Realise that to Question is How We Grow

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

I have a soft spot for the song Proud by Heather Small, even though it’s a little overused at conferences and motivational seminars. I particularly like these lyrics

Still so many answers I don’t know
Realise that to question is how we grow
So I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I’m on my way
Can’t stop me now
you can do the same.

I think  “Realise that to question is how we grow” is a great line.

To me it highlights that questions are what help us know more, see more and become more. They help give us insights we might not have and each new question asked in the right way, at the right time, to the right person can offer perspective and knowledge.

We need to be constantly curious; question our assumptions, beliefs and view of the world to make sure we are in fact living reality – not some version of it, clouded by our own “stuff”.

I was with a client the other day and through our conversations and my questions to her she uncovered something that was really important to her. This discovery was at a values level that she hadn’t even realised. In fact she actually said to me “I didn’t even realise that was so important to me”

With that new perspective, which evoked previously unexplored emotions within her, she could see a whole new level of possibility for her and her business; possibility that only a few moments ago was not even apparent.

“Step out of the ordinary…” means exploring new ways of being and doing that might even be a little uncomfortable but take you to a whole new level of opportunity if only you can get out of your own way.

To elevate yourself and your business above the crowd takes remarkability and as Seth Godin says “You cannot be remarkable by following someone else who’s remarkable… the leader is the leader precisely because he did something remarkable, and that remarkable thing is now taken, so it’s no longer remarkable when you decide to do it.”

So consider how you can create remarkability for your business and those you serve, step out of the ordinary, question what you do and how you do it, be bold, take a risk, and get comfortably uncomfortable – anything else isn’t worthy of you.

You can be so many people,

if you make that break for freedom,

what have you done today

to make you feel proud?

 

 

 

Posted in Entreprenerial Leadership | Leave a comment

3 Considerations for Doing Business?

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

In a challenging economy, overcrowded market and cost driven buying situation entrepreneurs and business leaders need to understand some basics about their business and their own unique talents.

  • Why do you do what you do?
  • Why should anyone pay you to do what you do
  • What will keep clients paying you, as opposed to anyone else, to do what you do?

There are many things that will define one person’s decision-making process over someone else’s, but I believe there are 3 considerations that people have – consciously or unconsciously – when choosing a business partner, supplier or consultant to work with – Trust, Respect, Likeability

Trust – this element centres around a belief that

  • What you say you CAN do, you actually can do
  • What you say you WILL do, you actually will do
  • How you say you will do it, is actually how things are done

The trust element is also about feeling that any risks involved are minimised or mitigated. People also want to be certain that what ever happens, you as the business leader will be up front, open and honest in how you deal with the unexpected – good and bad.

Respect –this element is about value

  • Valuing your capability
  • Valuing your experience
  • Valuing the way you do things
  • Valuing your promise of a solution that’s right for them

I always say get people’s trust and respect first and that lays a good foundation for building a future working relationship. If you miss out on these 2, you are less likely to develop relationships over time.

Why? Because when things go wrong and invariably something happens that is unforeseen, without this basis of trust and respect a relationship will falter – more often than not.

Likeability – this element is about connection

  • Connecting on a personal level – you are like me
  • Connecting on a values level – you believe the same things that I do
  • Connecting on a aspiration level – I feel you are someone that “gets me” and what I want, need and desire

I firmly believe that many business leaders and entrepreneurs, in their rush or desperation to get business, take on clients that they don’t like (yes it works both ways). For me liking someone or feeling “this is someone I can work with” is crucial because the working relationship will define  – in part – the success of any contract or project. Even more so in a coaching relationship, you must feel a connection and desire to be with and support someone. And at a more basic level why would you choose to spend time with someone you don’t like?

I need the money is not a good enough answer!

So whilst proposals, contracts, meetings, product and service knowledge, the colour of your ties etc. might all be worth considering, I believe that the 3 key things to focus on when working with a new client are Trust, Respect and Likeability – for both parties.

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” Lao Tzu

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Is it time for a Supportive Poke in the Eye?

