Entrepreneur?

Background

Lately, many of the companies I’ve spoken to or worked with have placed an emphasis an on being Entrepreneurial. They want their employees to think and behave more like Entrepreneurs. But what does it mean to be an entrepreneur? How can one become entrepreneurial? What are the challenges? How can someone overcome them?

What is an Entrepreneur?

Let’s start by defining the term Entrepreneur. If you’re like me, you probably always assumed it just meant “someone who starts and runs a business.” That’s a decent definition, but there’s so much more. I found this definition online and think it’s pretty good. Entrepreneur (noun): A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.

What about the definition of Entrepreneurial? What does that even mean? Here’s one version I found: Entrepreneurial (adjective): Characterized by the taking of financial risks in the hope of profit.

These are both good, but I think we need more.

Why is being Entrepreneurial Important?

Generally speaking, an Entrepreneur is starts a business because they find or recognize a problem and come up with a solution to solve it. They believe the solution will be valuable to others and take a gamble that it will work. They develop the product or service, market/promote it, sell it, then execute. If they can deliver…even over deliver, they will be successful, assuming it is valuable to their customer.

Put simply, an entrepreneur finds a way to CREATE VALUE. They are not happy with the status quo. They focus on their customers and solving an important problem for them, not just taking orders. They are problem solvers at heart and they are willing to take calculated risks. These are among the many traits they have.

All employers want people like this on their team!

How to become an Entrepreneur?

The easiest way to be entrepreneurial is to be an entrepreneur… to learn by doing. Start a company and take on most of the financial risks. That’s a surefire way to learn.

When I left the Navy, I could NOT find a job. I didn’t have a college degree and no one really needed someone with my skills. I networked with people. They all wanted to meet a ‘Navy SEAL.’ None of them had the need to hire one. I couldn’t find a ‘job’ so I made one. I started a business.

The lessons I learned from starting and running that first business are with me to this day. I might not have gone to college, but I earned an MBA in the real world. Some of the lessons learned in the military did help, but I had to learn many new ones. I wasn’t good at first, but gradually I got more skilled. It was a constant learning process… and remains so to this day.

Most people can’t (or won’t) just start a business though. So how does this help them?

How to be more Entrepreneurial?

If you can’t or won’t be able to start a business, how can you become more entrepreneurial at work? How can you be more like an entrepreneur and bring those skills and traits to your profession? Again, I think this comes down to traits. Below are a few traits I think helped me most when running my own business.

Responsibility

Entrepreneurs take responsibility for their own results and the results of their team. They take ownership! If they fail, they believe it was their fault. The average employee blames others or the circumstances. These excuses can include the market, the competition or even the customer! This is a victim mentality. The entrepreneur thinks differently. They take responsibility. This attitude is much more powerful. They know “If it’s my fault, I can fix it!”

Grit

Entrepreneurs do not give up. They show up, day in, day out, because they don’t have another option. They have burned the boats. they don’t have a plan B! When something fails 5 different ways, they are willing to try 5 more… or 50 more, whatever it takes. They are able to get back up after failure when others cannot. They don’t quit, because they are all in.

Discipline

Entrepreneurs are disciplined. They are the ones who do what they’ve decided to do, or know needs to be done, on their best days, on their worst days and every day in between. Why is that? Because they know they MUST do the thing. If they don’t do the thing, no one else will. It’s on them! This ties back to OWNERSHIP or Responsibility.

Consistency

Entrepreneurs are consistent. This is similar to, but slightly different then Discipline. They do the things they know need to be done consistently, day after day after day. These little things, done over and over will eventually compound. They know that truly great outcomes do not come from perfect days…but consistent ones!

Leadership

Entrepreneurs are natural leaders. If they are not technically ‘in charge’ of a project, they still behave as leaders. One way to lead, even when not in charge, is to simply set a good example. Be a professional. Be all the things your team needs you to be and more. Another equally important way is to take the initiative. “In the absence of orders, I do not wait to be told what needs to be done!” Trust me, your boss would rather pull in the reigns or even steer your efforts than be worried about pushing you forward!

Teamwork

Entrepreneurs are good teammates. They believe in the value of teamwork because they know they need others to solve the biggest problems, and solving big problems is more valuable than little ones. A good teammate doesn’t think of him or herself more highly than others on the team. They are humble. This means a good teammate is not above doing certain things, even when (especially when) it’s not in their job description. Why? Because a real entrepreneur wears LOTS of hats. They have to because they are limited on their resources.

Humility

As mentioned above, Entrepreneurs know the value of a team and being a good teammate requires humility. Being an entrepreneur humbles you in other ways, especially at first. Entrepreneurs think they have a better offering then their competitors, but they don’t think they are better then their competitors. This means the entrepreneur works harder then the competitor and relies on his or her preparation to win over new customers. There are plenty of entrepreneurs who are arrogant, and some of them succeed. But arrogance more often leads to failure because you simply think “I am better and because I’m better I will win.” Most people who say this are wrong.

Problem Solving

Entrepreneurs solve problems. This can mean solving a current problem in new ways or FINDING A PROBLEM and coming up with the best solution. That solution is a combination of Critical Thinking, Creativity, and breaking things down to First Principles. That is how companies start: Identify an important problem. Find a solution. Build a team. Go to market with that solution. Then over-deliver! Problem solving is a skill. Once you get good at it, it becomes who you are! When people ask me, what set’s a SEAL Team apart from other teams I’ve been on? I think one of the biggest differences is the ability to solve problems…to accomplish the impossible mission, or that thing that others say ‘cannot be done!

Solving problems, one move at a time on El Cap!

Stewardship

Entrepreneurs are good stewards of their time, talent, and treasure… especially the last one! Money is tight and the owner of a new biz is more careful with the resources of that biz than an employee is typically. This means wearing lots of hats. Then, hiring a new position when it is necessary. It also means doing due diligence before taking a risk or a gamble. It balances risk taking and grit!

Confidence

Entrepreneurs are ‘just different.’ They are confident. Yes, you can be humble and confident. It is better than being arrogant. The average employee hears a good idea and thinks, “That could work, but it will be hard.” Then, they come up with the '“10 reasons why it will fail!” The entrepreneur hears the same idea. He or she knows the risks (the same 10 reasons), knows it will be hard (if it wasn’t hard, someone would have already solved int, and then just BELIEVES “It will work because I will make it work!” That is ultimately the difference between the entrepreneur and the average person, or average employee.

It will work, because we will make it work!

Those are a few of the traits that set the entrepreneur apart from others. These a few traits that someone can display at work, even if they work for someone else, to be more “Entrepreneurial.” There are many more, but I don’t want this article to be too long. Which ones am I missing here? What did I leave out?

Character Traits