66 Tips For Better Networking - #60 - Unlock Your Inner Entrepreneur

Route 66 - The Journey Toward Success

Unlock Your Inner Entrepreneur

Regardless of if you work at a major corporation, or for yourself, you ARE an entrepreneur and the architect of your own future. You need not have a desire to build your own business empire to capitalize on the "inner entrepreneur" and catapult your career to new heights.

Dictionary.com defines an entrepreneur as "a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk." No matter what your role, you do organize and manage yourself. You are responsible for having personal initiative, as nobody will do this for you. Never forget this part.

The key to the definition is "with considerable initiative and risk". We should all take risks with our careers, regardless of if we own the business where we work. To just wake up and go through the motions is a boring way to go through life. Additionally, there is risk to our careers regardless of who owns the company. There is no guarantee that your job will be there tomorrow. Companies change direction all the time, so you need to accept that risk is just part of waking up each day.

Risk in itself is not a bad. Taking risks is what allows people and companies to grow and expand their horizons. When we stop taking risks (or at least "calculated" risks) is when the fun part stops and the blahhhh begins. Who wants to be blahhhh? Not me.

Take a few minutes to examine yourself and your career. Are you entrepreneurial? Do you take on the ownership of projects within your company? When you have ownership, you are the one who will get the praise for the achievements, but also the criticism for the failures. Being prepared for this is important, as nobody wins every time.

I was once asked if someone can learn to be entrepreneurial, or if it is hard-wired into our DNA. I think that the answer is "both". I know some folks who are naturals at this stuff, but others who have had to search for and train their inner entrepreneurial spirit. I have also known people who took risks early in their careers, but stifled those trends once they had created a comfortable life-style. The fear of brave moves paralyzed their growth. Your inner entrepreneur is there, but fragile. It needs to be nurtured and cultivated in order to thrive.

The best way to help your inner entrepreneur to reach its potential is to expose yourself to others who live the entrepreneur life. I am a big fan of business owners participating in peer groups such as The Alternative Board (TAB) , Vistage, Entrepreneur's Organization (EO), and/or the Young President's Organization (YPO). These formal exchanges between executives leads to them to stretching their limits. By sharing with peers they can clearly see ways to create greater successes than they could alone.

If you are not a business owner you can still create peer groups that will inspire you to excel. Look for ways to be more comfortable with your career initiatives and to take risks. Supportive friends who believe in your abilities will help you to see your own potential. Being isolated or surrounded by the same group for too long will not give you fresh perspectives.

You have the keys, now unlock your inner entrepreneur and soar to new heights.

Have A Great Day.

thom
www.thomsinger.com


****Have you read my books, "Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Grow and Keep Your Business Relationships" and "The ABC's of Networking"? You can purchase them right now at Amazon.com. Also, look for my new releases in 2008: "Some Assembly Required: A Networking Guide for Women", "Some Assembly Required - OnLine" and "Batteries Not Included: 66 Tips To Energize Your Career".