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

We all have stuff that gets us down, gets in our way or that we need to deal with constantly. I’m sure in your daily dealings with staff, clients and colleagues (not to mention family and friends) you face problems, barriers, difficulties, challenges and excuses about why this or why not that.

So is it time to stop fawning, stop bending your rules, stop rescoping work, stop giving them want they want (rather than what they need) and “start poking them in the eye”

A poke in the eye can be: necessary, unexpected, scary, challenging, provocative, risky, fun, exciting, liberating, illuminating, powerful and rewarding.

In my experience, the poke in the eye for progress works more often than not – with one huge caveat – intention. If your intention is driven by your desire to help and support someone – fantastic. If your intention is driven by your ego – forget it.

That’s why I call it a “supportive poke in the eye”

The supportive poke in the eye approach has 3 steps to 3 outcomes

  1. Awareness
  2. Understanding
  3. Action

Awareness

  • Reflecting back to someone the reality – laid bare – of a situation (As you see it)
  • Showing the tangible or visual impact of that reality
  • Highlighting the consequences of action (or inaction), attitude or behaviour to date

Understanding

  • Explaining through examples, what, why and how particular action, attitude and behaviour is contributing to or causing a situation
  • Asking questions that engage at a basic level about what is required versus what is being achieved
  • Hearing a shift or change from the person that they now “get it”

Action

As a result of awareness and understanding

  • Commitment to changes in strategy, tactics or actions
  • Commitment to changes in behaviour
  • Commitment to change what is measured based on what results are wanted

All too often people are fearful of upsetting clients, colleagues or family in case they lose business, lose a friend or gain a “bad reputation”.

However, in my own business, I have found that the supportive poke in the eye approach can be as simple as asking powerful questions from a place of curiosity, authenticity and love.

The majority of the time I believe the supportive poke in the eye approach offers more value and at a deeper level (with timing and great questions) than simply responding to what someone thinks they want or the problem they think they have.

As an objective onlookers you can be in a privileged position to see what is really going on, feel what is really going on and hear what is really going on, when a client may be playing hear, speak and see no evil!

So how can you help your clients and colleagues gain awareness, understanding and take action through poking them in the eye (in a supportive way!)

NB Of course I don’t mean go and find a big stick and poke people in the eye – (well you never know some people may take things literally!!)

Posted in Entreprenerial Leadership | 1 Comment

Tell Me What You Want – What you Really, Really Want

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

OK so the spice girls are a thing of the past or as some would say waiting for a revival but their memory lives on….

I’ve had conversations with both clients and friends where the core question was “So what do you really want?”

With clients it has been

  • So what do you really want your business (and your life) to be about?
  • What do you want to do in your business?
  • What do you want to get out of your business?

What may seem like simple questions have, I’ve noticed, created profound shifts in attitudes, behaviours and feelings.

The awareness and acknowledgement of what is really wanted generates more positive, focused and forward-looking attitudes; active rather than passive behaviours and feelings of inspiration, excitement and freedom.

I’ve also noticed that the level and pace of conversations shifts up a gear.

Prior to the “simple questions”, focus is on problems, vague thinking and feelings of overwhelm. There is no sense of knowing either where to go next or what to do to change a situation that doesn’t feel right at a gut level or in the heart but “is right” to the head.

On asking, “what do you really want?” the shift from thinking with the head to feeling in the gut and heart seems to ignite a shift.

Having seen this with my clients, I now recognise the head, gut and heart cannot be separate parts of a decision making process. They have to be all engaged simultaneously to create an honest and complete perspective on what we truly want in our professional and personal lives.

Denying oneself the reward of having and being what we want will, over time, if not immediately, make situations of uncertainty, confusion and discontent all consuming.

Action to change, then becomes much harder.

Life is too short to wait for the “right time” What if the right time is now?

So what do you want? Really!

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” Karen Ravn

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I Assume I’m Right But What if I’m Not?

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

“Every issue, belief, attitude or assumption is precisely the issue that stands between you and your relationship to another human being; and between you and yourself.” Anon

I’m in the middle of a 2-week trip to USA where I am facilitating leadership development programmes for senior managers of a global multi national organisation.

