To truly understand an entrepreneur's mindset, it's best to ask: What gets you out of bed? … [+]
What keeps you up at night? That's the question every CEO is asked. But for entrepreneurs, there are even more relevant questions. To truly understand how entrepreneurs think, it's better to ask: What gets you out of bed in the morning?
The first question focuses on a person's deepest, darkest fears and insecurities, which are not in short supply in today's world. But the second question reveals who is trying to do something to them.
When successful entrepreneurs describe what drives them, the words vision, values, and positive impact on society come up again and again. And from the sleepless nights to the bright sunny days ahead, the way they turn the question around is an unyielding, unyielding way of always choosing to see the glass as half-full when others only see it as half-empty. clarifies the idea of opportunity.
It's the first quality of an entrepreneur, but it's not the only one. Here are his eight qualities entrepreneurs need to build successful companies and achieve the next level of innovation.
- Adopt an opportunity mindset. The half empty glass is also half full. Your job is to reframe the problem and find creative solutions. Entrepreneurship offers the potential to tackle the great challenges of our time, from climate change and poverty to physical and mental health. The size of the problem is the same as the scope of opportunity.
- Let's take a long view. Innovation takes time. Let's also think about next quarter and beyond. Consider giving employees equity to embed long-term values towards sustainable innovation. Innovative solutions to big problems don't happen overnight, so it's important to be prepared for the long term.
- Reduce social distancing. Hierarchies do not help people at the top listen to those who make a difference. Reach out to people and bring everyone along. Reducing social distancing and empowering those closest to customers is key to fostering a collaborative ecosystem for innovation, enabling a better workplace in the process.
- Please cooperate. Not just internally, but with industry partners, universities, R&D centers, and not just with people but with artificial intelligence. Don't be the Lone Ranger. Innovation is stronger when everyone works together. You need to surround yourself with people who have complementary skill sets and strengths and can challenge you when needed.
- Build resilience. Experiment, fail quickly, and learn from your mistakes. Enable agile processes that can quickly pivot in light of new learnings. There will be many naysayers who will prevent you from pursuing your entrepreneurial journey. Don't get discouraged, use their criticism as a driving force for continuous improvement.
- Learn self-awareness. Know your limits. Do you understand your strengths and weaknesses? Are you consciously bringing the best version of yourself into your work, capitalizing on your strengths and embracing new abilities that compensate for your weaknesses? This will help you find out.
- Please move on. Prioritize ethics in your decision-making and ensure everything you do is consistent with your values. It would be wrong to idealize some kind of entrepreneurial culture that aims to do everything in its power. Building a company that succeeds in the medium to long term is another thing.
- Demonstrate a spirit of service. Our purpose is more than generating good returns and serving our investors, employees, suppliers and other business partners. There are other stakeholders to serve. How can I serve people, improve lives, and make the world a better place? Having that purpose also makes it easier to navigate the inevitable disruptions of entrepreneurial life.
Even if you have the qualifications, that doesn't mean your new business won't fail. Start-ups may do so because they lack funding, there is no market for their innovation, or they have lost out to competition.
But honing these eight key qualities for entrepreneurial success is a way to improve your odds.
Excerpt from the IESE Business School Insight report Improve and innovate: Transforming the world through entrepreneurial thinking.
