By Linda Zukauskas, www.ballooningnesteggs.com
 
With a healthy dose of creativity, drive, and pluck, kids of all ages are making a difference or at least dreaming about it—with kid-initiated startups, family businesses, and charitable giving.
 
From innovative ideas to the twists and turns of real-life experiences, we seek to motivate all kids—from those who’ve already taken the leap to kids who don’t yet have it on their radar.
 
The very traits that label children as “trouble” are often the same ones that spur success throughout their life. Here are 10 surprising signs of an entrepreneurial spirit:
 
Do you find your niece or nephew has a rebellious streak? Is she a regular in the principal’s office? Does he chide the teachers, get bored in classes, and refuse to play according to the rules? Congratulations, you may have a budding entrepreneur on your hands. Now, all you have to do is avoid squashing the very qualities that may help him or her launch a jaw-dropping startup a decade or two down the road.
 
Parents often work very hard to erase traits in children that might serve to propel them forward as successful entrepreneurs, says Grant Cardone, a New York Times bestselling author who has studied entrepreneurs for 25 years. What others see as liabilities are actually assets, he says. Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey, and Steve Jobs didn’t rise to the top of their industries because they played nicely with everyone and adhered to social norms, he says. They succeeded because they didn’t.
 
If you see entrepreneurial traits in your nieces and nephews, Cardone cautions against traditional assumptions about what makes “good behavior” and recommends trying alternative thoughts and actions. “Why not leave them alone and see what happens?” asks Cardone. “Your [niece or nephew] might invent something, or change the world or make something big happen.”
 
Here, Cardone lists the traits. Your niece or nephew might be an entrepreneur in the making if she or he…
 
1. Hates the Status Quo.
If your niece or nephew doesn’t just follow the pack and do something one-way because that’s the way it’s always been done.
 
2. Is Easily Bored.
If you’re niece or nephew isn’t challenged, he or she is not paying attention. This is why Bill Gates dropped out of college.
 
3. Gets Fired A Lot.
This really translates into getting pushed out of play groups, kicked off teams, or asked to leave the Taekwondo class. Again, following another leader and going with the flow just isn’t his or her thing.
 
4. Is Labeled a Rebel.
Your niece or nephew believes laws, rules, and policies are simply suggested guidelines.
 
5. Resists Authority.
‘You are not the boss of me’ is your niece’s or nephew’s personal mantra.
 
6. Is Ready to Improve Everything.
In the house, gaming systems are pulled apart in the name of building a better Wii.
 
7. Doesn’t Believe in Small Talk.
“Why would anyone want to talk about the weather?” your niece or nephew wonders.
 
8. Gets Bullied.
Other kids tend to pick on anyone who is different.
 
9. Is Obsessive.
When your little one gets started on something or picks up an interest, he or she doesn’t stop until it’s been mastered.
 
10. Has Difficulty Relaxing.
Bedtime doesn’t usually translate to sleep as your niece or nephew remains consumed with thoughts and ideas from the day.
 
Socially, parents often feel a lot of pressure to raise bubbly, rule-abiding children. Savvy Aunties will want to help reinforce concepts like cooperation and respect while refraining from smothering the child’s independent nature. “We should all learn to avoid negative judgment,” Cardone says, “because socially unattractive traits are often useful in forging a future. For instance, there’s a negative connotation when a kid is obsessed with something. But I have yet to meet or read about a successful entrepreneur who was not obsessive—Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, John F. Kennedy. This attribute may have caused problems in one area of their lives, but look at their contributions.”
 
“You don’t know what’s sitting underneath. Just because it is not your way does not mean this person will not be brilliant,” says Cardone. Instead of trying to divert their attention when they’re fixated on something, “let them feed that insatiable appetite for whatever their interest is. Let them completely lose themselves in that because it might be their purpose in life.” Mr. Cardone feels children know their purpose in life well before they begin to attend school. “There is a single purpose for every individual. I’ve known I was a writer since I was five years old, but I didn’t write my first book until I was 51.”
 
Now that Cardone is a father himself, he says he’s constantly empowering his 3-year-old daughter. He admires her interests, even when that interest is in dramatics. “She’s going through a crying phase. I tell her I love the way she cries. Some day, she may be a movie star who makes $25 million a picture.” He doesn’t find the crying valuable. “But maybe she’s preparing for a movie career, so I tell her ‘keep practicing.’ As a parent, it is my job to create a safe environment where she can learn what she needs for her life. I don’t control her destiny.”
 
Aunts also know that they don’t have to win every argument. Children resist authority to get to a point in the future where they believe in their own authority. Try to win every time and even Savvy Aunties get beaten down. The important and not-so-important become the same thing. “But if there is a conversation, you can remind a child that she has some control and a lot of choices within the boundaries of safety.”
 
Slapping labels on children, and adults for that matter, causes us to make assumptions that just aren’t true. “I know a man who is beyond shy but runs a multi-billion dollar company,” says Cardone. His silence is often mistaken for arrogance. “When he’s quiet, I know he’s taking it all in. That’s just the way he does things.”
 
If aunts help teach children not to “believe in what others say about you; believe in yourself,” Cardone is convinced the world would be filled with more extraordinary people—rebels and entrepreneurs.
 
Now that you know some of the traits that make for entrepreneurs, what might you change about the way you interact with your nieces and nephews? Join our discussion on Facebook.

Photo: Stuart Miles
Published: March 12, 2013