5 Competitive Qualities Extraordinary Entrepreneurs Possess

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If you don’t have a competitive bone in your body, entrepreneurship may not be for you, or at least not being an extraordinary one. It’s the one trait that pushes you past the ridicule of naysayers, provides the will to survive when death seems certain and can take you to the top of your game.

These are 5 Competitive Qualities of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs:

Integrity - you must possess the will to win, but not at all costs. There are rules to the game and true champions follow them. I’ve seen some competitive ‘win at all costs’ entrepreneurs who took shortcuts and killed great companies. It’s easy to pay a bribe, get insider information to manipulate a stock price, or take money from the wrong kind of people to finance your business enterprise — I’ve seen it destroy the lives of employees and the careers of good people who became greedy, or wanted instant gratification.

Sportsmanship - extraordinary entrepreneurs celebrate the success of others. When they see others winning, it reinforces their confidence that their championship game is right around the corner. If no one was winning or at the top of the game, what would be the point? You might as well just live in a cave and fish and hunt for food all day — it would be much easier!

Strategist - entrepreneurship is a game of strategy. You need to know what your competitors are doing in the industry (right and wrong) to have an advantage in the marketplace. To compete in any game blindly is just plain ignorant — you need to have a game plan to win. I’ve been around people who believed they had the holy-grail (and some did) — the absolute best product or service in the space only to fail because they didn’t know squat about their competitors or the marketplace.

Leadership - most entrepreneurs don’t get to the top alone, they get there with extremely talented team. The quality of your team will determine how high and how far you can go. I’ve been around super talented people who make everyone sick — what I mean is you can’t be in the same room with them because they think they’re god’s gift and better than everyone else. If that’s you, you suck. Your team will never be loaded with super talented people, just second stringers and bench warmers who suck up to you, have low self-esteem and don’t have what it takes to get you to the championship game.

Champion Mindset – you must believe that you and your team have what it takes to become champions. Team players who possess extraordinary talent, skills and drive want to be part of a championship team. The folks in your organization who don’t desire this need to be traded — or they’ll become a suck on the team.

What other competitive qualities make an extraordinary entrepreneur?

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