Unfortunately, a lot of would-be entrepreneurs stick to being an employee for the rest of their life simply because they feel that they don’t have the talent in order to become an entrepreneur. Just to get one thing clear, talent is overrated, unless of course you’re entering a talent show. Well, entrepreneurship is not a talent show, and this is why you can succeed even if you don’t have a single ounce of talent in your body.
What about Talents Related to Entrepreneurship?
Sure, there are talents that successful entrepreneurs have like leadership. A lot of people are under the impression that leadership is a God-given gift, so it’s either you have it or you don’t. Well, you have to know that talent is overrated when talking about leadership. Guess what? You can develop leadership.
Having the Right Work Ethic
It all starts with having the right work ethic. Now, work ethic is something that can’t be taught. It’s something that’s in you. If you’re determined not to have it, then you won’t have it. Once you have the right work ethic, you can work on becoming a leader. Leadership is a choice that the best entrepreneurs have made when they were first starting out. When they decided to become an entrepreneur, they also decided to become a leader.
Characteristics of a Leader
A leader has several characteristics that make him a good leader. Fortunately, there are characteristics that will prove that talent is overrated. These are characteristics that you can show right now even if you have zero leadership or entrepreneurship experience. Here are some of them:
- Get up and show up.
People with poor work ethic will make excuses not to get up from bed and show up where they’re needed. If you’ve decided to become a leader and an entrepreneur, you can simply get up and show up. That’s a simple start, but a great one. By being there, you’re already leading by example. If the leader is there physically and mentally, other people tend to follow.
- Show that you care.
We all don’t like people that show that they don’t care about anyone or anything but themselves, so why be one? Showing that you care is a good start. When it comes to caring, talent is overrated because caring is a simple human act.
First of all, care about yourself. No one’s going to care about you if you don’t care about yourself. Then, care about other people including the people that you’re supposed to be leading. Of course, care about everything related to your business and the business itself.
- Give it your all.
Check out the lineup of your favorite sport team. There’s a good chance that there’s this one player that shouldn’t even be in the league if you’re going to base it on talent alone. But he’s there because he gives 100% each and every time.
Once again, talent is overrated because just giving it your all is more than enough. At the very least, giving it your all will help you improve the other facets of your leadership.
- Finish what you’ve started.
In order to become an effective leader and entrepreneur, you need to have the trust of everyone around you including your suppliers, shareholders, co-owners, employees and customers. The quickest way to lose their trust is to not finish what you’ve started. If you made a commitment to pay by the deadline, finish what you started and pay before the deadline. If you promised a customer that you’ll deliver his purchase within 3 days, deliver it within 2 days.
- Have a positive outlook.
Your business is doomed to fail if you have a negative outlook. Talent is overrated when it comes to outlook because it’s all about having the right mindset. Have a positive outlook and you’ll find yourself working better. You’ll also find everyone around you working better, which can lead to having a more successful business.
- Stick to your values.
A good leader and entrepreneur will always stick to his values and do the right thing. They’ll never compromise their values just so they can earn more. True leaders and entrepreneurs feel that their character is more important than their business, and in this way, their business is affected positively.
As you can see, talent is overrated when it comes to leadership and entrepreneurship. This means that yes, you can be a leader and entrepreneur provided that you have the right mindset, values, outlook and work ethic.