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I recently attended a conference called TribeFest. The conference is for young Jewish leaders around North America and featured a leadership development track and a start-up track. I participated in both for a couple of reasons. First, I’m looking for ways to get more active and involved in the Tampa Bay community and one of the goals of this conference is to help turn interest into action, and second because obviously start-up techniques and philosophies are of professional and personal interest.
I found it interesting that there even was a start-up track – what did entrepreneurship really have to do with enhancing leadership in the Jewish community? But in many ways, I think entrepreneurship is more a mindset and personality trait than a job or professional calling. I’ve always said that entrepreneurs are a very specific personality type. They are idealistic, action oriented, and have no problems with risk-taking. In fact, they thrive on it. To me, that is not a personality type that fits most. One of the sessions featured Daniel Roberts of Fortune Magazine. He writes the 40 Under 40 feature and is also the primary writer for Zoom, a Fortune book about young business people. You can check out his blog here. During the session he talked about successful entrepreneurs and CEOs who have been on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list. He stated that all these leaders are effective at managing groups of people and getting them on board for one vision. Vision – another quality I would add to entrepreneurs’ personality profile, but how many entrepreneurs are able to put their vision into action and get others on board to follow? Here are those who Daniel says have done it, and how: Marissa Mayer – CEO of Yahoo. Risk Taker. The quality that makes her successful is that she takes on risk. She once said that she always wants to be in a little bit over her head. Tony Hsieh – Zappos CEO. Corporate Culture. His quality for success is creating corporate culture. He wanted a vibe and an atmosphere for the company and actually made corporate culture into what it is today. Blake Mycoskie – Tom’s Founder/CEO. Vision. He is a good storyteller, wants to make a difference and he makes people want to follow him because they see he is authentic in that vision. Jeremy Stoppelman – Yelp. Utility. His company exists to fill a gap. Also, he is straightforward about what he knows and what he doesn’t know, and delegates. David Chang – Momofuku Noodle Bar Chef/Owner. His own style. He is not a traditional business leader. He started teaching English abroad, but always loved food. He can be aggressive and ruffle feathers, even offensive, but people want to follow him. Today, take some time out of your day-to-day work and think about these qualities, and which, if any, describe you. Do you have a vision and can you get others on board to follow? Do you take risks? Are you just plain offensive? Or, is there something else you have that makes you the success you are today? We’d like to hear.
