Are you an intrepreneur? If you want to succeed in the 21st-century workforce, you should think about becoming one.
The word intrepreneur is not a spelling mistake! An intrepreneur is similar to an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs take ideas and run with them, willing to try something new while aware of the risks as well as the rewards. Entrepreneurs build their dreams by heading out on their own, starting companies and building businesses.
An intrepreneur shows this same kind of business courage and focus — except that he or she does this while working within an existing company. To be an intrepreneur you need to act as if you own the business that you work for; this affects not only the way you conduct your work, in the long-term it’s a way to gain control of your life.
One advantage to being an intrepreneuer is that the risks are far less than for the self-employed. Good employers today encourage intrepreneurship — they want their employees to be thinking about where the firm can be headed, what kinds of new products and services they can offer or how they can do what they already do, but better.
In the mind of an intrepreneur, the wheels are always turning. If you do come up with an interesting intrepreneurial idea, you might then ask: “Can it work?”
Another path to intrepreneurship is to take ownership of one aspect of what your company does. A lot of young workers did this within their companies when social media started to take hold — they learned about how businesses could use tweets and postings and messaging to help their companies, and in so doing they became indispensible. That’s a form of intrepreneurship.
You don’t have to set your sights to great heights to become an intrepreneur. Often, the simple act of mentorship can label you as a company self-starter. Intrepreneurial employees who take other workers under their wing build loyalty, respect and teamwork. You might call being a mentor being a good employee, but your boss will see you as an intrepreneur.
Intrepreneurship is all about building your profile within your organization by doing whatever you can to build the organization itself. It means not worrying about labels; an intrepreneur will help the whole company succeed without ever saying, “That’s not my job.”
Successful firms these days have come to realize the value of intrepreneurship. Manufacturers who cluster their workers into problem-solving work circles find their productivity goes up compared with putting people on a mindless assembly line — the workers get to use their brains as well as their skills.
While companies can create good conditions for intrepreneurship, ultimately it’s something you achieve yourself. It’s a natural part of all of us to want to do better — for those we work with, and ultimately, for ourselves.
Source: The Huffington Post – See at the Huffington Post
