Expand Your Mind: Traits of a Leader
by Miki Saxon
Contrary to popular myths, venture capitalists invest in leaders with powerful management teams as opposed to investing in the technology or idea. That’s because change—markets, competition—happens often and shit—fatal flaws, the economy—happen more often.
In short, they look for leaders.
So what makes people want to follow a leader? We look for 3 key traits:
- The ability to articulate the vision
- The right kind of ambition
- The ability to achieve the vision
TechCrunch did a great post on three people who embody the key attributes that people want to follow.
And although I’m sure you’ll recognize Steve Jobs and Andy Grove, but you’ve probably never heard of Bill Campbell, who is by far the most interesting of the three.
Next, Scott Berkun offers a great summary, along with the video, of the best points in an Economist interview with Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar.
Finally there is Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, who suggests that one of the most important traits for a leader is energy.
I have a hypothesis that people instinctively want to be led by whoever has the most energy. … We’re all energy junkies, and our leaders are pushers.
Adams offers some interesting examples, so be sure to read what comes between these two sentences before deciding on the validity of his idea.
Image credit: pedroCarvalho on flickr