The context for the programme is more about the leadership mind-set than skills. As these managers transition to adopt a leadership position – in practice not just in title – (as opposed to becoming better managers) our focus is on how they think, what they stand for, their behaviours, attitudes, beliefs and assumptions as these are what need to evolve if they are going to make the transition successfully.

How we think and how we see the world can support or hinder in many aspects. If we believe our view of the world is THE view of the world and how we do things is THE way, we are likely – at some – point to create barriers in relationships, communication and/or our own growth.

What we assume to be true may not be true; what we assume to be right might not be right.

The reason?

  • We all have a different view of the world
  • We all have different experiences that shape our view of the world
  • We all believe our view to be the “right” view until new information comes along that changes that view.

Political infighting, world wars, playground battles and dysfunctional marriages are often the result of different views of the world, at a fundamental level. The manifestation of those differences often turns into “warlike” behaviour as a result of an unwillingness to accept differences, a belief in “my own way is the only way” and blindness to “perhaps there is another perspective”

Imagine therefore how assumptions could be a hindrance in winning clients, building better personal and professional relationships, developing your career and growing a business.

I have a card on my desk, which says, “There is always a way”

This doesn’t mean there is ONE way, MY way or THE way, it means A way.

I’ve come to believe that incorrect assumptions are the root cause of many ineffective decisions or choices I have made in the past.  I now strive to be aware when I say, think or feel something, that I need to check my assumptions in order to make sure I make better decisions, take better actions and reduce the need for “recovery actions”.

We are the result of our choices and those choices are often based on unchecked assumptions. So whilst I don’t believe it is possible to avoid making assumptions completely, I do believe you can raise your awareness and check those that you are making.

As I watch the organisational leaders I’m working with wrestle with new concepts and ideas I’m also noticing that some of their biggest challenges are their internal ones; the ones that drive their behaviour. And it is these very internal/personal challenges if addressed with an open mind that will determine who is ready and willing to take the next step up the leadership ladder.

“Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won’t come in.” Alan Alda

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Are You Listening to Me?

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant.” Robert McCloskey

When you meet someone, is your first action to talk or listen?

I’ve just finished reading Screw Business as Usual by Richard Branson. Within the book Richard talks about The Elders (members include Kofi Annan, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Graca Machel and Jimmy Carter). The Elders is an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights. Their aim is to bring together thinkers, innovators and players from around the world to try and solve some of our planet’s biggest problems. When deciding how they should work the first thing they determined wasn’t doing or talking; it was to listen.

“It is important to listen to everyone no matter how unpalatable or unpopular this may be”.

Listening is a powerful tool. Listening is a skill. Listening is one half of communication.

  • Are you a great listener?
  • What does it mean to be a great listener?
  • Why should you care?

To achieve effective communication requires a good process of communication and the players in the process to play their roles well.

As an entrepreneur and business leader the part you play in that process requires you to be good at the two most important aspects: Talking – expressing your viewpoint with clarity and Listening – truly understanding what is expressed. Just being good at one part diminishes the value of the whole process.

Listening happens at many levels and for many people the level at which they listen will determine the value they get from their communication: in business, in their relationships and with themselves.

So what are those 4 levels?

Well different people express them in different ways, so these are my 4 levels, just to get you thinking.

Level 1 – I listen – I hear the words you speak

Level 2 – I listen – I translate the meaning behind the words you speak- from my perspective

Level 3 – I listen – I understand your meaning behind the words you speak

Level 4 – I listen – I understand your meaning, your intent and am focused only on that

At level 1 and 2 the focus is on you. The focus of the activity is on you and your view of what you think is being said. You are listening but not truly hearing or understanding.

At level 3 you start to focus on the other person. You focus on what they say, how they say it and the meaning of what they say, without assumptions which are based on your view of the world.

At level 4 you are truly “in tune” with the other person. At level 4 the connection, value of the communication and subsequent depth of the relationship is so much more powerful and valuable because you truly sense what is happening and can participate much more.

