I am constantly reading on Medium and other sites seeking business advice from people, in hope that it will all come in handy one day. I hated school with passion because I knew I wouldn’t use 95% of what I was “learning” and knew I just wanted to own my own businesses. But when it comes to things I am interested in such as business, I make a hell of a student. Not because I don’t trust my own intuition, because I do. More because I think that talking to people who have been successful businessmen brings me so much value due to their experience.

Stay with me here, but when someone goes to college to be an R.N. for example, it’s like they have a map to their successful career. Graduate high school, get a bachelors degree, pass a nursing test & find your job. But taking the path of entrepreneurship is like stomping through unknown woods, getting smacked in the face with branches, falling into multiple holes spraining your ankle, getting rained on, and then still, just maybe making it out successful. That’s part of what intrigues me so much… the fear, yet still having confidence that in the end, I will reach success. So I think that when someone blazes a trail to a multi-million dollar company, there is so much to learn in that trail that it’s almost ignorant to ignore it…

Therefore, I always try to capitalize on opportunities to sit down and talk to successful businessmen if they are willing to take the time to talk with me. I’ve been lucky to get to know a man that was formerly the Vice President of the North American continent for a very large corporation. He has given me many pieces of advice that I will revert back to in my future.

One of the things he told me that he looks for when he meets someone to determine if they are a leader are the 4 E’s. He also looks for the 4 E’s when hiring to determine how good of an employee they will be [assuming that a leader personality will make a better employee, which may not always be the case]. They are as follows:

[1] Energy

Does the individual have a high-energy, exciting personality? If so, chances are they have the foundation quality of a good salesman. And contrary to some beliefs, being able to sell is important. You’re constantly selling yourself when you meet people.

[2] Energizing

Does the individual cause a spark in other people when they interact? Energizers can fire people up and get them motivated. They interact with people especially well & people enjoy being in their presence.

[3] Edge

Does the person have a specific edge to them, something that sets them apart from others? Leaders are different, not followers. They don’t care if they stand out & probably take pride in not. They can dial in on the end result of things and create a plan to get there.

[4] Execution

Does the person know how to act on their strengths? They must have the work ethic, the resilience to not quit when the going gets tough, and the balls to make things happen. They can have the first 3 E’s but without the execution, they may not max out their potential.

I find it interesting that a “Leader” is such a powerful word to describe someone as, but can pretty well be summed up in as little as 4 words.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Feel free to reach out to me & give me some business advice or just chat.

My twitter handle is @Austin_Evans3, give it a click and tweet at me!