Taylors University’s

Understanding Entrepreneurialism
Lecture 3 – Entrepreneurial Characteristics

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 What is a characteristic & Why

Characteristics - a feature or quality belonging typically to a person and

serving to identify them.
Why?
The ultimate aim of human life and activity is development of character,
according to Aristotle. The most important goal you could hope to
accomplish in the course of your life is to become an excellent person with
a clear vision, in every respect. Your purpose should be to develop the
kind of personality and character that earns you the respect, esteem, and
affection of the important people in your world.
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Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

Key Personal
Attributes

Strong Managerial Successful

Competencies Entrepreneurs

Good Technical Skills

Characteristics of Entrepreneurs

Key Personal
Attributes

Strong Managerial Successful

Competencies Entrepreneurs

Good Technical Skills

12 Characteristics of the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs

Do these and your success might just exceed your wildest

expectations.

By Andrew Griffiths - Serial entrepreneur and author

PUBLISHED ON: AUG 30, 2016, INC

note: these are the 12 by Andrew, if you research you will find
many other authors with different opinions/interpretations on
what characteristics makes one successful.
 12 Characteristics of the World's Most
Successful Entrepreneurs
1. Absolute clarity of purpose
2. They believe in themselves
– totally
3. They are very good at
finding needs and niches
4. Ability to focus
5. Contribution culture
6. An open mind
7. Incredible networks
8. Invest in themselves
9. Constantly Challenge
themselves
10.They believe in
technology
11.Build resilience
12.A millionaire mindset
Absolute clarity of purpose

Without exception they are totally clear on why they are

here and their big picture reason for existing. It varies
among them, some have the purpose of making money
(a lot of money) and others are here to use their
influence to change the world. There is no judgment
here on the actual purpose, but the importance of
knowing their purpose cannot be understated.

- A good mission statement and vision statement are best suited for
internal organizational guidance. Purpose keeps you focused on why you
exist, vision aligns you with your goal, and mission empowers how you will
accomplish it. ... When a supporter connects with your purpose, they will
believe in your mission
They believe in themselves - totally

This is an interesting characteristic. Again each and

every one of the world-class entrepreneurs that I've
worked with has an incredible sense of self-belief.
They back themselves completely, even if no one
else will. To me this is the toughest of all the
characteristics because it means overcoming doubt,
fear, self worth and self esteem issues and going
against the tribe, something that is very harbelv for
most of us to do on a purely biological level.

- “Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world…if you do so, you
are insulting yourself.”- Bill Gates
- “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an
environment where excellence is expected.”- Steve Jobs
Ability to focus on the most important things first

Brian Tracy wrote the excellent book called "Focal Point"

where he explains his process in getting focused and
staying focused. I think that this characteristic exists
among the successful entrepreneurs. They have the
ability to control their thoughts and actions and be
totally present and focused with whatever is in front of
them (and important) at the time.
- Focus on the 4 Ps
1. Perform - ask yourself what you need to perform your best and then create an
environment that will allow for optimal performance.
2. Process - focusing entirely on what you need to do to complete a high-quality
product without concern for the outcome
3. Present - focusing on the here and now rather than on what has happened in
the past or what might happen in the future.
4. Productivity - focusing only on those things and blocking out distractions that
will enable you to be the most productive you can be.
A contribution culture

These leaders all have an incredibly generous nature.

It is a what we call a contribution culture and it is
their way of leaving a legacy, making a difference,
sharing their success and much more. For many it
becomes their purpose for being, but I tend to think
that it always was but they now have the resources
to do it.
-With a total combined donation amount of $106.8 billion, these 20
individuals are the top philanthropists in the world.
Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, George Soros, Azim Premji, Charles Francis
Feeny, Sulaiman bin Abdul Aziz AL Rajhi, Gordon Moore, Carlos Slim
Helu, Eli Broad, George Kiaser, Michael Bloomberg, Paul Allen, Mark
Zuckerberg, Li Ka-shing, Jon Huntsman Sr., Ted Turner, James Simons,
Michael Dell, Pierre Omidyar and Dietmar Hopp.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-20-most-generous-people-in-the-world-a6757046.html
An open mind

The most impressive of these world-class

entrepreneurs to me are the oldest and the
youngest. The oldest have achieved things way
beyond what most people could dream of, yet they
still have an open mind. They don't rest on their
laurels, instead they are always looking for ways to
learn more about what they are doing and most
importantly how they could do it better.