When you are truly listening you are present to what is being said and totally focused on listening beyond just hearing. To do this effectively means letting go of your preconceptions, assumptions and “what I think” position, if your communication is to be anything but superficial.

Well so what you may ask? What does that have to do with my business?

Well imagine the difference between a level 1 conversation with your clients and a level 4?

  • How much richer could the relationship be?
  • How much better could you serve each other?
  • How much more connected could you be?
  • How much more business could you do together directly or indirectly?
  • How much more value could a deeper relationship create

Let go of your need to talk.

Let go of your desire to control or be in control

Let go of any preconceived notion of what might be happening and be truly engaged and present to another person.

This level of listening is what distinguishes OK relationships and OK leaders from great relationships and great leaders.

So as you go about your daily life decide to let go, listen at level 4 and be present to what is really going on.

“So when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.” Jiddu Krishnamurti

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Do you suffer from “well you never know” syndrome?

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

Wasted time, costly lunches and curse of the “freebie monger”. (A freebie monger is someone who wants lots of stuff for free and rarely values anything).

Do you suffer from “well you never know” syndrome?

This is when you take a meeting or 2 or 3 or 4 “because you never know what might come of it”.

One of the ways to reduce ineffective effort and wasted time is to prequalify potential clients.

The most obvious way is to hone your marketing messages so specifically and clearly that they only attract people you have defined as in your niche. However that’s a bit simplistic and will not always work, it’s just the start.

Here are 3 ways you can qualify a potential client at that first point of contact e.g. when you speak on the phone or meet at an event.

1. Develop A Set of Questions

Develop 3-5 questions, which will self, select or deselect people by their answer to those questions. The question should focus on areas such as –

  • What they are hoping to achieve
  • What their level of commitment is
  • What barriers to progress and investment might there be.

You might also consider a question which helps you determine whether you “like” or connect with them (individual or company). Often a basic misalignment of values and view of the world can hinder or mess up a relationship further down the road so it’s better to surface this up front at which point you can make an informed decision – yes it’s probably a gut reaction or feeling and sometimes they can be very effective.

2. Know How and Based on What, You Will Say No.

It’s just as important for you to know what type of company/person you don’t want to work with as what type you do.

It’s also important that you say no as soon as your gut or their answers tell you, rather than wish you’d said no 2-3 months into a contract or project.

I’ve spoken to many entrepreneurs and small business owners who have “nightmare’ clients. Much of the time the nightmare is around payment – lack of, confusion over, or late.

So perhaps in the prequalifying questions something covering this might be helpful. And of course never, never, never say yes to a client because you’re desperate; desperation shows and will impact your rational thought process. I fully appreciate there are times when cash flow is a priority. But when you say yes when you should say no at some point that decision will come back to bit you! Whilst difficult at the time you know it’s the right thing.

3. Have the Money Discussion

  • Know what your value is
  • Know what you are willing to negotiate and what you’re not
  • Know what will trigger you “walking away”

At some level the money discussion needs to take place early on  (but probably not over your first coffee unless you are specifically asked!)

You can respond

  • I charge X
  • My daily rate is Y
  • This project investment will be Z

OR you can be bold and say.

What would you like to invest? (I’ve done this on a few occasions and the results have been pleasantly surprising!)

However you choose to have the financial conversation, get expectations out in the open. It saves everyone time in the long run. If you are willing to provide something “for free” always let the other person know the value of what you are giving them e.g. “I would usually value XYZ at £3500 and on this occasion I would like to offer you this service for no investment on your part except some detailed feedback and 3 good introductions.

Pre-qualifying saves everyone time and heartache and also shows you are serious about your business, are not desperate and will banish the “freebie mongers” early on.

In saying all of the above, remember that saying no to someone as a client, doesn’t preclude them from being an advocate, joint venture or strategic alliance partner or remaining part of your network. It’s not always about short term gain or money.

So “well you never know” is a valid strategy but do it consciously and choose wisely.

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Is “Busyness” Affecting Your Business?

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

I’m too busy.

I’d love to but I’m very busy.

I’ll get round to that when I’m not so busy.

How often have you said any of those phrases? How many times a week do you hear someone else say those phrases?

