Overview
Entrepreneur is commonly the term assigned to anyone who starts a business. I'd like to challenge that definition. Entrepreneurs are much more than that. They are creative disrupters. They challenge the status quo. They see things with a different lens and perspective. They see solutions to problems. They are change agents. In other words, the entrepreneur is anyone who spots an opportunity and decides to pursue it regardless of the resources currently at their disposal. They see what could be and find a way to make it happen, even if they don’t have everything on hand to do so right now. It’s a leap—a risk—but someone has to take such leaps if we want to develop innovative new products, build better organizations, and keep our companies and the larger economy strong and healthy.
Being a successful entrepreneur requires outside-the-box thinking and larger-than-life ideas. Anyone can come up with a new idea, but building a successful business around it is the entrepreneurial challenge. The entrepreneurial mindset is unique in that one must be creative, communicative, and highly motivated to succeed, yet open to risk and failure.
It’s not a big idea alone that paves the path to ultimate entrepreneurial success. Often times the success or failure of a business comes down to the characteristics of the entrepreneur themselves. It takes a unique combination of characteristics to meld one big idea into a fully-functional thriving business. True entrepreneurs drive change. Who are they are how do they overcome people's resistance to change and inspire others to innovate?
Discussion Prompts:
- Research an entrepreneur of your choice.
- What management approach best fits how they run their company and leader their employees?
- Were they successful in effecting change and driving innovation? Explain how.
- What was the key to their ability to inspire others?
The initial post of 300 words is due before midnight on Thursday. Two (2) 150-word reply posts to classmates that responded to your initial post are due by midnight Sunday. I Use the chapter concepts and terminology in all posts to demonstrate knowledge. Each post is required to be unique and add something significant or substantial to the discussion. For that reason, I AGREE type posts are not acceptable submissions. Posts should demonstrate critical thinking. proper spelling, punctuation, grammar and paragraphs are expected. Please refer to the Guidelines for Discussion Forum Posts in the START HERE MODULE or the Syllabus for complete requirements.