Let’s look at things from the point of view of an employee for a moment. (As a manager, this is directly relevant, since you’re an employee, too.) Think of the job interview. Traditionally, the employer asks questions and the prospective employee dutifully answers them. Even when they’re given the opportunity to ask their own questions, job-seekers seldom do. If you’re in this situation but you fail to ask questions, how can you really find out whether the company you may be working for is well-managed or chaotic? (The employer’s questions aren’t likely to give that information away.) Job seekers are trained and counseled to answer questions, but maybe it would be better if we encouraged them to ask questions and gave them some guidance on how to do it effectively. It might keep a lot of people from stepping into the “perfect job” that ultimately doesn’t turn out to be perfect at all!

Are the problems interesting or boring?

Who is in charge?

Are you managed by a woman or by a man?

Does it make a difference?

Should it?

    It is sad and shameful that in this day and age gender still plays a role in the business world. Words like “smart“, “creative“, “assertive“, and “talented” are neither female nor male. Yet it still happens too frequently that a woman reaches a certain rung on the management ladder but then goes no further. By keeping women from rising to their full potential, companies are eliminating half (perhaps more than half) of their talented managers suitable for the job.

Tags: assertive business world creative good management guidance job interview job seekers management ladder neither female nor male paul hawken point of view prospective employee smart talented talented managers
 

The quality of an individual is reflect in the standards they set for themselves.

Ray Kroc

Do you have standards?

Remember: Standards don’t need to be standardized.

Tags: ray kroc standards
 

A great many people aren’t aware of how much they can achieve. A leader knows how to maximize output—without overtaxing.

Are goals extremely high—but still reachable?

Remember: A true leader never asks for something she can’t commit herself to.

Tags: leadership skills maximize true leader
 

Responsibilities takes many forms. This is about how the leader comes across; that people feel the leader cares about them.

Do you take responsibility? Even when it would not be your job?

Remember: For leaders the blame game is never an option.

Tags: accross blame game cares job
 

Is a manager an entrepreneur?

Many entrepreneurs are managers, but fewer managers are entrepreneurs. One reason for this is that managers as a rule have no tangible stake in their business. A manager does not even have to own shares of the business in question. Interestingly, we all know people who are thought of as a good entrepreneur but a bad manager, but we don’t hear as often of people who are considered a good manager but a bad entrepreneur.

    Universities produce many MBAs. How many of them become successful entrepreneurs? True, they’ve learned the basics: accounting, controlling, marketing, and management. Those basics are important for entrepreneurs, too, but entrepreneurs have to bring way more to the table. In many ways the lot of the entrepreneur parallels that of the “struggling artist”.

    Entrepreneurs must be creative and innovative, but they also have to be inspirational. As long as managers do not see themselves also as entrepreneurs they will not develop their full potential. Going a step further, the responsibility of the manager is to train their team members to become managers themselves. The best performing teams are those where people see themselves as entrepreneurs within the team, not just worker bees.

Step back, relax, and look at the situation. Can you find your solution?

    Although entrepreneurs and managers share many traits, they also have some notable differences. Entrepreneurs are known for taking risks and thinking primarily of the long term; managers are more detail-oriented and cautious, and they do care about the short term as well as the future. Entrepreneurs believe that failure in one venture is a learning experience that will give them more momentum next time; managers are much more fearful of failure and how it will affect their reputation.

    As the business world becomes more global (in part thanks to the Internet), the pressures and expectations on businesses grow. In this more competitive environment, businesses feel a need to make bolder, more long-ranging decisions. So, sometimes managers are forced to take the role of the entrepreneur.

What impact has modern society on entrepreneurship?

Can you define the entrepreneurial process?

What are the challenges an entrepreneur faces in your company; your line of business?

Do you see yourself as entrepreneur, manager or both?

    Viewing shareholder value as the business’s number one priority does little to encourage entrepreneurial spirit. Likewise, the many committees, boards, and regulations that come with them can squash entrepreneurship pretty easily. One of the hallmarks of successful entrepreneurship is the ability to make decisions quickly. Anything that hinders the ability to do that endangers the entrepreneurial spirit.

    Managers need to understand that adopting an entrepreneurial mindset alone isn’t what’s needed to make the business successful. What entrepreneurship can do is unlock the visionary ideas that can give the business a boost both short- and long-term. Don’t think of the entrepreneur as someone who creates chaos that managers need to fix. Think instead of that “chaos” as a vision—and use that vision to break out of the old ideas that keep the business from moving forward.

How long does it take to get a decision?

How many ideas get shut down?

Tags: accounting business business world challenges chaos committees company competitive environment controlling decisions delphi entrepreneur entrepreneurial entrepreneurial mindset entrepreneurial process entrepreneurial spirit environment businesses failure hallmarks learning experience line of business long ranging decisions main entrance management marketing mbas momentum oracle oracle of delphi priority process reputation shareholder value stake successful entrepreneurs team members term managers time managers universities visionary ideas worker bees