Being an entrepreneur is an admired title in our society. Ask a candidate in an interview if they view themselves as entrepreneurs, and their responses are almost always “absolutely.” However, these types of questions often reveal what people “aspire to be” not who they are currently.
Why is being an entrepreneur in a professional setting important? Not every role requires an entrepreneur, but if you want to be a successful leader, you must be an entrepreneur at your core. You must be the engine of an organization that performs a role consistently and efficiently, day in and day out.
What you must ensure is that you have the entrepreneurs in your organization in the right roles no matter how junior or senior the role. Instead, many companies have those in leadership who are in reality, fake entrepreneurs leading the charge. Here are three traits that every real entrepreneur has:
Passion
One trait that false entrepreneurs have is unfocused passion. True entrepreneurs are focused and have an outlet for their passion. They wake up every day craving success and are obsessed with the idea of achieving their goals. Real entrepreneurs hate wasting time.
Fake entrepreneurs are unfocused and live in the clouds instead of reality. They fear failure so they never take action. Identify individuals who generate results and follow their passions.
Creativity
True entrepreneurs are always looking for new ways to sell, create something that doesn’t exist, or streamline a process. The older people get, the more they lose this amazing child-like curiosity. Entrepreneurs never stop asking “Why?”
Identify those within your organization who crave answers and alternative ways of approaching problems. If you are struggling to find those people, actively give them permission to find their own new answers.
Validation
Many experts believe that entrepreneurs who have made significant footprints throughout history have been driven by a need for approval. Some have a chip on their shoulder to prove other people wrong. It’s this conviction that causes someone to fight harder.
Kathy Kolbe talks about this thing called “conation.” Conation is “the will to succeed, the quest for success, the attitude that ‘to stop me you’ll have to kill me,’ that elusive ‘fire in the belly’ that manifests itself in drive, enthusiasm, excitement, and single-mindedness in pursuit of a goal. All consistently successful people have it. Many well-educated, intelligent, enduring, and presentable people don’t have it.”
So how do you find out if your employees have conation? Here are some probing questions:
- What experiences do you feel had the most impact in shaping who you are today?
- Which goals have you had in your life that took you the longest to achieve? What did you learn?
- Give me an example of a time you made a major sacrifice to achieve an important goal.
- Tell me the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome in life?
Not every player on the team needs to embody an entrepreneurial spirit. However, in order to identify your future leaders in your organization, you need to know what to look out for.
Now go on and keep your eyes peeled!
About Us
Top Talent LLC has over 90 years of combined Logistics experience. We are a recognized leader in Talent Acquisition for Logistics, Transportation, and Supply Chain, Let us put our team to work for you. To learn more about successful strategies for getting those impact players and game-changers on your team, reach out to us today!
– Michael Monson
President and CEO
Top Talent LLC
Email: mike@toptalentllc.net