8 Tips to be more entrepreneurial

The drama of the person in charge of lighting lamps

“I have a terrible profession. Before it was acceptable: I had orders to put out the lantern in the morning and light it at night. I had the rest of the day to rest and the night to sleep. “And have the orders changed since then?” I asked, that’s the tragedy, the orders have remained the same, but from year to year the world has become faster and faster…

(adapted from “Le Petit Prince” Antoine de Saint‐ Exúpery 1.)

What could this “Lamp foreman” do to contribute to the competitiveness and sustainability of his “Lamps” organisation, or to his future employability?…Because his work, even if he didn’t know it yet, had its days counted.

He could have a reactive posture, which would inevitably lead him to the tragedy of “feeling” or “considering” that he could do nothing, or he could have the initiative to act, which would lead him to change this reality.

The truth is that this professional from the last century was never proactive because he had not been “instructed” in that sense; he did not even have to understand, because “instructions are instructions” and now, faced with the experience of this tragedy, he realised that something had to be done – what had always made him a good worker was no longer enough – : he needed to invent, to create a new way of working in order to adapt to this “faster” world.

“Some men see things as they are, and ask: Why? I dream of things that never existed and ask: “Why not?”.

George Bernard Shaw

 

1. Turning dreams into reality

Why not create the future you don’t yet have? As Peter Drucker says “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” But transforming dreams into realities requires desire, the will to change, to solve a problem, to respond to a need that mobilises the “capacity and desire to act in a continuous way”(2) ( José Ferreira)

2. Having a motive that energises and a goal that mobilises

To be an entrepreneur one needs to have a motive, an objective, a meaning, “something to live for” in order to, as Nietzsche said, “endure any how”. Without a need or an idea that energises and a goal that mobilises, action is neither continuous nor effective. It is action that can turn into disorientation, just as an idea without action is a fantasy or illusion without any realisation.

3. Lifelong learning

And to build ideas that have vision, it is necessary to learn throughout one’s life and have a permanent orientation towards learning, where professional training is a privileged space not to be taught, but to learn, which requires: will, involvement, initiative and action. It is necessary, as Peter Drucker says “to act on knowledge”(3), which is the key to performance and personal and professional development.

4. Self-confidence

Being an entrepreneur implies a set of attitudes and behaviours, which translate into knowing how to deal with uncertainty, to overcome risks, to solve problems (self-confidence).

5. Initiative and persistence

Act proactively in situations (initiative) and overcome frustration and adversity, and pursue goals (resilience and persistence);

6. Creativity

Identificar novas ideias, abordagens ou aperfeiçoar as existentes para gerar bens ou serviços (criatividade e inovação).Identifying new ideas, approaches or improving existing ones to generate goods or services (creativity and innovation).

7. Organisation

To know how to organise and use resources properly: oneself, people, and other intangible and tangible assets (planning and organisation).

8. Cooperative work

To know how to work with and through the knowledge and behaviour of colleagues and partners (cooperative work) to generate results that change reality in a sustained and continuous way.

What are the different faces of an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur can be an anonymous citizen, a businessman – Rui Nabeiro, a scientist – António Damásio, a conductor – Joana Carneiro, a doctor – António Nobre, or an ex-lamp foreman, who presented his superiors with a project for the automatic lighting of lanterns, which became a successful product, and who is now a writer, and professional trainer, a specialist in permanent learning and in facilitating contexts for others to learn to be entrepreneurs – in the profession, in business, in associations and in life.

“A long journey begins with a single step” (Lao-Tsé). A reflection or a question?

What can I do today to become more entrepreneurial?

References

1. citado em “The Creative Thincking Plan – How to Generate Ideas and Solve Problems in your work and Life- Guy Claxton and Bill Lucas 2004, Ed. BBC Books Worldwide Limited.
2. José Ferreira in Referencial de Formação Pedagógica Contínua de Formadores – Competências Empreendedoras: Centro Nacional de Qualificação de Formadores Empreendedorismos
3. Peter Drucker in Os desafios da Gestão para o século XXI, Ed. Civilização, 2000.
4. José Ferreira developed a systemic approach for understanding and developing the entrepreneurial spirit “The Tree Model© (JSF-2008)” where he integrates two distinct approaches to entrepreneurship: Economic and Management and Behavioural and defends it as a differentiating criterion of success in an entrepreneur.