The Entrepreneurial Mindset™
by James Arthur Ray

Turnover. Lackluster productivity. Apathy. These are the bane of corporate life. Savvy executives know they have to light a fire under employees to fight such enemies of success. But how about another tactic: Light a fire in your people, and stop thinking of them solely as employees. Instead, teach them to adopt the outlook, manner, and drive of entrepreneurs. Give them ownership of their jobs, and make them accountable for results. To be at their best, people need to feel a sense of purpose and mission in their work. They must invest themselves in every task or project. They must adopt an Entrepreneurial Mindset™, or ''E-Mindset'' for short. No matter what kind of organization-from small companies to home-based businesses to large corporations-employees can become entrepreneurial-style ''owners'': responsible for more than just keeping a job, they're emotionally and intellectually vested in making every minute count toward achieving the goals of the organization and their own complementary career aspirations.

With an E-Mindset, they are driven more by results than routine. Both the company and the individual reap immediate rewards in profit, performance, and sense of purpose when people are encouraged and taught to use their ingenuity, invest themselves in their work, and expect exponential results for their effort.

What Your Company Can Do:
Clarify the vision for the organization, including what you want to accomplish, the strategic plan to get you there, the incremental and timed goals that must be met along the way, and the values that will guide your actions. Once clear, this vision must be communicated to everyone in the organization, and each person must define how he or she will contribute to the overall realization of this vision through personal job performance. Then comes the most crucial part: Leaders must continue to communicate this vision-and must live it every day. Every meeting, every speech and presentation, every document must be congruent with this articulated vision.

Align individuals' goals with the organization's vision. Under-standing that individuals do things for their own reasons, the organization must provide the opportunity for employees to define their own personal and career goals, and they must be given the information they need to see how these goals dovetail with and support the company vision. People must see that their involvement allows them to accomplish their own goals for personal and professional growth. This can be communicated through initial training sessions with new hires, as well as through periodic reviews where the person has responsibility to identify personal aspirations and find the overlap between these and organizational goals.

Put money, time, and enthusiasm behind stated values. If time and money are not consistently invested toward what you say is important, people will realize that you pay no more than lip service to your so-called values. To fully install the E-Mindset in your corporate culture, there is one value that must be adopted, understood, and supported no matter what: Employees must have the latitude and ability to do whatever necessary to satisfy the customer and find a solution. Entrepreneurs understand that their number-one concern must be the clients they serve. Going the extra mile and being creative is the norm for the E-Minded. And it must be encouraged and recognized within the organization.

What You Can Do:
Make sure you are working for something/someone you are proud to be associated with. You have to have unbending belief in the product or service you are selling, representing, helping to create, or otherwise supporting. You must find something you can be passionate about.

Settle for nothing less than excellence in everything you do. If something crosses your desk, regardless of the shape in which it came to you, improve it and send it out as if it were a million-dollar proposal that has your name on it.

Know and take ownership of the outcome. This can be a phone call you make, a memo you draft, a communication with a peer. Make sure you know your end objective and take responsibility.

Apologize when something goes wrong.

Be resourceful. Come up with and present possible solutions to a challenge, rather than just presenting what's not working. Ask, ''How can it be done?''

Be flexible. If things don't go as planned or if a project runs overtime, find a way to help your team get to the end result.

Be creative. Look for ways to improve the process or additional areas of responsibility that you can help out with.

Strive to improve one thing you are doing each day.

Be proactive/growth-driven. If you see something that could create challenges, do something that may change the course of action. Always ask, ''How can this be improved?''

Exert enthusiasm in all that you do. Even if it's a mundane task, create an atmosphere of excitement. If you see someone else who needs a boost, pay them a compliment, help them out, or show your contagious enthusiasm.

Companies need visionary and inner-directed people who transcend rules and roles and, at a minimum, make decisions and operate from a high level of self-esteem and even self-actualization. The people must find purpose in their work, keep profit and productivity in mind as they devise new and better ways of doing things, and pursue excellence in every endeavor. These are the keys to the Entrepreneurial Mindset™. They will unlock the potential of people working today, and open the doors of unlimited possibility for the organization in the future.