McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All

Rights Reserved.

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Chapter

2
The Entrepreneurial
Mind: Crafting a
Personal
Entrepreneurial Strategy
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Achieving Entrepreneurial
Greatness
ThreecoreprinciplesofMarionLabsandtheKauffman
Foundation:
1. Treatothersasyouwouldwanttobetreated
2. Sharethewealththatiscreatedwithallthosewhohave
contributedtoitatalllevels
3. Givebacktothecommunity

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Leadership and Human Behavior

A single psychological model of
entrepreneurship has been supported by
research
But, behavioral scientists, venture capitalists,
investors, and entrepreneurs agree the venture
will depend a great deal upon the talent and
behavior of the lead entrepreneur and his or her
team

legends still exist about entrepreneurs and

entrepreneurship
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Converging on the
Entrepreneurial Mind
Desirable and Acquirable Attitudes, Habits and
Behaviors
Six Dominant Themes
1. Commitment and Determination
2. Leadership
3. Opportunity Obsession
4. Tolerance of Risk, Ambiguity and Uncertainty
5. Creativity, Self-Reliance, and Adaptability
6. Motivation to Excel
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Three Important Aspects of

Courage
1. Moral strength and principles
2. Being a fearless experimenter
3. A lack of fear of failing at the experiment
and most undertakings
and a lack of fear of conflict that may arise.

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The Entrepreneurial Mind in

Action
Successful entrepreneurs have a wide range of
personality types
Research has considered genetics, family,
education, career experience, etc., but no
psychological model of entrepreneurship has been
supported.

Acquired skills are more important that specific

innate traits

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The Concept of Apprenticeship

Shaping and Managing an Apprenticeship
Windows of Apprenticeship
Role Models
legends and Realities
What Can Be Learned?

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A Word of Caution
Leadership and achievement,
the heart of the entrepreneur,
are not measured by IQ
tests, SATs, or GMAT scores
and include:
Leadership skills
Interpersonal skills
Team building and team
playing
Creativity and ingenuity
Motivation
Learning skills (versus
knowledge)
Persistence and
determination

Values, ethics, honesty and

integrity
Goal-setting orientation
Self-discipline
prudence
Resourcefulness
Resiliency and capacity to
handle adversity
Ability to seek, listen, and
use feedback
Reliability
Dependability
Sense of humor
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Exercises
The Crafting a Personal Entrepreneurship
Strategy exercise addresses the apprenticeship
issue further.
The Personal Entrepreneurial Strategy
exercise is an inventory of ones entrepreneurial
abilities.

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Crafting a

Personal Entrepreneurial
Strategy

A Conceptual Scheme for Self Assessment

Crafting an Entrepreneurial Strategy
Profiling the Past
Profiling the Present
Getting Constructive Feedback

Putting it all Together

Thinking Ahead

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Personal Entrepreneurial
Strategy
Gather data both from yourself (past and
present profiles)
Gather data from others (constructive feedback)
Evaluate the data you have
Think ahead
Craft your personal entrepreneurial strategy
Estimated time to complete this important
planning and goal setting exercise is 90 minutes
to three hours
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Reasons for Planning

Planninghelpstheentrepreneurwiththefollowing:
Managingtherisksanduncertaintiesofthefuture
Workingsmarterratherthanharder
Developingandupdatingakeenerstrategybytestingthe
sensibilityofhisorherideasandapproacheswithothers

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Reasons for Planning

Planninghelpstheentrepreneurwiththefollowing:
Motivating
Achievingresultsorientation
Managingandcopingwithwhatisbynatureastressfulrole

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Self Assessment
1Generatedatathroughobservationofhisorherthoughts
andactionsandbygettingfeedbackfromothersforthe
purposesofthefollowing:
Becomingawareofblindspots
Reinforcingorchangingexistingperceptionsofbothstrengths
andweaknesses

2Studythedatagenerated

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Self Assessment
3 - Develop insights
4 - Establish apprenticeship goals to gain any
learning,
experience, and so forth
5 - Determine goals and opportunities to be
seized

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Constructive Feedback
1Solicitfeedbackfromthosewhoknowyouwellandwho
canbetrusted
2Seekspecificcommentsinparticularlyimportantareas
andprobefordetailifthefeedbackisunclear
3Recognizethatfeedbackismosthelpfulifitisneitherall
positivenorallnegative

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Constructive Feedback
4Askforfeedbackinwritingforcontemplationandso
feedbackfromvarioussourcescanbepulledtogether
5Behonestandstraightforwardwithyourselfandwith
others
6Avoidgameplayingorhiddenagendas;avoid
defensivenessovernegativecomments
7Listencarefullytowhatisbeingsaidandthinkaboutit;
avoidanswering,debating,orrationalizing

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Constructive Feedback
8Assesswhetherallimportantinformationhasbeen
consideredandyouhavebeenrealisticinyourinferences
andconclusions
9Requesthelpinidentifyingcommonthreadsorpatterns,
possibleimplicationsofselfassessmentdataandcertain
weaknesses,andotherrelevantinformationthatismissing
10Seekadditionalfeedbackfromotherstoverifyfeedback
andtosupplementdata
11Reachfinalconclusionsatalatertime

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Effective Goal Setting

Establishmentofgoalsthatarespecificandconcrete,
measurable,relatedtotime,realistic,andattainable
Establishmentofpriorities,includingtheidentificationof
conflictsandtradeoffsandhowthesecanberesolved
Identificationofpotentialproblemsandobstaclesthatcould
preventgoalsfrombeingattained

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Effective Goal Setting

Specificationofactionstepsthataretobeperformedto
accomplishthegoal
Indicationofhowresultswillbemeasured
Establishmentofmilestonesforreviewingprogressand
tyingthesetospecificdatesonthecalendar

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Effective Goal Setting

Identificationofriskinvolvedinmeetingthegoals
Identificationofhelpandotherresourcesthatmaybe
neededtoobtaingoals
Periodicreviewofprogressandrevisionofgoals

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