- Open-mindedness helps you to learn and grow, strengthening your

belief in yourself. Being honest. There is an honesty that comes with
an open mind because being open-minded means admitting that you
aren't all-knowing. It means believing that whatever truth you find
might always have more to it than you realize.
Incredible networks, which they foster and participate in

Clearly these entrepreneurs have incredible networks,

but in talking them, it is interesting to note their attitude
towards their network. Without exception they treat
their networks with exceptional respect. They have built
these relationships over many years, their contacts are
highly influential in many ways and they have the ability
to grow each others business in leaps and bounds. They
spend time and energy investing in their networks, they
give more than they take, and they act without
expectation of reciprocation.
-Jim Rohn -“You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your
time with”. In fact, five people around you are determining your success!
https://www.nextgeneration.ie/blog/five-people-around-you-are-
determining-your-success/
Invest in themselves on all levels

The elite entrepreneurs understand that they

need to grow their skills, take care of themselves
physically and mentally and take time out to
recharge their batteries on a regular basis. This
is not an optional activity, this is an essential
activity
-On a personal level, continuous learning is about the constant expansion
of skills and skill-sets through learning and increasing knowledge. As life
changes the need to adapt both professionally and personally is as real as
the changes themselves.

-On a professional level, continuous learning is about further expanding

our skill-set in response to a changing environment and new
developments. This is very important because we are called to respond to
changes daily: for example, the introduction of computers in the
workplace created a need for people to train on computers to complete
tasks more efficiently.
They constantly challenge themselves

This characteristic in this entrepreneurial group - they

challenge themselves all the time, in every way
possible. They are big learners, they do things that are
way out of their comfort zones, they push themselves
physically, they work hard, and they play hard. This
attitude that encourages self-challenge makes them
strong. It makes them better able to deal with the
issues that we all face in life. It keeps their minds
active, their bodies fit and their attitudes positive.
- 3 Reasons why you should challenge your self
1. Increase your self-belief.
2. Discover more about yourself.
3. Recognize your power as a creator.
They believe in technology

Interestingly enough many of these incredible

entrepreneurs are techno Neanderthals, but that doesn't
stop them believing in the importance of it. Nor does it
stop them investing vast sums of money into technology
to do what they do better. It is that belief that is more
important than their own individual skills. As new
technology become available they will try it, invest in it
and see how it can make their business and their life
more on par with what they want to achieve.

- Rapid technological changes represent the main challenge facing

tomorrow’s business leaders, according to a new survey.” – Forbes
Build resilience

We all face ups and downs in our life. Some unlucky people
have a seemingly endless supply of downs that would break
most of us. All of the high achieving entrepreneurs I have
studied have had incredible challenges in their lives. They
could easily have hidden behind these challenges and played
the victim but they don't. They have become resilient over
time and they get more resilient every day.

-” "At the heart of resilience is a belief in oneself—yet also a belief in

something larger than oneself.
Resilient people do not let adversity define them. They find resilience by
moving towards a goal beyond themselves, transcending pain and grief by
perceiving bad times as a temporary state of affairs… It's possible to
strengthen your inner self and your belief in yourself, to define yourself as
capable and competent. It's possible to fortify your psyche. It's possible to
develop a sense of mastery.“ Brad Waters
A millionaire mindset

Having the right mindset, one that embraces

abundance and opportunity is often the difference
between a rich entrepreneur and poor entrepreneur. I
see so many people struggling in business, they
always have and they always will, simply because
their financial home base is to be broke. Anyone
stuck in this zone needs to start reprogramming their
brain. Any limiting belief can be changed, we simply
need to have a strong enough desire to change. If
you are sick of being broke, develop your own
millionaire mind.
Successful and Unsuccessful Entrepreneurs
• Successful • Unsuccessful
• Creative and Innovative • Poor Managers
• Position themselves in shifting or • Low work ethic
new markets • Inefficient
• Create new products • Failure to plan and prepare
• Create new processes • Poor money managers
• Create new delivery
The Characteristics of an Entrepreneur | Dave Ramsey
 Additional reading material

• The 12 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs -

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250564
• 12 Leadership Traits of the World's Most Successful Entrepreneurs -
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252538
• 12 Essential Traits Of Successful Start-up Leaders -
https://www.inc.com/young-entrepreneur-council/12-traits-of-successful-start-
up-leaders.html
• 12 characteristics of an entrepreneur -
https://www.fin24.com/Entrepreneurs/Opinions-and-Analysis/12-
characteristics-of-an-entrepreneur-20150515
• Reason to challenge your self - https://www.tut.com/article/details/491-3-
reasons-why-you-should-challenge-yourself/?articleId=491
• Do you have these characteristics?
• Who are your influential five?
• Where do you go from here?