Are you an Intrapreneur? Interesting article on “Inside Entrepreneurs”
Full article link here
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
When a company’s growth begins to dwindle, boardroom meetings grow strained and the finger pointing starts. Executives cry out, “We need a new strategy! We need to hire better people! Our culture is to blame! Our compensation is wrong!” The founder, if he or she is still around, sadly states, “We have more people, resources, and money than ever. But now we are so big we can’t even get out of our own way!” Embarrassed, a politically perceptive staffer serves up a popular buzzword. “Intrapreneurs! What we need are Intrapreneurs!” The “hip” executive explains that Intrapreneurs are “Inside Entrepreneurs” who will follow their founder’s example. The Intrapreneur, he or she promises, will buck the corporate malaise, risk his or her career to get things done and, is willing to “do the right thing to serve the customer”. As everyone looks around the room for this potential savior of growth, what do they see? Executives’ eyes around the table react in three different ways:
- Most managers’ eyes look down hoping this latest idea dies before making them change or take chances.
- The owner’s eyes look up and out the window reminiscing about the “good old days” when he or she ran a much smaller and focused company. Back then, everyone was an Intrapreneur with “fire in their bellies”.
- One or maybe two sets of younger, brighter eyes sparkle, expressing hope that their time has come to break suffocating company rules and politics stifling opportunities they see but cannot pursue. Optimistically, but sometimes fatally, these people seize the moment and volunteer as “champions” of this new company initiative.
Really hits home here…
Despite their righteousness, why don’t more Intrapreneurs succeed?
Because in doing what is right, Intrapreneurs hold a mirror up to their peers, forcing them to confront what they and their company have become. Just like a middle-aged, weekend warrior exercising after years of complacence, when a staid company tries to perform like a growth business, the picture is not very pretty.
IF you are one of us…don’t fret just keep on trucking and you will succeed. Only it may be outside the corporate bubble!
