The Entrepreneurial Mind-Set and Your Future Self

Usually the focus on articles for small businesses and entrepreneurs is the dispensation of conventional business wisdom. You know, the thou shalt or shalt nots of the key operational aspects of the ever elusive ‘mind-set’ or business strategy.

And yes, we often talk about that all elusive  mind-set. That certain thing that sets the visionaries apart from mere organisational puppeteers. We’ve heard about Steve Jobs and his supposedly tempestuous attitude as well as his success in business. It’s easy to chalk it all down to passion. The greater the passion, the better you get at business.

Even better, the advice of a few current ‘greats’ will get you exactly where you need to go. You know what I mean; the easily recognisable men and women wielding power in large, extremely well known Companies.

The gurus of the business world are  pretty easy to recognise. You can find a lot of them on the TED website and speaking as a onetime TED enthusiast, sometimes they do give good advice. However most of the time they are there to build up a good PR profile. So, take what you hear with a bit of salt and pepper. The best advice I got from TED came from non-business greats, people who had lived life and understood the difference between image and reality.

Do we think that Steve Jobs temper is what made him?

Or, did he make it in spite of it….

Just a thought.

So what is it again about these constant references to entrepreneurial attitudes – Do we mean the good old stick it to ‘em’ and do it better just to make a point?

Maybe we really mean, if you can do it, do it with style and the grace to match. Of course, we need to be careful with grace. I mean, grace as permissiveness and a refusal to apply discipline has never worked for anyone has it?

Sometimes, I think we mean when we use that word, the ability to retain control when the world and by which I mean creditors, suppliers, business partners, investors and such like are all clamouring for a piece of us. Managing to keep things going when times are hard. Pushing through difficult times and coming through the other side enhanced rather than purely unscathed.

So what would I tell my future self?

1. Forget all the business guru’s out there discussing entrepreneurial mind set.
   • Why?
     • It’s a farce. They probably know less about it than you do.
   • Why? – No two people have the exact same path in life and as business mimic s life. Our paths are often different – standardisation is a farce. Every business is individual.

 

2. Work on discipline.
   • Why?
     • Remember those good old days as a child when your parents went on about being disciplined. Well, turns out that they were on to something. Being disciplined improves your resistance and ability to bounce back in difficult times. Even better, the more disciplined you are, the better you are at managing the use of your resources and finding resilience in tough times which is essential when running any business.

3. The last thing is easily the most quoted word of all time; change.
   • Why?
     • Change is a twofold thing; everything changes. No one ever remains the same throughout life. Life itself is a circle of renewal and change and with change and when we are able to anticipate and deal boldly with change we become adaptable. More courageous and able to see variables when the obvious proves a stumbling block. Some call this vision, others call it growth. The paradox about change is of course the opposite. The fact that nothing ‘new’ is really new. It really has all been done before in some form or another so if you look really closely at the past, you might just find surprise after surprise lurking when you start seeing the many new inventions that ‘force’ the hand of change with new eyes.

I could write so many other things I would say to my future self.  I think you could probably imagine a dozen or more scenarios thinking about things that have happened in your life or in your time at a company.  So for now, spend some time thinking about what you need to do to make things change for the better at your company.

We’d love to hear your views on the entrepreneurial mindset so leave a comment below, email or visit www.incillation.com.

Until next time ; love and light.