success, but there are traits that you can emulate that give you a much better shot. Check out these winning business qualities, and learn how you can hone them to achieve your own entrepreneurial goals.

Choose the Right Ladders to Climb

You’ve probably heard the saying that in order to climb the corporate ladder you need to know the right people. This is true to a certain extent. Attracting successful people who share your mission, vision, and value system is an essential tenet of business success. However, the most successful entrepreneurs take this notion and add a few extra tidbits:

They surround themselves with complementary people. You can all share the same value system, but still have different strengths and weaknesses. Creating a harmonizing network of core individuals will help keep your business successful in the long run. In other words, you want to build a solid foundation, not a house of cards.

They put the corporate ladder on the right wall. Essentially, you need to do some research and identify your target market. Is the audience you’re trying to reach a growing sector? For example, doctors are increasingly specializing in orthopedics and geriatric medicine in response to the aging population.

Differentiate Yourself

You may have what you think is the most innovative idea on the planet, but chances are that someone else has their gaze on something very similar. How will you differentiate yourself from your future competition? Is it customer service extras or an eco-friendly approach to your industry? Could it be a socially conscious business model or complete corporate transparency? Decide how you’re going to make yourself innovative and unique, and incorporate it into your branding scheme. For example, there are hundreds of shoe companies out there, but Toms stands apart with their simple aesthetic and charitable outlook.

Decide How You’ll Drive Customer Value

With the number of startups and entrepreneurial hopefuls growing with each passing year, the pressure to be innovative is stronger than ever. What will you do to give your customers added value? What will attract them to your product or service? Maybe it’s your branding or the way that you approach delivery – either way, you need to continually think of ways that you’re going to make your product better for your customers. The best entrepreneurs never stop innovating.

Be Prepared to Wear Many Hats

The most successful entrepreneurs buckle themselves down for the long haul. They acknowledge that they’ll have deal with several spinning plates, at least in the beginning. They’re often bookkeepers, IT gurus, master furniture assemblers, bloggers, thought leaders, managers, and fundraisers. This means pulling 12-14 hour days, every day, for the foreseeable future. Once you’re established enough to delegate tasks to freelancers and contractors, seize that opportunity. For the short term, accept the fact that you’re likely going to lead a lonely lifestyle, at least for a while.

These qualities are the same ones that we find in many of today’s most successful entrepreneurs. These individuals are not afraid of hard work, are extremely bright, pursue success doggedly, and begin their journey with a strategic vision. If you can emulate these qualities yourself, you’re headed for a bright future.

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Additional Resources:

• Twelve Of Today’s Most Impressive Young Entrepreneurs
• 30 Under 30: America’s Coolest Young Entrepreneurs

Why Leadership Coaching May Be for You

If you’re in a leadership position, you’ve undoubtedly worked hard to get where you are. But how do you know you’re an effective leader? Sometimes when you’re on top, it can be hard to get honest feedback. Take a look at what distinguishes a “good” leader from a “great” one.

Delegate, Delegate, Delegate

Chances are you landed a leadership role by working above and beyond your job description and taking on more than your fair share. It’s an honorable quality, but in leadership, it’s equally important to have the ability to delegate. Trusting your team boosts its collective efficacy, and it ensures the work being done is high quality. Capitalize your efforts by figuring out what each team member does best, and delegate tasks accordingly. John Donne once said no man is an island, and no business should be, either.

Communicate Effectively

You may have vision, but if you can’t communicate properly, your team and bottom line are going to fall flat. Communicating your goals with your team is an important aspect of great leadership, but so is communicating with the public. This means honing your netiquette, public speaking skills, and speech writing skills. By mastering these communication techniques, you get the public and your team as excited about your vision as you are.

Be Positive and Creative

It’s a painful reality in business that not everything goes according to plan. Despite our best efforts, products flat-line and goals fall short of the mark. What differentiates a leader from a great leader is how you take hardship. Do you throw up your hands in despair, or stay the course for disaster? Exceptional leaders know how to deviate from an ill-fated course and think outside the box for real solutions. They also know how to motivate employees through times of hardship, even if it’s just bringing in donuts or lending an ear. Self-efficacious employees are productive employees – and are more likely to put in extra work when hard times arise.

Radiate Confidence and Inspiration

Wonderful leaders are confident in their ability to effectively lead. Your team takes its cues from you, so if you’re feeling insecure about a course of action, it’ll pick up on it. You set the example for employee morale, so be forward-thinking and as upbeat as possible.

Treat every team member as an equal part of the company. Make each person feel like a valued part of the business, not just a lackey for it. Being forward-thinking is an important part of inspiring your workers, but you should also know when to commend their efforts. By leading by example and praising often, you’ll inspire a more productive workforce.

