Before we even get started…lets make sure we are talking about the same thing!
What is entrepreneurship and what does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
As addressed in our post about sponsorship of the Enter the Shark Tank Youth Business Plan Competition. The definition of entrepreneurship is “a spirit”. Entrepreneurship is a where within a person.
Entrepreneurs organize, operate and assume the risk for a venture.
OK, now that we are on the same page, it should be fairly clear to see that simply being a business owner or investor (someone who has an equity stake in a company) does not make one an entrepreneur. You see, entrepreneurship has a spirit about it. Too often during our free business consult we uncover that the prospective coachee is missing that spirit. Their mindset is of scarcity and not abundance. Their mindset is limiting their potential to grow. They are barely able to organize and successfully operate their business, let alone assume the risk (or responsibility) for their venture. The economy gets blamed, their employees get blamed…whomever or wherever blame can be placed. But this will not make them entrepreneurs, let alone successful leaders or business owners.
Moreover than entrepreneurship by itself, we subscribe to Dave Ramsey’s concept of moving beyond someone who organizes, operates and assumes risk for a venture (an entrepreneur). Ramsey and his team define a better approach to business growth and leadership in his book EntreLeadership.
Entreleadership combines the best of leadership and entrepreneurship. A leader is someone who rules, guides, or inspires other people. Entreleadership, then, is the process of leading to cause a venture and its people to grow and prosper.
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Entrepreneurial Key Number One
Organizations, no matter how big or small, no matter if it is a team of 1 or a team of 100, are never limited by the availability of opportunities, only by their leader.
First, I have to lead myself. This is true if my team is only comprised of myself, and mission critical when I expand my team to include others. Notice the term employees is not used here. ansleyRDgroup does not have “employees.” We have team members. We coach our clients to have the same mindset within their businesses as well.
As Ramsey puts it, a leader must understand that their enterprise will never outgrow you, the leader. John Maxwell explains this as the “leadership lid.”
[Tweet “Organizations, no matter how big or small, are never limited by the availability of opportunities, only by their leader.”]
Action Item
Identify three resources/actions that I will use/do in the next 30 days to increase my…
- capacity
- intelligence
- character
- vision
Entrepreneurial Key Number Two
Dreamers rarely do anything. Dreams are wishes that seldom happen. Dreamers live in the mist of their dream world…
Go Getters, on the other hand, get things done!
Dreams must move from the mist of dream land into the clarity of a vision that is within reality. How does one make a vision a reality? By doing something.
A vision that is ready to do something is called a goal. And goals that work are SMART
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Timebound
…and must be in writing!
Action Item
Set SMART goals in the following Wheel of Life areas for 2015 THIS WEEK (complete one area a day)…
- Spiritual
- Family
- Physcial
- Intellectual
- Social
- Career/Businesses
- Financial
Entrepreneurial Key Number Three
FOCUS – Follow One Course Until Successful. Entrepreneurs can be all over the place – multiple jobs, multiple projects, multiple ideas, multiple deadlines. A lot of immature entrepreneurs, instead of multitasking, bounce from one thing to another – they have an exit plan written before they even start.
Don’t be in a hurry to exit! Be in a hurry to start. Be intentional about starting and address the items in entrepreneurial key number two. Then simply start and FOCUS.
Action Item
Choose one SMART goal from your Wheel of Life that you created above and FOCUS 10 minutes on it everyday for the next 7 days…and the next 7 days…and the next 7 days…until you attain it.
Have you used SMART goals? Do you FOCUS? Do you have a “key” of your own? Talk to us!
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