What are founders made of? Every now and then I read articles about the founder skills or qualities that you absolutely have to have or perhaps have to develop if you want to become an entrepreneur.
I often feel like one is copying from the other because they don’t really differ that much. Sometimes there are 8, sometimes 10 or even 25 characteristics. Discipline, endurance, flexibility and responsibility are always included. That may all be true, in any case it can’t hurt to be equipped with those.
Today I want to tell you about my top 3 character traits or qualities that are essential founder skills for me and that have helped me a lot on my way.
Naivety
Naive people observe the world differently. They do not evaluate things to the same extent as others do. They have a certain selective ignorance of things they don’t want to see. These are usually negative things.
In a naive view of the world, there is always a lot of hope and the belief that things (which seem impossible to other people) are possible after all.
You can just fall madly in love with your idea and be naive enough to believe that you can do it. If this is paired with stubbornness and you don’t give up so quickly on what you’ve set your mind to, then… Yes, that’s a really good mix.
And the best thing is: if that’s the image other people have of you, then you can’t disappoint them if you do a few crazy things (in their eyes). They’ve known you long enough and don’t expect anything else.
Just think of the Wright brothers, who found a way to travel in the air with their propeller plane at the beginning of the 20th century. A completely absurd undertaking at the time. When you start such a project, can you be sure that it will work and that it will be a successful business overall? Certainly not, you have to be pretty naive to believe that. It also took them many years and many failed attempts to make it work. With each of these failed attempts, they could have said: That’s it, it just won’t work… but they refused to accept that and stuck to their idea stubbornly until they were in the air for 37 seconds for the first time in 1903.
And even then, it took another 5 years before they were successful overall. In the US, their home country, nobody was interested in it. They eventually sold their flying machines to the French Air Force. Only then they succeeded with their invention.
As a child, I was often criticized for being naive and stubborn. So what… that got me a long way:
- I was naive enough to believe I could start a business
- I was naive enough to believe that a makerspace would work in Augsburg, even though pretty much everyone said, “In Augsburg? Nice idea but no, its not going to work here.
- I was naive enough to believe I could travel and work remotely as an entrepreneur.
Thinking In Solutions
Entrepreneurs see problems everywhere, but that is not at all difficult for us. Problems are simply bottlenecks that need a solution. Opportunities to create improvements in one area or another. Problems are part of our world. Without problems, we would not develop any further.
And because it is normal to a certain extent, we are not afraid of starting projects and launching companies. We make plans and concepts, but we don’t expect everything to go according to plan. We are not disappointed if something doesn’t work out (yeah may be a little ;D) or if we have to go an extra round at one point. It’s just part of the process. We adapt the plan and that’s it.
If others have the feeling that they have failed (because they are perhaps forced to deviate from the plan and then give up), that is not worth mentioning to us at all. Failures are part of our journey. Then we just try again and change a few parameters.
And yet we don’t lose sight of our big goal. The direction is clear. The sails are set and we take one step at a time. Sometimes big ones and sometimes small ones. We motivate ourselves to keep going every day and we know for sure that we will get there.
Emotional Control
I believe that those who remain calm and stable have a great advantage. In negotiations and problems of all kinds. If you then manage to control your emotions both externally and internally, to take a step back and perhaps even play with your emotions, i.e. use them in a targeted way where necessary, then you are ahead of those who react impulsively and allow themselves to be tempted into irrational actions as a result.
You just have to find a way to not keep all the feelings inside you, to really feel them and to release them from your body. To stay emotionally healthy.
And you should take this mask off once you’re in your private life and at home. Controlling emotions must not become part of our personality, because real relationships with other people don’t work that way.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
👋 Hi, I’m Bianka & I help employees to create a life beyond the 9-5 routine, build a business that matters and gives them all the freedom they want.
Want to become an entrepreneur and do what you love? Feeling confident and aligned with your talents?
✅Get my free ebook “From Dream to Launch” with lots of inspiration and strategical tips.
✅Contact me for a 90 min strategy session for YOUR personal strategy plan as a PDF.
