Middle Market Deals and how to buy, sell and raise capital from $5 to $500 million

As I think about what it takes to be a Power Player, or without the alliteration, a successful entrepreneur or executive, I think there are some key things to keep in mind.

Great entrepreneurs and executives aren't always charismatic, good looking or particularly well spoken.  They don't all fit neatly on the cover of BusinessWeek.  Although I find a correlation between great education and success, it isn't the education that creates the talent.  The education, when it exists in an entrepreneur's resume, is a product of the same key trait that makes an entrepreneur great.

The trait can be described in lots of ways, but I think the number one thing is a results orientation.  Entrepreneurs get stuff done.  When an entrepreneur is missing from the office you can tell.  Things move more slowly.  The focus shifts from action to analysis.  The real entrepreneur is a self starter who knows when she wakes up in the morning just exactly what needs to be done and she starts doing it.  No one has to tell her.

The rest of us need to be told.  Some of us just don't think we do.