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Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001. Under his leadership the GE stock went up by 4,000 per cent, making it the most valuable company in the world. Fortune named him the ‘Manager of the Century’ in 1999

Suzy Welch is a former editor of Harvard Business Review. She is also the co-author of Jack Welch’s latest book Winning

You can e-mail Jack and Suzy Welch questions at winning@nytimes.com

(Please include your name, occupation, city and country)

Sometimes I get the feeling I want to start my own business and fly freely. And while I know some smart friends who might join me, I still wonder whether I have the instincts and leadership required.
– Umair Malik, Islamabad, Pakistan

Forget, for a moment, your desire to fly free. Forget the ‘required’ levels of instinct and leadership. And while you are at it, forget your smart friends. To start a comp-any, you need those things ... eventually. But first and foremost, you need a great idea.

That doesn't mean we want to discourage you or denigrate the entrepreneurial urge. To us, the gutsy individuals who launch ventures are some of society's biggest heroes.
And yes, there are people who dump their day jobs, hunker down in a garage or spare bedroom with a bunch of friends, and then five years later, can be seen ringing the opening bell on Wall Street. But before you start visualising yourself in that picture and make the leap from stability to start-up, it probably makes sense to separate wishful thinking from the less rosy realities that usually characterise the entrepreneurial experience.

Let's start with a favourite wish – you mention it right in your letter – that entrepreneurship grants independence. True, you will become your own boss. But for months and even years, that choice will mean less freedom and flexibility for you, not more.

You won't control your own life; your new business will do that for you. After all, when you only have two customers, you don't tell them you can't meet Monday at 5 pm. You smile when they show up three hours later. In your heart, you may be flying free, but in the trenches, you'll still be taking orders – just from a new set of bosses.

Another bit of wishful thinking is something you don't mention but is common too – it purports that entrepreneurship bestows financial independence. If only! Unless you've built up a pile of savings, no one is more ‘owned’ than the founder of a start-up.

We recently met an entrepreneur whose venture was stalled because she was loath to give more equ-ity to private investors or venture capitalists. "It's bad enough to give up control," she complained, "But if I keep giving away stock, I'll still be driving my 1994 Honda Civic to my son's college graduation."

Given the fact that her son was an infant, she was joking, of course. But the fact is: start-ups almost always make their founders poor before they make them rich.

Finally, there is that popular notion you refer to: that companies can get born by just a bunch of bright people in the room bursting with energy to ‘make it happen’. We would call that partial information. Obviously, passionate, talented people are the key to getting a venture off the ground. And yes, there have been cases of friends banding together to build something amazing from scratch. But those friends usually had an idea to start with.

The real engine of any start-up is a product or service that fills a market need, or better yet, creates one. Several years ago, we attended a celebration honouring the 50 fastest-growing entrepreneurial ventures in the Atlanta area. The room buzzed with excitement as everyone waited to hear who would get the top award. The winner ended up being a three-year-old company that had discovered a better way to de-ice airplanes. Undoubtedly, the company had great leadership, but its revenues were growing 55 per cent a year because it had an idea that changed the market.

Look, all around the world, we have seen successful entrepreneurs, young and old, changing the world for the better. So we don't want to dissuade you from going out on your own. Just know that there is more to being an entrepreneur than meets the imagination. And there is a lot less without a great idea to start with.

When should a leader pass blame? What about when things go wrong?
– John Reaves, Matthews, N.C.

In all of organisational behaviour, there is probably nothing worse than a boss who suddenly forgets a direct report or disavows his team when things go wrong. When you manage people, you are in it together, and because you are the leader, you own all the outcomes, good and bad. That being said, there is one exception.

Sometimes a leader can't see and touch all his people, especially in large companies. In such cases, they shouldn't be held personally responsible for the occasional rogue employee. They can, however, be held accountable for having rigorous control systems in place to ferret out such miscreants, and they should never turn away when they sense something off base. Every boss can't be a street cop. But he has to make sure someone is walking the beat.

Russia is increasingly in the news these days, both for its high-flying economy and its controversial politics. What's your take on the situation there?
– Daniel Steinbock, Helsinki, Finland

All you have to do is stand in the middle of Red Square with your back to Lenin's Tomb to understand why a billionaire entrepreneur we recently met in Moscow would proudly declare, "Anything is possible in Russia right now." There, where bread lines once wound around the corner, stands a long row of luxury stores.

