Ontrepreneur
When giving a speech about the definition of an entrepreneur, I opened with the statement that i couldn't define it because the term was not in the dictionary - I was however looking under 'O'!
I have deliberately mis-spelled the term because I think that one of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs and businessmen in general make is working 'in' their businesses rather than 'on' them. Over the years, this has been probably one of my biggest mistakes and I have often stifled the people working alongside and underneath me because of my incessant interference. The trouble was that I just couldn't help it - instinct tells me to get involved if I think something is wrong, but often at the expense of the management team, who are searching for the solution and will find it in their own time.
I have also tried to 'back off' completely and let people get on with their jobs, but that approach can also lead to problems. So their needs to be a balanced approach and as obvious as it seems, it has taken me nearly 15 years to get near to it! I realized that their is no point in paying people good money to do a job and then try to do it yourself - you pay far more than 'twice' in the long run, but I have worked out that my skills are in vision, strategy, sales and marketing, coaching and motivation and I leave pretty much everything else to those best qualified to do it, it's not easy and I often have to restrain myself from 'diving in'.
I have explained to the management team that the best way to work with me is to just listen to what I have to say, when I say it, because I will rarely remember the thoughts and ideas as they flash through my head - especially the good ones. Many good ideas fall by the wayside when people are not encouraged to speak up when they occur, especially in meetings. Many managers insist that the thoughts are written down and discussed at a later stage and this is so wrong. When you postpone this 'creativity', you lose the emotion and feelings behind it and also the context In turn, I am being 'trained' by my team to 'get out of the way' and let them do their jobs - as I said it is difficult because of the nature of the beast, but it is actually beginning to work very well!
Working 'on' your business is far more satisfying and you achieve far more. The role of an entrepreneur should never be confused with the role of running a business - they are two completely different skills as I have learned, sometimes to my cost!
Finally, I must thank Mr De La Hoya, Mr Mayweather and the 'thundersmonster' (my three year old daughters name for a thunderstorm!) The first two individuals for renewing my motivation for early morning workouts and Mr Monster for the wake up call!
~Neil
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