They’re very common and “busyness” seems to have become a way of life for many people.

Three of the most common problems I often hear from people who claim to be “too busy” are

  • I’ve got too many priorities
  • I’m too busy to plan
  • I’ll take a break and make time for myself when I’m less busy

So why is that?

What is it about being busy that seems to dominate our lives? We moan about it and spend time trying to figure out why. In Japanese the word busy when translated literally means “dead-hearted”.

So when you say I’m busy, you are in fact saying I’m dead-hearted. Well that sounds a bit morbid to me yet isn’t that sometimes how you feel when you feel busy?

In this week’s blog, I’m going to answer 3 questions.

  • Why do you get so busy?
  • What is the single biggest cause of your busyness?
  • What are the problems with allowing your busyness to take control of you?

I’ll then reveal to you the top secret, “highly complicated” solution to how you can take control of your busyness!

So why are you so busy?

Well some of the excuses – sorry – causes might be too much work, too much trivia, too many priorities, too many emails, too many meetings too much of everything!

Well actually I disagree. There is only 1 reason for your busyness. It’s true.

There is only 1 cause of your busyness and it’s not email, phone calls, meetings, school runs or anything else like that.

What is that 1 cause?    Because U Say Yes

What is it about your need to take on more stuff?

What is it that drives a sane intelligent person like you to take on more jobs and more responsibilities and more stuff?

Because You can; Because YOU say yes.

This can cause numerous problems. Once people around you learn that if they want something doing, you’ll do it, they develop a habit of letting you and you perpetuate their habit by doing it! Once you become used to taking on extra jobs, doing other people’s work and making “favour doing” a part of your every day life, time no longer becomes your own but driven by the needs of others – because you say yes.

If you work in an office and you become known as the PC fixer or IT expert, whenever anyone has a problem they come to you for help and guess what? that soon becomes the way we do things around here. If you jump every time a customer shouts jump, they’ll continue to behave like that, because you are in effect saying its OK I’ll jump.

Now I’m not saying don’t help others just be mindful that when you do you are making a conscious decision to take on an extra task, which may mean you have to stop doing what you were doing, take time out and suddenly time slips away; your time slips away; because you said yes. You said yes to a change of priorities, which may have the consequence of making you feel even busier. I say this to my clients and many of them immediately say,

  • Yes But…You don’t understand my situation
  • Yes But… that’s not true in my case
  • Yes but… I can’t not do that
  • Yes but…  followed by a whole line of excuses.

Well you can yes but all you like, however the fact remains, you are constantly saying yes, consciously or sub consciously, to everything you do. You are choosing to do everything.

  • You choose to answer the phone.
  • You choose to take the children to after school activities.
  • You choose to react to your email.

Equally you have the choice to not do all of those activities.

You can choose not to answer the phone every time it rings.

You can choose not to take the children to their after school activities.

You can choose not to react to that “you’ve got mail” ping!

As Robert Orben says “Time flies its up to you to be the navigator.”

Your level of busyness is 100% down to you.

Now I sense some yes buts out there. In saying you have the choice, which you do, of course there are consequences to those choices.

If you choose not to pick up the phone – there might be consequences.

If you choose not to go to those meetings – there might be consequences.

If you choose not to take the children to their activities – there might be consequences.

The point is, ultimately you decide. You choose whether you are busy or not.

Because U Say Yes.

Now I said I would give you the top secret, highly complicated solution to controlling your level of busyness so here it is.

SAY NO!

Posted in authentic leadership, Business Clarity, Entreprenerial Leadership, Self awareness, Time Management | Tagged , | 1 Comment

How to Create an Organisation Where Intrapreneurship Can Flourish

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

In part 2 of this article, Intrapreneurship: How Successful Organisations for the Future Can Leverage Organisational Talent I’m going to answer these 2 questions

  1. What kind of environment will enable intrapreneurs to flourish and create value?
  2. How can individuals develop and be recognised as an entrepreneur?

