Corporate Counsel

This morning I attended the Techpoint event: What it Takes to Lead a Successful Entrepreneurial Venture Today and was reminded of some fundamental leadership qualities that I see in many of the successful business owners we work with as a business, entrepreneurial and information technology law firm.

Speaking today were Daniel DeHayes, a Professor Emeritus of Business Administration with the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and Delphia Croft, the Managing Principal of Solution Revolution Consulting.

In the studies that they have conducted collectively, they have found certain characteristics to be present in the leaders of today's successful companies.  While they found several, in this session DeHayes and Croft discussed the following four traits:

• Sovereign: trust in yourself, your intuition and judgment
• Warrior-like: commitment to a greater cause than yourself (though not mercenary)
• Open: extreme self-awareness
• Intentional: possessing an intense, pro-active focus (shunning habitual thinking)

Considering these traits, I would have to agree that to be successful you must have the confidence to trust in your own capabilities, the strength to execute (while retaining the ability to quickly adapt to the unforeseeable), the humbleness to know your own strengths and weaknesses, and the determination to achieve the goals you set forth.

Successful companies don't happen on a whim, but are backed by the blood, sweat and tears of driven individuals.  If you are contemplating striking it out on your own, take a moment to reflect on the above traits and decide for yourself if you have what it takes to be a leader.

As an attorney of a business, entrepreneurial and information technology law firm, it is an honor to work with our clients - those individuals who possess the leadership characteristics to build successful entrepreneurial ventures.