Entreprenuerism is like many aspects of leadership, a state of mind, an attitude. It is a desire to do something different, to shake up the status quo, to create change and to make the world a better place.
I don't believe you can teach someone to be an entreprenuer, or an intraprenuer. Yes there are certain skills they can develop and tasks they can learn to undertake, however to be able to 'think' in an entreprenuerial manner requires the ability to look to trends, to identify potential points of difference, to be open to the future (as yet unseen by the masses) and to be able to link together seemingly unconnected events. This is not a skill that can be taught, it is a skill that is developed through desire and experience.
Also, I believe entrepreneural thinking requires more; it requires considerable self belief, coupled with the ability to seek help and guidance from others. Seemingly contradictory characteristics. People often have one or the other. It is a rare, and invariably successful, person that has both characteristics. The good news is that both characteristics can be developed.
They need to be open to failure. Many entreprenuers fail more often than they succeed - their failure is their business school! This requires the ability to admit you may be wrong and then change direction. So you have to be comfortable with constant change, constant criticism and an ability to find a crack in the brick walls that will confront you. So you need to be a balanced individual able to cope with high levels of stress.
Being entreprenuerial is not a place for those concerned with personal safety. Which is, by nature, the majority of people. Being entreprenuerial requires you to think and act outside the mass of conformity and acceptance - it can be a lonely place to be.
So what do our managers need to be able to operate in an entrepreneural manner? Firstly they need an open, sharing and progressive attitude. They need to be comfortable with change, stress and low social status. They need to be able to think outside the square, they need to be aware of the emerging environment and they need to be resilient. How many managers do you know that fit this description?
I will add a further qualification. Being entrepreneurial is a form of leadership, therefore our managers would need to have well developed leadership capabilities. How many managers do you know that can combine all the above and are also highly developed leaders?
Obviously there are a handful. A few amongst the many thousands of so-titled managers throughout Australia. The majority, alas, from my experience of working with managers as a consultant and a coach, over the past seven years, do not possess this combination of desire, competency, cognitive thinking and resiliancy. Therefore I believe in the vast majority of instances it is unlikely Australian managers can be entrepreneural.
Oh, I almost forgot. Also required is an organisational structure that encourages the sharing of information and the development of potential. Show me one of these organisations and that is where you will likely find the next generation of corporate intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs.
Let The Journey Continue
Taking You From Front Line Manager to CEO
John Coxon
www.johncoxon.com.au
Can Australian Managers be Entrepreneurial?
By Jennifer Goddard | April 3, 2008
BNET Australia Contributors
Aussie Rules
Biography
BNET Australia Contributors
Brian Haverty is editorial director for CBS Interactive Australia and is responsible for the company's BNET and ZDNet Australia sites.
Robert Gerrish is a coach, author and professional speaker and the founder of Flying Solo, an Australian online community for solo business owners.
Melissa Lourenco is the HR manager for CBS Interactive in Australia.
Chris Golis is the author of The Humm Handbook: Lifting Your Level of Emotional Intelligence. He runs seminars and workshops on EQ.
Suzi Dafnis is Community Director of the Australian Businesswomen's Network.
Yvonne Adele helps organisations build a culture of ideas by teaching people at all levels to access their untapped creative thinking skills.
Most managers would scoff at the idea that they are entrepreneurial — entrepreneurs are guys creating new businesses from their garages — aren’t they?
Actually an entrepreneur is anyone who takes a risk in creating something from nothing. While typically part of a new enterprise or a new venture, entrepreneurs can work within an organisation (intrapreneur) or work not-for-profit (social entrepreneur); in either case the emphasis is on innovation — doing things differently to add value.
So, if we are interested in creating new products, new markets, new production methods, even new forms of organisation, we are entrepreneurs.
Last week I asked 20 entrepreneurs (MBA students in a course I teach at Swinburne University) to create a Mind Map of key characteristics that define an “innovative entrepreneur”. Aspects they included were vision, leadership, risk taker, networking, persistence, strategy and opportunity evaluation.
More interestingly, they also included dreamer, explorer, creative, ideas person, problem solver and thinker.
The first list of responses deal with qualities one can hone in a variety of ways — right here on BNET, for example.
The second qualities are not so easy — or so many people feel. Well let’s bust that myth right now. Essentially, the foundation for accessing all of these elements is altering how you “think” — a skill we can easily learn.
Can you learn to be creative? Yes. What is the link between reading, memory, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship? These are some of the issues I’ll explore in Head First Innovation.
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RE: Can Australian Managers be Entrepreneurial?
JayCee1
06/13/2009 05:14 PM
