Do you ever wonder why some business professionals are more successful than others or why their business is more valuable? Many studies have been conducted to answer these questions, some of which pinpointed the traits that successful and influential business professionals possess.
Being an entrepreneur is tough and requires immense mental strength to tackle daily challenges and unprecedented problems. Indeed, the number of risks and gruelingly long hours to implode a business brings out a leader. But it is impossible to know if you have all those qualities unless you give it a shot at entrepreneurship.
It starts with asking yourself whether you’re willing to devote time, lead people, and take risks, as you will be doing most of the work. But first, you have to lead yourself before delegating tasks. If you fail in doing so, then your chances of being successful are bleak.
Several personality traits help successful entrepreneurs overcome the challenges of commencing a business and persevere through the inevitable obstacles associated with running a business.
Let’s have a look at them:
Qualities Of Successful Business Professionals
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence has become a buzzword in the business world. It’s emotional intelligence that makes you empathic and self-aware. The ever-lauded benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace are immense, as it enables one to identify, understand, and manage one’s emotions alongside others.
This trait is key in motivating and getting the most out of your workforce while achieving business goals. That’s because being emotionally intelligent enables you to identify and address nonverbal cues, adjust behavior, make viable decisions, and react to adversities positively.
In today’s time, successful and influential business professionals realize the significance of emotional intelligence in the workplace. Some even state that emotional quotient (EQ) holds precedence over intelligence quotient (IQ) in today’s business environment.
Leadership qualities
Some say that leaders are born – that leadership qualities are innate. This belief, however, holds little to no truth in today’s time. With time and learning, you can develop leadership qualities. When you are in charge of a business, it’s your responsibility to steer the ship and lead the crew.
You must be decisive and able to make quick and difficult decisions. Another crucial point to pay heed to is that managerial capabilities are quite distinct from leadership capabilities. While managers are focused on profit maximization, leaders focus on boosting employee morale and creating a win-win situation for all stakeholders.
Most successful business professionals possess essential leadership qualities: strategic decision-making, critical thinking, civic-mindedness, effective communication, ethics, learning agility, influencing and motivating others, and self-awareness, to name a few. While the list of leadership skills is vast, this is a handful of the most crucial ones.
Persuasion
Entrepreneurs are known for selling ideas and persuading others to support their mission. Strong communication skill is a prerequisite for a leader because doing business involves a lot of negotiating, sales pitching, and closing deals. If you lack convincing abilities, it will become difficult for you to survive in a competitive market.
Cutthroat competition is everywhere, and a constant war to grow market share. Adopting a fearless approach and learning persuasion techniques can help you crack a deal. Further, it teaches you to be coercive, time your questions, tone your speech, and present your ideas.
While persuasive skills are challenging to develop, you can develop this crucial trait of successful business professionals with time and practice.
Resourcefulness
In successful businesses, the leaders are problem solvers. They always find a way to solve unprecedented or recurring problems. Therefore, they commonly think of an innovative solution rather than taking a conventional route.
You can learn this art by brainstorming ideas and writing them regardless of how unrealistic they are. Being aggressive and having an open mindset can take a long way in your professional life. It is also crucial to devise out-of-the-box ideas and have the courage to implement them because, without risk, there’s no reward.
Moreover, having a strong network is a crucial indicator of your resourcefulness. You cannot reach the top alone or without any assistance. Successful leaders understand the value of peers, business partners, stakeholders, and contacts in building a thriving business philosophy.
For effective decision-making, you need to surround yourself with such people and nurture your relationships with them because you’re only as good as your company.
Optimism
Those who succeed in the business arena take significant risks and are not afraid to fail. Many entrepreneurs are successful because they take calculated risks and can make the most effective decisions regardless of the challenging situation.
Being optimistic and always seeking an opportunity in the worst scenarios separates successful leaders from unsuccessful ones. Similarly, you need to convert your failures into lessons and always devise contingency plans. It allows you to dissect the failure and pinpoint your shortcomings and improvement areas.
Most importantly, accept that things will not always go as you planned, but you should give your best shot all the time. Risks and failures are inevitable realities of the business world.
Resilience
As a business professional, staying resilient and withstanding setbacks is crucial to lead through ups and downs. The ability to push through hard times and stay focused on the end goal is important. This attitude ultimately bolsters your workforce’s confidence, allowing them to overcome business challenges and hurdles.
Even when facing lapses, regrouping and reflecting on actions can fuel you to move forward and upward. Failures must not dictate your actions even after experiencing some. Instead of completely shutting down, you must keep moving ahead.
Conclusion
Becoming a successful and influential business professional requires time, commitment, and a zeal to grow. If you’re willing to accelerate your career and climb new heights of success, you need to hone specific skills and traits. So, to become a successful and competent business executive, work on developing emotional intelligence.
Most importantly, focus on the various leadership qualities and hone them over time. Likewise, build persuasive skills, work on being resourceful, and remain optimistic. Ultimately, you’ll reach unprecedented growth and advancement in your business career.
Also Read: How Business Intelligence Helps Startups
