On the eve of Iowa Caucuses, the first major electoral event of the nominating process for the US Presidential election, as I watch the results on CNN, I wonder if more entrepreneurs should enter the mainstream political arena. Do entrepreneurs make good politicians? By all means, entrepreneurs possess leadership qualities along with inner drive to succeed, competitiveness, and hunger for new ideas and innovation. The most important trait of all – entrepreneurs are great at accepting constructive criticism and rejection.

Dale Buss wrote an article a while back on the topic, “Do CEOs Make Good Politicians?” pointed out that the track record of the CEOs that he presented in the article was mixed. But, I believe that majority of successful entrepreneurs that I was referring to are not represented by this group. I believe that true entrepreneurs with strong values and innovative outlook will be much more successful in understanding the issues of mainstream America – that consists of 98% of small businesses and 95% of the population that will be affected by the political leadership in one way or another.

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Tags: entrepreneural leadership, entrepreneurs in politics, Iowa Caucuses, Presidential election