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Entrepreneurial Mindset

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The difference between management and leadership. From Asimov to Zelazny. When I was in high school, I read every single science fiction book in the Clearfield Public Library. Probably 250 books altogether. I don't think I had a big plan, I was mostly looking for something to do. What I discovered, though, was that domain knowledge, edge to edge knowledge of a field, was incredibly valuable. It helped me understand where the edges were, and it gave me the confidence to be selective, to develop a taxonomy, to see what was going on. As the deluge of information grows and choices continue to widen (there's no way I could even attempt to cover science fiction from scratch today, for example), it's easy to forget the benefits of acquiring this sort of (mostly) complete understanding in a field. Expertise is a posture as much as it is a volume of knowledge. Naive or professional? The naive farmer farms as his parents, grandparents and great grandparents did. She plants, hopes and harvests.

Anything that goes well or poorly is the work of the gods. The professional farmer measures. She tests. I didn''t use the word amateur, because money isn't the point. Mostly, the professional asks questions... [By the way, it's possible to be naive and happy. I spent the last week working with Western Seed and Juhudi Kilimo, two vibrant companies that are helping small-plot farmers in Kenya (and beyond) dramatically increase their yields, their income and their well-being.

Before you can sell a service, a product or an insight to the naive, you need to sell them on being professional. Chip Conley: What Drives an Entrepreneur? If we’re going to see a job recovery in this decade, it’s likely to come from America’s entrepreneurs since 60 to 80 percent of the net job growth in our economy comes from small to mid-size businesses. So, if we know our economic recovery depends on incubating more entrepreneurs, it’s natural to ask, “How can we create more entrepreneurs and what drives an individual to relentlessly work eighty hours a week on a risky new venture?”

Conventional wisdom suggests the primary motivator for entrepreneurs is money or wealth creation and, in fact, much of the political debate tends to center around what kind of tax or regulatory policy changes will turn corporate suits into small business adventurers overnight. But, what drives someone to be an entrepreneur is a much more complex question and one that I’ve grappled with in the quarter century since I launched my company. When I started my hotel company, Joie de Vivre, at the age of 26, I saw this venture as my ticket to freedom.

When is it due? Dependency on external motivation. One of the characteristics of the industrial age was the reliance on external motivation. Go to work on time or the boss will be angry. Work extra hard and the boss will give you a promotion. If you get paid to work piecework, then your paycheck goes up when you work harder. This mindset is captured by the Vince Lombardi/pro sports/college sports model of the coach as king. Of course we'll have our non-profit universitiess pay a football coach a million or more a year, of course we need these icons at the helm--how else will we get our players to perform at their best? I was struck by a photo I saw of male fencers at Cornell who practice with the women's fencing team. Clearly, they're not allowed to compete in matches (though the university counts them for Title IX). The nature of our new economic system, that one that doesn't support predictable factory work, is that external motivation is far less useful.

12 Most Deceptive Ideas About Entrepreneurship - 12 Most ... | 12 Most ... This July will mark my second full year in business on my own. It’s not really my first trip to the rodeo, however. I was president and partner at a firm for more than 10 years. I hear people fantasizing about being on their own, no longer working for the man, and living the dream! Well, ask any entrepreneur and you find out the dream is not always what it’s cracked up to be. I say this knowing I live a blessed life. But it takes work to get there. My 12 Most Deceptive Ideas About Entrepreneurship 1. Yes, passion is an absolute must. 2. You are, sort of. 3. This is one of the most deceptive of all. 4. No, you can’t. 5. This is a good theory. 6. Finding good people (who deliver when they say they will) is a big deal. 7. It is. 8. In some cases, yes. 9. We can’t all be Tim Ferriss. 10.

Yes, you can. 11. Another great myth, since social media is alluring. 12. There is real work no matter what you do. Now…what’s stopping you!? Jeannie Walters. 5 Ways Your Relationship with Work Must Change | Solo Biz Coach. Over the last two decades, I have seen a huge shift in the job market. Never has the risk of unemployment been as high as it is today. Oh, come on Fred! What about the great depression? Well, I would argue that today’s job market is more volatile than even back then. Does that mean you should walk around scared of unemployment all the time? 5 Ways Your Relationship with Work Must Change 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Photo by www.stuckincustoms.com. Selling vs. inviting. Selling is often misunderstood, largely by people who would be a lot more comfortable merely inviting. If I invite you to a wedding, or a party, or to buy a $500,000 TV ad for $500, there's no resistance on your part.

Either you jump at the chance and say yes, or you have a conflict and say no. It's not my job to help you overcome your fear of commitment, to help you see the ultimate value and most of all, to work with you as you persuade yourself and others to do something that might just work. If the marketing and product development team do a great job, selling is a lot easier... so easy it might be called inviting.

The real estate broker who says that the house would sell if only he could get below market pricing and a pre-approved mortgage is avoiding his job. The salesperson's job: Help people overcome their fear so they can commit to something they'll end up glad they invested in. The goal of a marketer ought to be to make it so easy to be a salesperson, you're merely an inviter.