Forbes® Best Business Mistakes: How Today's Top Business Leaders Turned Missteps into Success

Part IV. Personalities

Personalities are known more for who they are than the companies they've run—which in many cases may be their own. In fact, some personalities are businesses all by themselves.

They may not fit into a traditional category, but their thoughts and experiences can be valuable in the field of business. There are recognizable people here, like Dave Ramsey, who is an accomplished businessman but full of worldly advice from things that have gone wrong. Suze Orman, who is a corporation of financial advising unto herself (and frankly could easily fit into the Legends and Gurus section). Jim Cramer could appear in practically any category, first as a legend of sorts on Wall Street and the chief executive of TheStreet.com. But come on, how could I leave him out of a "Personalities" section? And there are brilliant and funny individuals like Ben Stein, who is as well educated as any comic actor anywhere, and who gives serious advice from the perspective of the schooled economist that he is.

There are columnists here, and people who tend to appear on talk shows to discuss everything under the sun. And though the folks here may not have run huge organizations or corporations, they've established a successful niche in a world full of competition trying to crowd them out. You've got to have some refined business savvy to do that.