1.

Passion and Energy

When you think of the likes of Bill Gates, you tend to feel he is living a life filled with long
vacations and excessive free time. But thats not true; most successful entrepreneurs are
known to have a great amount of passion and energy.

2. Ability to take Responsibility

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. Its best to admit them quickly and get
on with improving your other innovations. Steve Jobs
Successful entrepreneurs are known to take responsibility of their actions and decisions
even in the face of failure. They dont blame their employees; instead they take charge,
correct their business mistakes and move on.

3. Long Standing Commitment

Its my job for Oracle, the number two software company in the world; to become the
number one software company in the world. My job is to build better than the competition,
sell those products in the marketplace and eventually supplant Microsoft and move from
being number two to number one. Larry Ellison
This is a very vital character possessed by any successful entrepreneur you come across.
Entrepreneurs are known to be committed not just for the moment but for years. You can
imagine Warren Buffet, who is in his 80s, yet he is still committed to the growth of Berkshire
Hathaway, which he founded many years ago.

4. Self Belief
You are nuts and you should be proud of it. Stick with what you believe in. Trip Hawkins

Successful entrepreneurs are known to display a high level of self confidence. They have
little belief in fate; they strongly believe in themselves and their ability to achieve their set
goals. This is a major character venture capitalist watch out for before financing any
business venture.

5. Persistence
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.
This is what persistence stands for; the ability to press on in the face of hardship. Without
persistence, nothing can be achieved. When you think of persistence; think of Henry Ford,
founder of Ford motor Company and Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Nothing is more common than
unsuccessful men with talent. The world is full with educated derelicts. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent. Ray Kroc
6. Goal Setting
I intend to be, the richest man in the world. Howard Hughes
All successful entrepreneurs share the characteristic of being goal oriented. They have the
ability to set clear goals for themselves. These goals are high and challenging but realistic
and attainable. To them, life without goals set and achieved is life wasted.
I think I am very goal oriented. Id like to win the Americas cup. Id like Oracle to be the No
1 software company in the world. I still think it is possible to beat Microsoft. Larry Ellison
7. Ability to take Risk
In todays rapidly changing world, the people who are not taking risk are the risk takers.
Robert Kiyosaki
As we all know, business is a risk and to undertake it, you have to be daring. Successful
entrepreneurs are risk takers; they put down their time, energy and resources to make sure
their business stand the test of time.

You must take risks, both with your own money or with borrowed money. Risk taking is
essential to business growth. J. Paul Getty
8. Intelligent Use of Feedback
Feedback is one element that successful entrepreneurs dont joke with. In fact; it is so
important that they surround themselves with smart teams so as to get feedbacks about
decisions they took. Most importantly, they make intelligent use of the feedback they
receive. Please note that feedback can be in the form of criticism, opinion or advice.
Sometimes, I think my most important job as a CEO is to listen for bad news. If you dont
act on it, your people will eventually stop bringing bad news to your attention and that is the
beginning of the end. Bill Gates
9. Strong Self Imposed Standards
It takes 20 years to build a reputation and only five Minutes to ruin it. If you think about
that, you will do things differently. Warren Buffett
Successful entrepreneurs have laid down principles which they dont compromise for any
reason. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you must be firm, strict and be a man
or woman of principle.
I am stingy and Im proud of the reputation. Ingvar Kamprad
Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobodys going to know if you did it or
not. Oprah Winfrey
10. Ability to Work under Pressure and Uncertainty
To be an entrepreneur, you must have the ability to work under pressure and uncertainty.
Whenever you are facing tough times in your business; remember Donald Trump, who was
in personal debt of a billion dollars and his corporation was in debt of 9 billion dollars yet he
kept cool and worked his way out of the debts.
You must not only learn to live with tension, you must seek it out. You must learn to thrive
on stress. J. Paul Getty

11. Strong Internal Control

Control is essential to the business survival of every successful entrepreneur. To build a
successful business, you need firm control of your cash flow and all other business
systems. Control is a watch word of entrepreneurs and investors.
In order to be a player on the fast track, you will need to have a plan on how to gain more
and more control. On the fast track, it is control more than money that counts. Rich Dad
12. Intelligent Use of Resources
Sometimes, entrepreneurs are faced with the challenge of building a business with limited
capital. When building a small business startup from scratch, there is need for efficient
utilization of the limited resources. Its called building a business on a Shoe string budget
IKEA people do not drive flashy cars or stay at luxury hotels. Ingvar Kamprad
13. Ability to Quickly Learn From Failures
Punishing honest mistakes stifles creativity. I want people moving and shaking the earth
and they are going to make mistakes. Henry Ross Perot
Successful entrepreneurs make lot of mistakes that sometimes lead to business failures but
they dont bow their head in defeat. Instead, they quickly acknowledge their business
mistakes, correct them, learn from their failures and move on. They fail but they dont quit.
Instead, they get inspired by their failure and use their failure as a stepping stone to
success.
Failure is just a resting place. It is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently. Henry
Ford
14. Money as a Means of Keeping Score
I dont make deals for the money. Ive got enough much more than Ill ever need. I do it to
do it. Donald Trump
This characteristic might sound a little bit funny but it is a common attribute found in most
successful entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs use the money acquired from their business as a

landmark, a target and a sign to move on to other business challenges. An entrepreneur

who makes his/her first million dollars will be happy with the achievement and will set a goal
to make his/her first 100million dollars.
Build wealth as a by product of your business success; If wealth is your only objective in
business, you will probably fail. J. Paul Getty
15. Delayed Gratification
You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job and not get paid for it.
Oprah Winfrey
I should have listed this first but I decided to save it for the last. Most individuals like the
concept of getting rich quickly, invest today and gain a 1000% ROI in a week and stuffs like
that. Entrepreneurs know that profit or reward may not be instant and may even take as
much as five years before receiving any dividend. Sometimes, they work without pay,
hoping for a greater reward in years to come.
I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on assumption they could close
the market the next day and not re-open it for five years. Warren Buffett