What a difference 16 years, and vast oil reserves, make. Indeed, the scene right now in Moscow, with its glitzy hotels and Bentley and Lamborghini dealerships, is enough to make you think that Russia's post-Glasnost era of limping along and irrelevance is over and its future as a resurgent superpower has arrived. With their swelling national pride, the Russians would be delighted with that shiny impression. Reality, however, would cloud it somewhat.

Shortly after the entrepreneur made his bold statement, the CEO of a technology company told us that government officials regularly call him to ‘place’ managers – that is, well-connected know-nothings – into his ranks. Of such interference, he sighed, "You don't like it but you can't fight it."

Our point is that Russia is a riddle. Without doubt, it is filled with economic promise and has re-entered the global marketplace with renewed clout. But the biggest threats to that promise – and there are several – lie within. And for the time being, it is anyone's guess how that internal contradiction will play out. One thing is certain, though: Russia is currently brimming with self-confidence. It is as if its people, emboldened by oil money, have collectively decided to shake off the ‘has-been’ mantle the country has carried for more than a decade.

You can see the change in the authoritative demeanour of hotel clerks, street vendors, and cab drivers. And it's on the faces of the young people wearing T-shirts bearing the image of President Vladimir Putin, who, with an approval rating of more than 80 per cent, is the embodiment of Russia's nationalist mood. Several Nordic and Eastern European executives doing business in Russia told us that the country's self-confidence has morphed into a worrisome arrogance. May be that's true; it likely is. But we also saw that self-confidence express itself in positive ways.

A new business school named the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management is slated to open next year, with the primary purpose of inspiring new business formation. We met dozens of entrepreneurs whose faith in Russia's economic future has sparked a new interest in management practices, such as developing leaders and motivating teams – and even human resources.

Similarly, Russia's new wealth has created a number of oligarchs who have become ‘angel investors’ for many start-ups. When we asked a room of 250 entrepreneurs if anyone considered venture-capital funding a problem, not a single hand went up. But it was the same people who were quick to underscore Russia's biggest challenges.

For instance, one CEO estimated that it would be hard to fill a second or third room of the same size with Russian entrepreneurs. Most businesspeople gravitate – understandably, given the rewards and security – toward the state-run oil, gas and mineral companies and the industrial factories that dominate the GDP. Yes, Putin has called for economic diversification, but robust oil revenues sap any meaningful sense of urgency toward achieving that goal.

Even if Russia was adequately diversified, it would still have the problem of its corruption and its work force. Corruption in Russia, of course, is an old story, but even with the economic upturn, it shows no sign of a rewrite. As for the work force, again, it's a legacy issue. Russia still lacks that critical mass of young people filled with passion and ambition required to help it seize economic opportunities.

Finally, there is the prickly problem of Russian politics. Or more precisely, Putin's recent crackdown on internal dissent and his harsh criticism of the many countries that have challenged him, including Estonia, Poland, Germany, the UK and the US.

He has his reasons – boldly stated in terms of national interests – but the trend still increases Russia's business risks. May be that won't scare off foreign oil companies.
But a non-oil company should probably think twice before making major capital investments. Which brings us back to the riddle. Will the promise of Russia trump its challenges, or the other way around? Russia itself holds the answer, but the whole world will feel its impact.

What do you think of executive search consultants?
–Bill Bryan, New York

Ideally, a company has a training prog-ramme, consistent coaching and succession planning. As a result, it primarily promotes from within. What better way to give employees a sense of opportunity, not to mention to foster speedier, more successful job transitions?

Reality, of course, doesn't work that way. Many companies consider management development more of a chore than the priority it should be. Still other companies just don't have enough talent. They're expanding into new businesses where they have no expertise, or they are too small to have a bench or their boards have been sleeping and can't come up with a slate of internal CEO candidates.

And so it happens. They need help looking for help. That's why executive search consultants exist.

Yes, they are expensive, slow down the hiring process and can too easily become a crutch. And, yes, internal promotions should always be the first line of defence.
But given the competitiveness of business today, there's no reason to give up a good offense too. Executive search consultants can give you just that.