Display Honesty and Integrity

Being honest and practicing good business ethics should be a no-brainer, but it’s also the backbone of an effective company. If you’re running a small business or start-up, decide as a team what core values are most important to you, and display these in a prominent place. This helps the team feel involved in the business, and it guides your business in an ethical way. Having set core values can also guide conflict resolution practices in a positive way. If your employees know what’s expected from them (and you act in a similar way), you’re more likely to have a workplace with minimal conflict.

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Additional Resources:

• Top 10 Skills Every Great Leader Needs to Succeed
• Leadership Skills
• Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader

4 Benefits of Leadership Coaching and What It Can Do for You

Leadership coaching is a helpful development program for people already in, or looking to enter an advanced field. Leadership coaching workshops can teach public speaking, effective presentation, networking, and more. However, many people are unsure what skills can be learned from leadership coaching or what the benefit is to their career.

Is Coaching Right for You and Your Employees?

Because coaching is an investment that requires a dedicated commitment of energy as well as time that can span several months, it’s worth carefully considering if you are ready to take that next step. If you are a business owner and are considering an employee for leadership coaching, it is important to evaluate what they contribute to the organization. Would leadership coaching help elevate their skills? Is that person critical to the company’s success?

The Benefits of Leadership Coaching

Leadership coaches guide people through a course of action, help them learn from their mistakes, and evaluate their progress. In addition to these benefits, leadership coaches also provide these advantages:

• Problem Solving that is Relevant to YOU. You may have spent time at sales, management, communication, or other skill-building seminars. These are often filled with valuable information people can understand intellectually. However, intellectual learning is different than learning from experience. In other words, seminars provide information that may be difficult to apply. Because coaches are working on your specific challenges, all the lessons are relevant.
• The trickle down effect of Coaching. The objective of coaching is to better prepare lead managers and their employees into new company phases, guide product launches, and more. Company leaders are responsible for large teams of people, and their behavior affects everyone.
• Increased Personal Development. Coaching is not always sought because an employee in leadership experiences stagnation in their career. It is often utilized to cover gaps in their training or development. Whatever the reason, every person who successfully implements leadership coaching moves closer to superstar status in the company and sees his or her career accelerate.
• Coaching Improves Confidence. Employees new to a leadership role may find it daunting. Instead of overseeing projects, they are now overseeing people who expectantly wait for their word. It is a role that requires a tremendous amount of self-confidence. Coaches are great for guidance and helping new leaders realize they have someone to turn to for guidance. This safety net makes it easier to make decisions and improve skills before they get their wings and fly on their own.

CLICK HERE for more information about Leadership Coaching.

Additional Resources:

• Who Needs An Executive Coach?
• What is Leadership Coaching

Great article from Mr. Porter, the global online retail destination for men’s style which you can READ HERE. Yes, many of those who know me , know I AM a fashionista at heart and am interested in style trends for both women AND men. And yes, I believe that looking good counts.

In Mr. Porter’s latest journal, he showcases a few young male execs, all well-dressed and all successful and all passionate about their work. One of these young men, btw, Michael Conti, is the son of one of my oldest friends. (You’ll excuse the word oldest because Michael’s Mom, Elaine, is younger than I).

I loved all of the quotes from each individual, but because of my work, the advice of Bryan Bui, Senior Analyst at Cien Ventures, a healthcare consulting firm, resonated deeply with me.

Here is the best career advice he was ever given:

1) “Never take down a gate unless you can figure out why it was put there in the first place.”
2) “If the General gets too far in front of the army, sometimes they mistake him for the enemy.”
3) “Never complain about the bottom rungs of the ladder – they get you higher.”
4) “If you want to see a rainbow, get ready to weather a storm.”

Good advice for any leader.

Over and over again, the people I coach ask me “what is it?” and “do I need it?” It is not unusual for an individual entering into coaching to identify one of her goals as wanting to develop executive presence. So I decided to simplify the term, and I named it The Seven Ups, an easy way to define executive presence, and the buzz word that encompassed what people were seeing as a polished, knowledgeable and successful executive: someone who inspires, who listens, and who is confident. More importantly, someone who you want to follow.

Because most of what I heard when I asked what people meant by executive presence was something to the effect of, “You know it when you see it,” I did some research to try to succinctly and simply identify the characteristics and behaviors that make up executive presence.

Her are my “seven ups”:

Dress Up – Do you look your best for the audience of the day?
Show Up – Are you on time and prepared?
Stand Up – Can you inspire? Are you confident?
Speak Up – Do you ennunciate? Ask? Make your point and be heard?
Listen Up – Are you open to what those around you have to say?
Lighten Up – Do you take EVERYTHING too seriously? SMILE.
Follow Up – Do you keep to the 24-hour rule?

Take a look at yourself. Are you practicing the seven ups? I guarantee if you do, you will stand out from the competition. Yes, it takes time, discipline, and PRACTICE. If you are already on the path to executive presence: KUDOS! If you need help figuring it out, find yourself a coach who can help. It just may be the thing that changes the path you are on and allows you to stand out from the crowd.