"Entrepreneurial leaders need to be a little bit deaf and a little bit blind. By definition they're trying to do something that defies the common view. They have to be inured to skeptics. They have to believe that their vision is true and they can make it happen. But if they are too deaf and too blind they won't learn from the market or their advisers, and as a result they won't have a chance to course-correct. They won't be able to respond and adapt as more information becomes available to them. It's a tricky balance.
"They've also got to be great communicators. They've got to be electric in sharing their energy and vision broadly among potential employees, potential partners, potential investors. That borders on charismatic. Now, there are different styles of charisma. But there has to be something compelling about the leader that inspires others to follow.
"And, whether it's a start-up or not, you need a leader with adequate self-knowledge. Lots of entrepreneurs -- especially those who experience early success -- don't understand the basis for their success and believe themselves infallible. Those entrepreneurs tend to fail the next time -- hard. Without understanding your own strengths and weaknesses, you are unlikely to create an organization with the genetics for success. Where each piece complements the rest and the whole is stronger than the parts."
--Excerpt from "The Business Case for Passion" by Randy Komisar in Leader to Leader, No. 19 Winter 2001
Do entreprenurial leaders need entreprenurial followers? Or is that a contradiction in terms? Can the best and brightest get along and be productive? Or do "B" players implement the ideas and directions of stellar leaders better than "A" players chomping at the bit?
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