"The
Entrepreneurial Mindset"™
by James Arthur Ray
Turnover.
Lackluster productivity. Apathy. These are the bane of corporate
life. Savvy executives know they have to light a fire under
employees to fight such enemies of success. But how about
another tactic: Light a fire in your people, and stop thinking
of them solely as employees. Instead, teach them to adopt
the outlook, manner, and drive of entrepreneurs. Give them
ownership of their jobs, and make them accountable for results.
To be at their best, people need to feel a sense of purpose
and mission in their work. They must invest themselves in
every task or project. They must adopt an Entrepreneurial
Mindset™, or ''E-Mindset'' for short. No matter what
kind of organization-from small companies to home-based businesses
to large corporations-employees can become entrepreneurial-style
''owners'': responsible for more than just keeping a job,
they're emotionally and intellectually vested in making every
minute count toward achieving the goals of the organization
and their own complementary career aspirations.
With
an E-Mindset, they are driven more by results than routine.
Both the company and the individual reap immediate rewards
in profit, performance, and sense of purpose when people are
encouraged and taught to use their ingenuity, invest themselves
in their work, and expect exponential results for their effort.
What
Your Company Can Do:
-
Clarify the vision for the organization, including what
you want to accomplish, the strategic plan to get you
there, the incremental and timed goals that must be met
along the way, and the values that will guide your actions.
Once clear, this vision must be communicated to everyone
in the organization, and each person must define how he
or she will contribute to the overall realization of this
vision through personal job performance. Then comes the
most crucial part: Leaders must continue to communicate
this vision-and must live it every day. Every meeting,
every speech and presentation, every document must be
congruent with this articulated vision.
-
Align
individuals' goals with the organization's vision. Under-standing
that individuals do things for their own reasons, the
organization must provide the opportunity for employees
to define their own personal and career goals, and they
must be given the information they need to see how these
goals dovetail with and support the company vision. People
must see that their involvement allows them to accomplish
their own goals for personal and professional growth.
This can be communicated through initial training sessions
with new hires, as well as through periodic reviews where
the person has responsibility to identify personal aspirations
and find the overlap between these and organizational
goals.
-
Put money, time, and enthusiasm behind stated values.
If time and money are not consistently invested toward
what you say is important, people will realize that you
pay no more than lip service to your so-called values.
To fully install the E-Mindset in your corporate culture,
there is one value that must be adopted, understood, and
supported no matter what: Employees must have the latitude
and ability to do whatever necessary to satisfy the customer
and find a solution. Entrepreneurs understand that their
number-one concern must be the clients they serve. Going
the extra mile and being creative is the norm for the
E-Minded. And it must be encouraged and recognized within
the organization.
What
You Can Do:
-
Make
sure you are working for something/someone you are proud
to be associated with. You have to have unbending belief
in the product or service you are selling, representing,
helping to create, or otherwise supporting. You must find
something you can be passionate about.
-
Settle for nothing less than excellence in everything
you do. If something crosses your desk, regardless of
the shape in which it came to you, improve it and send
it out as if it were a million-dollar proposal that has
your name on it.
-
Know and take ownership of the outcome. This can be a
phone call you make, a memo you draft, a communication
with a peer. Make sure you know your end objective and
take responsibility.
-
Apologize
when something goes wrong.
-
Be
resourceful. Come up with and present possible solutions
to a challenge, rather than just presenting what's not
working. Ask, ''How can it be done?''
-
Be flexible. If things don't go as planned or if a project
runs overtime, find a way to help your team get to the
end result.
-
Be creative. Look for ways to improve the process or additional
areas of responsibility that you can help out with.
-
Strive to improve one thing you are doing each day.
-
Be proactive/growth-driven. If you see something that
could create challenges, do something that may change
the course of action. Always ask, ''How can this be improved?''
-
Exert enthusiasm in all that you do. Even if it's a mundane
task, create an atmosphere of excitement. If you see someone
else who needs a boost, pay them a compliment, help them
out, or show your contagious enthusiasm.
Companies need visionary and inner-directed people who transcend
rules and roles and, at a minimum, make decisions and operate
from a high level of self-esteem and even self-actualization.
The people must find purpose in their work, keep profit and
productivity in mind as they devise new and better ways of
doing things, and pursue excellence in every endeavor. These
are the keys to the Entrepreneurial Mindset™. They will
unlock the potential of people working today, and open the
doors of unlimited possibility for the organization in the
future.
Copyright
© 2005 James Ray International
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