Thanks for the great questions from the readers of the e-book Acceleration – Changing the Speed of Growth www.corporate-entrepreneurs.com/Acceleration.html. Given the overwhelming response there may be more internal entrepreneurs out there than previously reported.
Many of you indicated that you had never thought of yourself in terms of being an internal entrepreneur until you read the e-book. Our goal was to do just that – awaken the entrepreneur inside of you.
It was clear from your questions and comments that as internal entrepreneurs you don’t always feel like you fit in your organization. That isn’t unusual. Most internal entrepreneurs feel out of alignment with the rest of the organization.
Internal entrepreneurs see the world through a different lens. What they see others find difficult to envision. What they do is not always easy to comprehend. How they do it seems counter intuitive. Why they do it is often a mystery to their peers. What keeps them going is hard to fathom.
Internal entrepreneurs are in alignment with who they are, not what the organization wants them to be. They are true to themselves.
- They see the world differently.
- They think differently.
- They act differently.
- They make decisions differently.
- They prefer a different kind of work environment.
- They have different motivations and aspirations.
- They see the world as it could be not as it is.
This sets internal entrepreneurs apart from others. It makes some people in the organization uncomfortable. Yet it is this differentiation that allows internal entrepreneurs to see opportunities, come up with creative solutions and find innovative ways to accelerate growth.
In their book Growth from Within, authors Wolcott and Lippitz state “Being an entrepreneur, independent or corporate, is a unique role, with demands and potential rewards that differ from business as usual.” http://growfromwithinbook.com.
Internal entrepreneurs are consistently striving to achieve alignment with who they truly are. They are interested in reaching their full potential. In doing so, they are bringing the very best of themselves to their organizations.
Alignment is only the first in a long list of topics we will discuss. Over the next coming weeks and months we will continue to field your questions and address them. Keep the questions coming!
[...] Internal Entrepreneurs – Alignment – Susan Foley, Corporate [...]
Susan,
Thank you for this post. Recently I was hanging out with my sister, who was recently promoted to managing director at a very large financial institution here in NYC, where she has been working for about 25 years (starting at the bottom).
And of the four of us siblings, she is the only one in corporate (the other three of us are entrepreneurs).
I always wondered why she didn’t get the “entrepreneur” gene.
Then when we met, I realized the way she moved up the company so successfully and quickly (esp. in this economy) was because she has been innovating and creating new products and services for this company… and very successfully.
She is now managing the company’s largest product launch in their 100+ year history.
Yep… my “big” sister IS an (internal) entrepreneur! I guess she does have the “Doering”‘s genes after all!