Are You A Natural Leader?

By David N. Feldman

In this third installment about what makes great entrepreneurs who build something meaningful and substantial, we continue analyzing the nine key personality traits that I believe increase your chances of success: big dreamer, natural leader and decision-maker, obsessive passion and drive, macro-manager, rational optimist, healthy fear of failure, little fear of risk, controlling but not freakish and disciplined personal life.

In this column we find out if you are a natural leader and decision-maker. In my experience, these are people who like being in charge, enjoy the challenge of motivating others and serving as key cheerleader, understand how to manage by incentive and good communication rather than fear, don’t dwell too long on decision,s and have a strong sense of organization. Let’s take these one by one.

Likes being in charge. I used to think, “Who doesn’t like being in charge?” Then I discovered that many people in fact do not appreciate the pressure and potential rejection involved in running anything. In my case, I learned that I enjoy leading the show, but that doing so also puts you “out there” for criticism. Until recently my firm had ten partners, but I was the only one with ownership in the firm, and served as Managing Partner. This gave me the power to make decisions. However, in many cases it was impossible to make a decision without someone being disappointed. But in all, I know I would rather be the one making that decision.

Enjoys challenge of motivating people. There is nothing more fulfilling for me than to see one of my people really rise to a project or a task in part thanks to my efforts at encouraging them to feel a sense of ownership in it. But again, there is the dark side: that moment where someone you thought was coming along disappoints, or, worse, sabotages something. But if you’re a great leader you still come back for more of the good side.

Serves as key cheerleader. You realize that your people take their cue from you and you like that (most of the time). If you’re a little down, people will whisper, “What’s wrong with him today?” Then they will wonder whether they did something wrong or whether something is wrong with the business, even if the only thing bothering you is you had a silly disagreement with your spouse, or you stubbed your toe. So you show up every day appearing enthused and supportive, regardless of your actual mood. I admit to failing at times on this one. But I can also rise to the occasion. We had a dinner for all 40 people in my firm about a year ago and I gave an impassioned speech about how important our mission is and how proud I am of each and every one of them. People talked about it for a long time after (I think in a good way!).

Manages by incentive and communication, not fear. Great leaders are not the ones who yell and scream and scare the bejesus out of people, firing someone, then rehiring them, etc. In my 23 years of law practice I can remember maybe two or three times that I raised my voice. And although I did not share equity with my partners, I never made a decision affecting them without insisting on their input. Good management is not about sharing power, it’s about good communication. If you truly listen to your people and take their concerns into account, the appreciation will come full circle. That does not mean everything has to go their way; but when it doesn’t, make sure they understand why. Fear may result in compliance, but it mya also lead to resistance (read: current events in Iran). Reward the good and listen.

Makes decisions efficiently. I must have to make several dozen different decisions a day in running my firm. Many are almost automatic at this point and consistent with situations I have dealt with in the past. Some are brand-new and require a little thought. I never rush into a decision, but I do not dwell on the process, either. The great entrepreneurs know that business moves at light-speed and that good decisions need to be made as quickly as possible. Now, some also say you should never look back, but there I disagree. After a decision is made, monitor its implementation so that if problems occur you can learn from them.

Has a strong sense of organization. This simply means being a good planner and organizer. Thinking ahead is critical to good leadership. This is often what keeps great entrepreneurs (well, anyway, me) up at night: playing all the “what ifs” in your head and determining how to deal with them. But your company should have a clear structure in which each person clearly understands his or her role and responsibilities.

Next time: do you have the obsessive power and drive to succeed?

David N. Feldman, founding partner of Feldman Weinstein & Smith, is the author of Reverse Mergers and blogs at crisispoint.com and Reverse Merger & SPAC Blog. He can be reached at dfeldman@fwsllp.com.

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June 24, 2009 1:20 PM