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Until this past year, I never considered myself an entrepreneur. To me, entrepreneurship meant owning your own business, and taking the risks that came with it. After all, that’s what it says in the dictionary.
The reality is that you can be an entrepreneur without owning your own business, as long as you have ideas and the passion to put those ideas in to action.
Ashoka recognizes and nurtures the characteristics that’ll translate into entrepreneurial spirit in an individual.
An entrepreneur is extroverted. In order to motivate others, you must be willing to put yourself in the spotlight. Ideas don’t go too far if you keep them to yourself. Networking is key to being an entrepreneur. The farther your reach goes, the more people you will be able to influence to gain momentum for your ideas.
An entrepreneur has leadership & team-building skills. So you’ve spread your ideas around and gotten some feedback on them. Now it’s time to get the ball rolling but you can’t do it alone. Alan Keith of Genentech said that "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen."
An entrepreneur has passion. You have to be passionate about your ideas. If you aren’t, then you can’t others to feel passionate enough to put the ideas into action.
An entrepreneur wants to be a make a difference. By translating your ideas and passion into action, you may act as a catalyst for economic change. You may not even see the immediate results but your desire to transform social & economic condition will be a driving factor for your actions.
An important tool that an entrepreneur needs is the correct environment that’ll help nurture and take their ideas to the next level. This can be a community, such as Brazen Careerist, a local network or the right company. You don’t have to own your own business to be a successful entrepreneur. You can join others, and take advantage of the opportunities collectively.
Ashoka is an example of such an environment. With the self-identified goal of ‘solving the world’s most intractable problems by supporting innovative social entrepreneurs across the globe,’ Ashoka pairs talented entrepreneurs with pattern-changing ideas.
Want the opportunity to join a group of people looking to drive social change? Join Ashoka this Thursday, February 24th for an online recruiting event.
So tell me, what makes you an entrepreneur?
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Comments
02.22.11
Thanks for providing such useful information. I really appreciate your professional approach.
Nissan India | Honda Civic
02.22.11
I love this post! I am self-employed now, but when I worked for someone else I always reminded myself that I was actually self-employed and my boss was my client. I tried to make decisions based on the fact that my boss and the company I worked for were not going to take care of me, mentor me and make sure I succeeded. That was my responsibility!
--Stephanie G Travis
onesourceaccounting.com
02.22.11
Berrak - I absolutely agree that no woman or man is an island. Solo entrepreneurs may "appear" to be working all by themselves, but their success relies heavily upon the support of their community and those who push them to do more and to do it better. Working alone leads to stagnation in most cases.
I define myself as an entrepreneur because I am willing to take full responsibility for my decisions - win or lose. This sense of responsibility does not have to be done alone, and those companies like Ashoka who value the entrepreneurial mindset are going to win because of this. Passionate people who are allowed to take calculated risks for the improvement of society will see much more success than those stifled inside the "employee box."
I see entrepreneurship as the savior of the economy - people no longer see themselves as victims of circumstances and begin to take matters into their own hands, creating much more value than their unemployed or underemployed peers. My hope is that we see more of a push for entrepreneurship as a viable career path in the years to come!
02.22.11
I agree with you Brett.
An entrepreneur is a person who is a constructive architect of a community dreams and hope. Its all about creatively marketing and networking on what's missing in the world.
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02.23.11
Awesome NEW definition of Entrepreneur!!
02.23.11
I beg to differ on "An entrepreneur is extroverted." I'm a proud introvert and giving a motivational speech tonight.
I think it's possible to play to your introvert tendencies and design a career that feeds that.
I work with other successful introverts by helping them navigate the social world their own way...not what seems required.
02.23.11
"An entrepreneur is EXTROVERTED"
Now can everyone leave me alone about how I should become an entrepreneur.
02.23.11
I agree with Lauree about an Entrepreneur being extroverted. I am an born introvert BUT social media and other advances have enabled introverts to have a "bigger" voice. Introverts become extroverts on these new platforms.
02.23.11
Matt, I agree that, as an introvert, it is easier to talk to strangers online than offline. But at the end of the day, the entrepreneur has to convert those online contacts into paying customers. And that takes extrovert qualities that I have no interest in developing.
02.23.11
Edward. Hire a sales staff :) Know your weaknesses and fill those in with high-quality people.
02.23.11
Matt, ah, the Catch-22 of small business: need to hire people in order to make money, but need to make money in order to hire people!
02.23.11
On the contrary, you can either expand the roles all across the board for the employees of the small business with incentives. Or you can lean principles and eliminate some of the current waste that you have within the business.
Just a thought
02.23.11
@Reginald, with my last business, the trouble I had was expanding to the first employee.
02.23.11
embracing failure but learning from each mistake
02.23.11
I'm not yet can say to be an entrepreneur because I'm lacking of leadership and team building skills.
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