These Are The 8 Most Surprising Traits of Most Successful Entrepreneurs That You Need To Learn!

Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet and Donald Trump!

These are the names of the people who have reserved their names as some of the most successful entrepreneurs of world.

Now, I ask, what do they do so differently that most of us can’t and reach the levels of success that they have tamed in their respective fields. Come to think of it, there be some special traits, behaviors or attitudes, that these business people possess, those have bring them to the pinnacles of success and victory.

Well, I would say that all the business leaders who become a benchmark for many, have their own individual quirks and idiosyncrasies, developed over years of experience within their own unique environments.

Here, I am going to discuss 8 Traits of Most Successful Entrepreneurs of the world, which, if you can imbibe, you can be a successful business person too.

1. Successful People Speak, Yes! But They Listen Much More Than That

Yes, this is surely going to surprise you, because there is a general opinion about successful people, that they do what their own mind says, and do not care about other’s opinions and advices. This is not at all true. If you have any research on Steve Jobs, you would know that a large part of his success is credited to a strong team of advisors and talented fleet of employees. These people would put in sane words into his mind to help him make the correct decisions. No matter he was a difficult boss to work for and he had problems letting go of control, he never was wary of listening to people who he knew can contribute to the success of business. Jobs’ relationship with Apple’s Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive was one of immense trust when it came to product design. Richard Branson also, very proudly listed “Listening” as one of his most important leadership principles. In his words, “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. Successful People Are Never Scared of Failure

It’s true that recklessness doesn’t bring success. Yet, one ought to take risks, when it comes to nailing the right thing. And when one is ready to take risks, they must be prepared for failures too. You would be surprised to know that every successful entrepreneur has a failure story to them. Even though Steve Jobs is no longer with us and he certainly left behind a legacy at Apple. But there was time when he was rejected and expelled as a CEO by Apple Board, because the company could no longer agree to his decisions. Only after spending time developing NeXT and Pixar, he could make a triumphant return to Apple. The point to note here is, that he never got disheartened of this huge failure. He bounced back with something new to offer to the world.

3. Successful People Are Always Curious To Know The New

The eminent columnist, founder and CEO of Inome Inc., spoke of this curiosity trait quite loudly, in one of his recent posts. “The Most Precious Resource on the Planet? Big Dreamers.”, as the post was aptly titled, He stated, “You should always remind yourself that the day before something is a breakthrough, it’s just a crazy idea.” And that’s what is the essence of successful people. They have ideas, because they are curious to know the new. All the inventions that Thomas Alva Edison could gift to the world, were a result of his undying curiosity. The phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb would never seen the light of the day, if he had not been curious. Curiosity is a fundamental trait for all the successful people. If you wish to be a successful leader, you just cannot be indifferent to the happenings around you, especially in your respective field.

4. Successful People Follow Their Passion With Conviction

Too many unsuccessful people are found brooding on their fate, not knowing, that they made a huge mistake by not following their passion. Graham Young said ardently in his writing, “Passion 101: How to Discover Your Calling in Life”, that “Passion is something that will stem from your beliefs, be enhanced by your skills and sustained by the value that you are able to provide”. Bang on! Successful people know their passion and they make evident efforts to follow it too. While being an entrepreneur involves long tiring hours of working, just think how easy it becomes, when you are spending those hours in something you love and are hugely passionate about!

5. Successful People Are Not Shy of Admitting Ignorance

There is this common misconception that successful people are conceited of their knowledge and wisdom. Which isn’t true at all. If you go into depth studying the world famous business leaders, you will find that most genuinely successful, self-made entrepreneurs are not anywhere near vanity. Most successful entrepreneurs are the first to admit, without any apprehension that they do not know it all. Because simple fact is that the more they admit what they don’t know, the more they learn what they want to, the more they succeed in the direction. With an open mind and an acceptance towards criticism, success opens its doors. I take the liberty to quote Richard Branson here, because he actually is my favorite one among the lot, “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.” Get it?

6. Successful People Use “No” As A Tool To Success

When one is running an enterprise with an objective of success, the choices of determining the time have to be sensible. In such case, NO is to be used, without being guilty about it. When there are a multitude of opportunities arising, it becomes imperative to say no to the less lucrative ones and invest time and efforts in those that promise greater returns. Quite interestingly, Steve Job owned the crown when it came to 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. That’s what Apple brought the success that it boasts today!

7. Successful People Have Mastered The Art of Balancing

Had they been running the businesses only and not looking forward to life’s pleasures everyday; successful people would never have become successful in first place. They know how to balance life, and make time for family, friends and other delights that keep them going. They take breaks and vacations. In some cases, taking out time for themselves is hugely a learning form their past mistakes. Ask how? Well, Warren Buffett was asked the reasons behind his success by few aspiring MBA students. he very quickly citied “Picking the right spouse, and staying in Nebraska rather than moving to New York City which of course offered him a less stressful and quieter lifestyle.  If you know work, and you know life, you must know the balance too.

8. Successful People Build Good Teams And Mentor Them To Success

They know that they simply cannot accomplish everything on their own. They have to have a team who they can build and develop in the direction that they want. Any human being, no matter how intelligent, educated and experienced they are, is unlikely to have the full skill set needed to run a successful business all by themselves. None of the entrepreneurs I’ve studied have become successful solely of their own accord. They’ve all built a team of loyal, creative, and skilled people. To be a successful leader, you need to know how to delegate. You need to be able to allow others to become involved, and make decisions in their areas of responsibility. That’s how you create and cultivate businesses, and that’s how you reap success.

With this I will wind up, while hoping that all the aspiring business enthusiasts have got some idea on what traits to inculcate and how to reach the success that they look forward to.

All the best to you all.