We live in a time of uncertainty. Our companies, our jobs are no longer secure. To survive and thrive, we all need to continually reinvent ourselves. Everyone needs to think and act like an entrepreneur.
But what does that really mean? How do you channel the strengths of entrepreneurship and apply them to your high-growth or lifestyle business, volunteer committee, freelance career, or even day-to-day life? Here are a few lessons that I’ve gleaned over 20 years of mentoring 1,000 top entrepreneurs around the world, and found they apply universally.
1. Take crazy as a compliment
If you plan to try something new, you should expect to be called nuts. You have to give yourself permission to be contrarian, to stop planning and start doing, to zig when everyone else zags. For years, I was called “la Chica Loca” for thinking that high-impact entrepreneurs existed outside Silicon Valley, so I made it my motto: Crazy is a compliment. And if you’re not called crazy, then you’re not thinking big enough!
2. Don’t bet the farm
These days everyone needs to take some risk… or risk being left behind. But the best entrepreneurs don’t take blind risks, they take smart risks. Contrary to popular belief, most are risk minimizers. Even a well-known maverick like Richard Branson says the goal is “contained disasters.” Half of the Inc 500 companies were launched with $5,000 or less. Many innovators keep their day jobs until their ideas take off: Sara Blakely of Spanx sold fax machines for two years, and Phil Knight of Nike –the Just Do It! guy– spent nearly a decade doing other people’s taxes. The bottom line: Don’t bet the farm; wager a few chickens instead.
3. Don’t fear the ‘F’ word
Embracing entrepreneurship also means embracing the F word: failure. Thomas Edison famously said of his iterative lightbulb experiments, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work.” Far from setting you back, failures can set you on the right path. “Failure is a goldmine,” said Ratan Tata, India’s iconic business leader, who would hand out prizes at his $100 billion conglomerate for the best failed idea. If you lead a team, try giving someone an “A” for getting an “F.”
4. Be less super, more human
When I started out, I had internalized an old-fashioned notion of what it means to be in command: Leaders are strong, steady, domineering. Today that’s changed. Instead of being invincible, effective leaders are accessible, authentic, at times even vulnerable –less super, more human. The term “flawsome” encapsulates this idea perfectly. In business, your strengths can come from your shortcomings if you are willing to cop to your flaws. Forget trying to be Superman and unleash your inner Clark Kent.
5. Go big and go home
Our society venerates workaholics. But that’s a horrible way to live and a counterproductive way to work. These days, bosses that discourage a home life are likely to see their people walk out the door. Three-quarters of workers say flexibility is key. Get a life and encourage others to do the same.
6. Surround yourself with a circle of mentors
If you want to go big, you can’t go it alone. As Newton said, “if I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Take inspiration from peers and predecessors, seek multiple professional partners. Just as people are changing jobs more frequently, they should be changing mentors. You need mentors for every stage of your career who are at varying stages of their careers. To me, the right model is a 360-degree approach: a circle of advisers to give you tough love, specialized advice, fresh insights and clear direction.
© IE Ideas.
