These days, everyone with a MacBook and a blog
thinks he’s an entrepreneur. Well, here’s a little tough love for the
entrepreneurial generation: Calling yourself a CEO doesn’t make you one and a
small army of Twitter followers doesn’t make you a leader, either. As a wise VC
whose name escapes me once said, “There are entrepreneurs and there are
Entrepreneurs.”
Not to dash your hopes and dreams, but the truth
is the vast majority of you simply aren’t cut out to be entrepreneurs or
leaders. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. And the sooner you
realize you’re not going to be the second coming of Mark Zuckerberg, the
better.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s great to reach for the
stars, man’s reach should exceed his grasp. But while there is no
one-size-fits-all model for true entrepreneurs, in my experience, there some
things they seem to have in common. This might surprise you, but what sets them
apart isn’t some laundry list of attributes. It’s their actions. What makes
them unique is what they do and, perhaps more importantly, what they don’t do.
1. They don’t think about work-life balance.
They’re mostly workaholics. What that means is
their work comes first. It’s what they live for. They’re not freewheeling,
fun-loving people who live for the weekend. They live to do what they love, and
that’s work.
2. They don’t try to be what they’re not.
Probably the most damaging business myth to come
along in decades is personal branding. You are not a product, and you can’t
change who you are. Besides, real entrepreneurs don’t think about themselves.
They think about their ideas and how to turn them into great products and
services. And they deliver.
3. They don’t do it for the money.
They don’t whine about how hard they work for
peanuts. They just do it. And because they’re passionate about what they do and
focused like a laser beam, the money eventually comes, big-time.
4. They don’t have day jobs.
Great entrepreneurs don’t just dip their toes in
the water. They jump in headfirst without a thought about the rocks below. They
don’t do a little of this and a little of that. When they hit on something they
think is really cool and exciting, they go all in.
5. They don’t give in to fear.
They don’t pay attention to those voices in their
heads – you know, the ones that haunt you with everything that can go wrong.
They’re not fearless, mind you. Nobody is. They just don’t let their fears stop
them from taking risks. They do listen to some voices, though: the voice of
reason, their instincts, and sometimes the voice of the Holy Spirit.
6. They don’t have grand visions.
While some do have grand delusions that they’re
destined for greatness – a prophecy that’s often self-fulfilling, interestingly
enough – for the most part, they generally don’t have grand visions for their
companies. Zuckerberg, for example, wasn’t trying to create a company. He just
wanted to rate the looks of fellow classmates.
7. They don’t have virtual mentors.
Most people follow all sorts of writers, bloggers
and tweeters these days. That’s fine, but to get somewhere in life, to do great
things, you have to have real mentors in the real world. Former Intel chairman
Andy Grove mentored Steve Jobs. Jobs, in turn, advised Google founders Larry
Page and Sergey Brin. Behind every great entrepreneur is at least one great
mentor. A real one.
Most importantly, real entrepreneurs don’t call
themselves entrepreneurs. They don’t do what everyone else is doing. They don’t
follow the status quo, conventional wisdom or popular fads. They carve their
own unique path. They’re leaders of their own destiny. That’s what drives them.
And that’s why they succeed. For me, my mentor is Dr Isaiah Michael Wealth. A God
fearing man, full of wisdom, very resourceful, and dynamic in thinking.
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