The Leaders of the Inc. 500

I think that the Inc. 500/5000 intrigues me because it is really a list of inspiration.  It turns out to really be about the men and women who lead those companies.  The Inc. 500 publication is full of profiles and stories of the individuals who took a dream or an idea and pushed and pulled and manipulated that dream or idea until it became a fast growing company.

In today's blog, I want to take a brief look at the thoughts and thinking of the men and women who lead the fast growing companies who made the list.

• 42% said that their greatest challenge is "finding and keeping skilled workers."
• Asked to rank 21 traits associated with outstanding leaders, trustworthiness came in first, sincerity second and capacity to inspire third.  Likability came in 21st.
• 38% said they get their best ideas for new products and services from customers, 20% from employees.  Yet only 37% of companies have a formal method for collecting customer ideas.
• In one of the more intriguing factoids in the magazine, 87% of Inc. 500 leaders said that the right question is more important than the right answer.
• 93% believe managing and leading are two different things.
• 15% worked more than 100 hours per week in the first year.  Just 3% work that much now.
• Only 27% started paying themselves when they started the business.  9% waited until the fourth year.  
• 20% started their own business because they wanted to be their own boss.  18% did it because they had an idea they had to try out.  29% felt that entrepreneurship suited their skills and abilities.
• 61% started their business with less than $10,000.
• The entrepreneur the Inc. 500 leaders admire most is Richard Branson, followed by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mom and/or Dad.
• 29% said that work-life balance is "a nice fantasy."  The other 71% say they are working on it.

There are tons of stories behind the Inc. 500.  The editors of the magazine have admitted that one of the benefits of creating this annual list is that it helps highlight subjects for future magazine profiles.  I know some bloggers who might do the same!