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When you here the word ‘entrepreneur’ how does it make you feel?

  • Exhilarated?
  • Curious?
  • Terrified?
  • Confused?
  • Envious?
  • Full of anticipation?
  • Apathetic?

What if I said to you that many organisations and many leaders are searching for people with an entrepreneurial mindset?

Now how are you feeling? If you are a person that is a natural leader and ambitious well you are probably thinking…yeah duh…

However, if you are a person who loves their job because you have good flexibility, you have a nice team to work with and you like the customers you serve then you may be rolling your eyes thinking here we go again.

The reality is that our future needs more than people who are just good at their jobs. To have sustainable businesses that inspire people to act. To have a culture that excepts people as individuals. To give society and customers what they will need to have successful lives and businesses into the future. We need a new way of thinking and a new way of working.

I’ve noticed a well overdue turn towards managers looking for people with more than just the technical skill to get the job done. They are looking for people to treat the business like its their own. They are looking for people who are creative in their application of policy and legislation. They are looking for people who have the drive and energy to delight their customers. They are looking for people to be innovative, take a risk and create something new. They are looking for internal entrepreneurs …or the intrapreneur.

I know what you are thinking…another new management catch phrase…

I understand but I think its gone beyond just another kitsch management fad. We are in need of people internal to organisations that have an entrepreneurial mindset.

We can’t just use the term entrepreneur because it doesn’t quite work “a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.” The business is already set up.

Entrepreneurial mindset is closer “Individuals with entrepreneurial mindsets are often drawn to opportunities, innovation and new value creation.”

But golly its a mouthful… so why not start a new word that means “A person within a large corporation who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea into a profitable finished product through assertive risk-taking and innovation.” Well according to wikipedia anyway.

The League of Intrapreneurs have taken it a step further and talk about social intrepreneurs. These are people inside of the business that are making a difference from the inside out. http://www.leagueofintrapreneurs.com/about

I’m here to say that the intrepreneur is the leader of the future. They are the people who you look at in business now and go… “I don’t quite get what they are doing but I know that they are going to achieve it…” They have energy that seems to be unlimited and they take risks. And they get shit done. Oops sorry, but there’s no other way to describe it.

The intrapreneur is the leader of the future. They are here and they are on the rise…finally.

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