Traits

Challenges

Action points for maximisation

1. Business focus

Profit-oriented, plan for

growth, clear goals,
alignment with business,

Can sometimes lose sight of

Use timelines and yardsticks, communicate clearly,

tight operations

customers

focus on human element also, read a lot

2. Confidence

Self-awareness, conviction
in ability to succeed, action- Over-confidence, haste,

Plan ahead, prepare for contingencies, get diverse

oriented, pro-active

feedback, avoid the speed trap

over-commitment

3. Creative thinker
Firing off many ideas,

Difficult to work in a team,

Balance present and future, use metrics, prioritise,

curious, quick learner,

exploratory, imaginative,

rushing off in many

alert

directions

use simple structure, learn from failures

4. Delegator

Collaborate, recognise and

draw on peoples abilities,
encourage team

Abdicating responsibility,

Map processes and skills, allow employees to

contribution

communication gaps

perform, give effective feedback

5. Determination
Persistent, eager to act,
confront obstacles, not

Sticking with failing strategy, Share your optimism, partner with creative types,

deterred by roadblocks

regret with failed steps

focus on big picture, be alert to environment

6. Independent
Resolute, faith in self, multitasking, responsible,

Burnout, difficulty in growing

multiple competencies,

the team to scale the

Focus on main objective, form alliances, delegate,

can-do

enterprise

dont let love for your product blind you

7. Knowledge-seeker

Anticipate and use

knowledge, drive for indepth information,

Generating too many new

Write and share ideas, prioritise, get outside inputs,

knowledge as an asset

ideas, too many pivots

create a clear roadmap for changes

8. Promoter
Communicator, speaks
boldly, storyteller,
ambassador, persuasive,

Becoming blind to flaws, lack Rehearse your story, use multiple media, build a

enthusiastic

of objectivity

whole community of evangelists and champions

9. Relationship-builder

Mutually-beneficial links
inside and outside
workplace, open, socially

Time management, focus,

Diversify and renew networks, reciprocity,

aware, integrity

lack of diversity in networks

understand the local social landscape, be selective

10. Risk-taker
Optimistic, rational
decisions, charismatic,
confident, will to win, can

Over-confidence, judgement

Take incremental risks, cool off, map knowledge and

deal with complexity

errors, haste

scenarios, experiment systematically

Leadership style of Mr. N.R Narayan Murthy

Mr. Narayan Murthy was born in a middle class family in Siddalghat in Karnataka, His father inculcated
importance of determination, discipline and good values. Since childhood he had a very good academic
record.
At present he is the Chairman of Infosys. Present market capitalization of Rs. 60,000 crores Infosys started
with Rs.10, 000.Mr. Narayan Murthy is influenced by Mahatma Gandhi who walked his talk and
demonstrated by, Example He says he wants to be a doer and respects people who do things, rather than
just talk.
Some of the traits that differentiates him from others are:
His Underlying principle:
Is that, you undertake to do something you are confident of and have the capability to do it. This helps to
lay the foundation to build a healthy relationship. He also believes that it is better to have a small part of a
large, growing pie; than a large part of small shrinking one.
Simple living-high thinking:
A man who believes in Simple living high thinking. Even though he has a personal wealth of Rs. 2,500
crores, his lifestyle remains modest. He lives in a simple 2-bed room flat in Santacruz-Mumbai.
Under-promising & Over-delivering:
He has tremendous respect for people and sound philosophy of under-promising & over delivering. This
helps him build a healthy long-term relationship with his colleagues, employees, family, friends, business
associates and network of shareholders.
Pioneer in HRM:
Mr. Murthy says that his is an HR-based industry. Software is a knowledge business hence the focus is
shifted to Brainware. It was he who started ESOPs that is real distribution of wealth. Now it is very common
in the industry to have ESOPs but it has done wonders in Infosys. Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly aweinspiring role model for professionals.
Performance Oriented:
He is a man who always measures performance against value. According to Murthy peoples performance in
the knowledge industry is as valuable as gold. Thus by introducing ESOPs he motivated his employees to
work smart and hard.
Strategy: ( Customer is the King):
Even though there is a lot of competition in the market he believes in one thing that is, being unique in the
market place and making sure that you are the 1st mover.
Tap the need of the customer and give them more than they expect. Believes in giving value to the
customer, being fair to people and transparency in working.
Mr. Murthy says that Growth comes from repeat business, repeat business comes from relationships, and
relationships with customers are built on trust and trust is built by delivering quality products.
Social being:
He believes in putting the public good ahead of private good in every decision he makes. This differentiates
the developed world from the developing world. Infosys practices its Social responsibility very well.
Rehabilitation drive, literacy programme, donations etc are few ways in which he works for the society.
Visionary:
Though Infosys had so many professionals it did not venture into dotcom because of the vision of Mr.
Narayan Murthy. This saved them from going down. The downfall of dotcoms has not affected his business
much. Before starting Infosys this visionary got together with 6 professionals and wanted to start have
Indias first software company of the professionals, for the professionals, by the professionals, and because
of his farsightedness Infosys has come this far and proved to be a winner Thus Narayan Murthy is honestly
awe-inspiring role model for the professionals.