Here are 5 enablers to create an environment of intrapreneurship

Reward the behaviour you seek – if you want team behaviour reward team behaviour; if you want innovative ideas, reward the idea and the successful implementation of the idea. When there is conflict between how people think they will be rewarded and recognised and what actually happens many people take account of only what is real not what is said. A big part of this is creating the right culture. That includes paying people enough money so that money isn’t an issue and then creating an environment that allows for autonomy, mastery and purpose – the 3 main drivers for motivation For more info on this read Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

Make it OK for people to take risks – for many organisations this can seem quite scary, because it means allowing people to make mistakes. However, many innovative ideas are by their very nature risky but equally they can also deliver a greater benefit when successful. Blind and reckless risk taking is obviously not appropriate so parameters of for example time, resource or context may “qualify” progression of an idea or activity. In saying that too many restrictions can have a negative effect on intrapreneurship.

Give people ownership – create an open and accountable environment where intrapreneurs have control over content and process so that they can make things happen in the way they see fit. This may mean having appropriate reporting and support mechanisms in place so that some degree of monitoring and assessment can take place.  As an example, Atlassian, a software company has Fedex days – 24hours of unadulterated innovation

Promote transparency across the business – Make it very clear what the business strategy is, where the focus for growth and development is and how innovation is a key part of the future of the business through for example, creation of new products and services, realignment of value through process improvements or organisational changes.

Make the business about learning – innovation may occur in pockets by function, geographic region or service area. To gain maximum organisational advantage from success and learning there must be some process for knowledge and ideas management, which must be open, accessible to everyone and actively used and reviewed so that learning can be actively disseminated across an organisation. Just having an intranet where people write reports is not enough to gain the most advantage.

How to Develop as an Intrapreneur

As a budding intrapreneur what can an employee do to create value make an impact and be recognised for their contribution?

Know thyself! – understand their strengths and where they have skill or knowledge gaps. Be able and willing to acknowledge these strengths and gaps in order to seek out complementary skills and knowledge to make an idea better and/or to bring an idea to fruition.

Create a “Brand You” – businesses have a brand that drives there place in their market and what they stand for. It is also what attracts customers and sponsors to them. Having a personal brand can have the same benefit for an intrapreneur. As someone becomes recognised for certain things or ways of getting things done so people will look to the person to support or work with them. Developing a personal intrapreneurial brand within an organisation can make a budding intrapreneur attractive and recognisable.

Network, Network, Network – the saying that knowledge is power is still true but its meaning and application have changed. The power has a more positive connotation; one that implies influence, cooperation, inclusion and collaboration rather than isolated control and “power over”. Equally if not more important is the power of an internal and external network. Who you know, who knows you and how relationships can be leveraged for the greater good. Getting to know colleagues for more than their immediate role, getting to know what is important for people across all parts of the business and getting to be known are key activities for an intrapreneur. This is often called building social capital and at the core of that is building trust. Networking for intrapreneurs is about leveraging people’s skill knowledge and talents for mutual benefit and to benefit the organisation.

Leverage Your Talents – look for opportunities to expand your role, create new opportunities that maximise what you are good at and enjoy and be proactive in solving problems that will have a real impact on the business. At any level in an organisation there are gaps in process, delivery, service, development and problem solving and these areas are a good place to start to make a measurable difference.

One way an organisation can create an intrapreneurial environment is through the establishment of peer group networks. These are internal groups of people with a common purpose, a common trait or a completely disparate group who come together on a regular basis in a semi formal forum to create, share, learn, support and build relationships. Many large organisations have internal women’s networks. As an example BT as an executive women’s network and an Asian network.

Gaining and maintaining a competitive edge, creating value that leads a market and offering new products and services that wow customers are all high level objectives for most organisations irrespective of size.

The monopoly on good ideas, ways of improving new product development, ways of reducing cost and increasing profit as examples, are not limited to the boardroom or senior executives. Across and within organisations there are budding intrapreneurs looking for the opportunity to make a real difference.

Let them have their say, empower them to take accountability for change and in doing so your organisation can create not only more rounded, motivated and engaged employees but it may also have a bottom and top line impact on the organisation’s success. As an example Google encourages employees to use 20% of their time for pursuing entrepreneurial ideas.

