Based upon the assumption that the condition for entrepreneurial leadership to cope with the demands of a complex environment is the need for them to be resilient, i.e., the necessity to be prepared to face, overcome, and come out strengthened from adverse experiences, this study has aimed to analyze how the characteristics of individual resilience have favored business success. Therefore, an exploratory study was conducted based upon the pillars and factors of individual resilience defined by Conner (1995), Ojeda (1997), Wagnild AND Young (2011), Connor-Davidson (2003) and Sabbag (2010), in addition to in-depth interviews with sampling of Rio de Janeiro businessmen, who are deemed as examples or models to be followed in their respective industries and received the RIO plus EMPREENDEDOR award 2011 from LIDE RIO and Agência Rio Negócios. The main research findings suggest that traits of resilience are present in all entrepreneurial leaders interviewed who have the following common denominators in their behaviors and practices: they are opportunity-oriented in times of adversity, understand change as an advantage which ought to be exploited rather than avoided, have a sense of humor and flexibility when faced with challenges, seek to obtain support from others for their personal and professional life, and possess the fundaments for the other pillars, namely selfesteem and self-reliance.