Business

Many of the general characteristics that are exemplified by innovative leaders are their creative style, visionary spirit, risk-taking capabilities, ability to create problems into opportunities and their motivation in seeking new possibilities. Russell Simmons possesses all of these traits resulting in him becoming the fourth richest figure in the hip-hop industry (Panache).

His has built his career by turning a possibility into a huge marketable product.  He identified the impact of hip-hop culture in youth and created successful businesses that include Def Jam, a hip-hop label and Phat Farm, a clothing line. His risk-taking ability and intuition in identifying this huge market made him the pioneer in this business. Moreover, Russell Simmons is continuously learning and striving for new opportunities which can be personified by having various product lines such as prepaid debit cards Rush Visa Card, energy drink DefCon3, and limited-edition Motorola cell phones with his design and name. All these characteristics add up to make Russell Simmons an innovational leader.