One definition of an entrepreneur is a person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture. An intrapreneur is exactly the same but he operates within an organisation. Make intrapreneurship a strategic objective and start to reap the real benefits it can bring.

If you think your organisation is ready to build a culture of intrapreneurship and you would like some support in figuring out how to do that for your business, please drop me an email at success@onestepfurther.co.uk or phone +44 (0)1258 817371

Posted in authentic leadership, Business Clarity, Entreprenerial Leadership, Profitable Thought Leadership, Self awareness | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Intrapreneurship: How Successful Organisations for the Future Can Leverage Organisational Talent

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Bev Hamilton

The global talent war (and even the local talent war!) is a head scratcher for many business leaders and entrepreneurs like you. How can you attract and retain the very best talent that is going to help you build, grow and innovate so that you make an impact and create real value for your customers, shareholders, stakeholders and employees (and yourself).

As the ever present headaches of…

  • Balancing a focus on maximising profit and margin v investing for growth
  • Implementing short term, high impact initiatives v long term strategic thinking and planning
  • Focusing on the business as a whole (“corporate think” and control) or on its constituent parts (functional, geographical, product/service streams)

…cause established CEOs (and their senior executives) and start up entrepreneurs to consistently strive for the next big thing or the next big idea, all too often the obvious is overlooked.

What is so obvious?

Leveraging the talent already within their organisations or networks.

As an example, when organisations downsize, the main focus is often cost cutting and this leaves fewer people and/or the “wrong” people to create for, deliver for and service customers. Equally, the decision not to take on more people to help build and expand is often a cost decision not necessarily a value decision.

I often here small business owners say I need more help but I can’t afford it. (This is one of the business blind spots I refer to in the video series Transform Your Business Blind Spots into Business Boosters – get your free copy now

To build a sustainable business you need the right amount of the “right” people, (right being of the right cultural fit, appropriately skilled and with the right mind-set to fit your organisation’s stated purpose and mission and deliver its objectives successfully)

To attract those people or engage those you already have, you have to paint a clear and up to date picture of your vision for the business so that people can see and understand what the future looks like and how they fit and can contribute. Having this clarity of vision is also necessary to attract and recruit more people to complement existing capability and acquire new capability should that be needed as well.

Inspire people to want to work and contribute for your business – directly, indirectly, full time, part time, contractual or voluntary – there is no right way to get your best people to be a part of making your business better.

One key element to make your organisational choices work is the behaviour and attitude of the people who choose to play their part. Of course some will choose not to engage or not be the “right fit”. The cultural mind-set – an organisation’s core values and principles – needs to be defined and recruited for; it cannot be trained and as “fitting in” with an organisational culture, or not, causes so many problems it is almost more important than skill – which can be trained.

This is an opportunity to create a culture where an “entrepreneurial spirit” is a core value. This is an opportunity to create a culture of “intrapreneurship” within your business.

Should this be a chosen course of action there are 3 key elements to consider

  1. What are the core attributes of intrapreneurs?
  2. What kind of environment will enable intrapreneurs to flourish and create value?
  3. How can individuals develop and be recognised as an entrepreneur?

I’ll cover question 1 today and answer questions 2 and 3 next week.

Intrapreneurial Core Attributes

Intrapreneurs are

Confident – feel comfortable in themselves and with their ideas and opinions.

Politically and business savvy – Know “how things are done around here” and how to influence across levels and functions, know how their whole business works well, what the corporate agenda is and what the key business priorities are.

Networkers – know who to know, how to find and use resources and actively build beneficial relationships. They are givers and supporters and not just in it for themselves. They think collaboration not isolation.

Innovators – see opportunities to improve, change or introduce radical new ideas and thinking. They can galvanise support and make it happen.

Risk takers – willing to have a go, make decisions even in the face of opposition or adversity because they believe in their idea and action. Willing to get it wrong, make mistakes and to learn.

Is your organisation ready for intrapreneurship?

Posted in authentic leadership, Business Clarity, Entreprenerial Leadership, Profitable Thought Leadership, Small Business Development | Tagged | 2 Comments