How Entrepreneurial Is Your Organization?

by: Susan Foley - February 10th, 2012   Filed under: Business Growth, Core Competencies, Corporate Entrepreneurs, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurs Add Comment

If you are a frustrated Intrapreneur or corporate entrepreneur the reason may be that your organization is not entrepreneurial.

Intrapreneurs are either highly engaged or disenchanted.  There is nothing in between. They are engaged if they are working on strategic opportunities to grow the business. They are disenchanted when the organization does not provide room for entrepreneurship.

In the article, The Talent Paradox, the authors say that only one-third of employees are likely to stay in their current job when the economy turns around.  Chances are the best and brightest employees already have one foot out the door.  The same is true for corporate entrepreneurs.

It is natural for corporate entrepreneurs to feel like they don’t fit but it is another thing to realize that the organization doesn’t want to be entrepreneurial or doesn’t know how to become entrepreneurial.

There are three things that need to be in place for corporate entrepreneurship to flourish inside of an organization.  They are simple, yet complex.

  • Individuals with a core set of action-oriented competencies needed to lead new growth initiatives.
  • The freedom and flexibility to build new systems and processes to support their efforts.
  • The ability to create an environment conducive to entrepreneurship, learning and growth.

Of course this needs to be front-ended with a strategy that is focused on new business growth, not incremental growth from existing products (a fallback position many companies have adopted to minimize risk).  It’s not about getting more out of what you have but creating new growth.

Research has shown that having the right people, supported by the right processes, in the right place is highly correlated to corporate entrepreneurship and leads to higher levels of innovation, productivity, engagement, and financial results.  It doesn’t work unless you have all three of these things in place.

So how entrepreneurial is your organization? That is the question that many corporate entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs are now asking themselves about their organizations.  They want to work in an entrepreneurial environment that leverages their entrepreneurial skills and capabilities, not stifle them.

As the economy recovers we are seeing corporate entrepreneurs and Intrapreneurs become more discerning about what companies they want to work for. They are using their own experience to evaluate how entrepreneurial a company is.  Not by the external image these organizations convey but by the internal operating environment and culture that they have.

Understanding how entrepreneurial your organization is will be critical to attracting the talent you need to grow your business.

Entrepreneurial Thinking and Action – Missing Links

by: Susan Foley - February 1st, 2012   Filed under: Core Competencies, Corporate Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurial Leaders, Intrapreneurs, Social Intrapreneurs Add Comment

We know that corporate entrepreneurs (Intrapreneurs) are expected to think and act entrepreneurial but there is more to it than that. What enables them to do both?  That was the question that kept nagging me until the other night while teaching a class in corporate entrepreneurship.

Prior to the class the participants had completed the online Entrepreneur Survey.  The survey is designed to help you see how entrepreneurial you really are.  It looks at what you do and how you do it.

  • What is it about your work that makes it entrepreneurial?
  • What tools and techniques do you use that are entrepreneurial?
  • How entrepreneurial is your thinking, your actions and your decision making?
  • How would you rate yourself on key entrepreneurial competencies and behaviors?

The survey results showed that a majority of the participants were entrepreneurial thinkers but they did not take entrepreneurial action or make decisions like entrepreneurs.  It was this gap tha provided insight into what was missing.

Many of the participants were entrepreneurial thinkers they just never had an opportunity to utilize that skill in their current position.  You can’t be an entrepreneur until you are an entrepreneur.  It is all about the experience.  Entrepreneurs must not only think but act entrepreneurial.  It was the thinking-doing link that was missing.

Most of the participants took action that was more in alignment with traditional methods of operating.  They were playing it safe.  Entrepreneurs push the edge of the envelope by testing their ideas. They operate outside of their comfort zone.  The missing link was experimentation.

Not surprisingly when it came to decision making the participants followed a more logical and analytical approach.  They preferred to use analytics and prediction to make decisions.  Entrepreneurs must often rely on their gut or intuition, expecially when they are creating something new.  The missing link was intuition.

Less than half of the participants stated they would be willing to challenge or question the status quo.  Being confident and having self-esteem are critical for entrepreneurs.  Entrepreneurs must be willing to question authority and do what they think is right. Another missing link was confidence.

The survey results made me realize that the gap between entrepreneurial thinking and entrepreneurial action are just a series of missing links.  I’m sure there are many more.

Thanks to the participants we’ll be adding questions to our survey to find more missing links.