BUSINESS KILLING MISTAKES #11 – NOT LETTING YOUR EMPLOYEES BE ENTREPRENEUR-“IAL”

ARE YOU SCARED THAT IF YOU LET YOUR EMPLOYEES BE MORE “ENTREPRENEURIAL,” THEY WILL EITHER QUIT OR GO ROGUE? DON’T BE FEARFUL – BE EXCITED. 

Creating an entrepreneurial environment is how I have transformed many slow-growth businesses into faster growth, ridiculously profitable companies for twenty-five years. 

Overview 

About 95% of all companies who join our programs don’t have an entrepreneurial spirit, leader, or employees even though they think they are entrepreneurial. Being more entrepreneurial can be one of the most potent strategies to conquer the ever-changing and relentless business-gutting problems like supply-chain challenges, lack-of-labor issues, and profit-squeezing pressures. 

However, too few CEOs, business owners, or even so-called “entrepreneurs” foster “safe environments” for entrepreneurialism. 

Make sure you and your team read and implement this article, as it will help you understand how to achieve a powerful no-cost entrepreneurial value proposition. Helping you solve your toughest and most complex business issues while not spending more time or wasting extra money doing it. 

WHY ENTREPRENEURIALISM IS SUPPRESSED IN COMPANIES BIG AND SMALL

There are two major reasons leaders don’t want to or won’t let their employees be more entrepreneurial… 

First ̶ Being Delusional. The leader, and maybe you, are not entrepreneurial but think you are. One of the biggest “Aha’s!” I had in researching and writing my book Entrepreneur to Millionaire over the last two decades was the fact that few people in business really are truly “high spectrum” entrepreneurial (Chapter 1 – New Will Different Way). The data proved that the greatest separator between those who did well in our high-intensity RAMP® programs and those who quickly made millions for everyone in the company was the level of entrepreneurialism in the firm.  

Second ̶ Being Fearful. Even the businesspeople who are legitimate “high spectrum” entrepreneurs are scared of allowing their employees or subordinates to stretch their entrepreneurial wings. What was the discovery that proved this? 

From experience reengineering over 1,000 compensation programs here is what the changes showed. Only about three comp packages included structured “incentives” for employees, lower-level directors or supervisors to take risks or be highly innovative. What a shame because lack of a supportive culture and effective incentives kills complex problem solving and radical new thinking which could be a game-changer for your firm. 

WHAT IS THE ROOT CAUSE THAT DRIVES LEADERS TO CONTINUE TO KILLENTREPRENEURIALISM?

As you just read, there are two reasons why employees are stifled from being entrepreneurial but were there deeper issues stunting innovative behavior? Yes. This was another critical discovery in my research of thousands of hours of client sessions, the genesis of why employees are not incented to be more entrepreneurial.

Number one – it’s the Subtlety. Notice I didn’t say you need to have your employees be entrepreneurs. I said they need to be more “entrepreneur-IAL.” And that difference is often overlooked but is huge because it’s the subtleness that sets up the fear. You might be saying, “If my employees become entrepreneurs, they probably will quit and start their own businesses”. I agree. And that difference is what you must understand. 

Number two – Confusion. What does being “entrepreneurial” actually mean? Go ahead, do a search. Look up “entrepreneur” or “entrepreneurial”; you will find the same definition. The descriptions are quite narrow and limited, so here is a summary: 

“Someone who takes on financial risks to start or operate a business.”

What’s misleading is thinking or believing that being an entrepreneur is being entrepreneur-IAL. That’s because the definition is so narrow. And one more thing, if you look up “how to be successful as an entrepreneur,” that becomes more misleading too. Almost all articles talk about personal characteristics such as passion, drive, and being competitive. Those characteristics describe pretty much every business person and team we work with – but does it make them entrepreneurial? No. 

WHAT is the impact of not having entrepreneurial employees?

In today’s whipsaw economy with government, economic, technological, and social (credit to the GETS model) market’s destructive forces increasing and strengthening, an entrepreneurial culture can mean thriving not just surviving. In almost every speech I cover the topic of how to achieve radical results – be radial your approach – be more entrepreneurial. Don’t settle. And please don’t follow what others are doing. 

More entrepreneur-“ial” employees can produce these benefits:

1. Faster growth; 
2. Higher-quality growth;
3. More profitable growth;
4. Less stress, more fun;
5. Making the competitors sweat and not your team;
6. Ability to adapt to new opportunities faster;
7. Ability to absorb changes;
8. Ability to attract top talent and retain them. 

CHANGE – WHAT CAN YOU DO TO CREATE ENTREPRENEURIAL EMPLOYEES RIGHT NOW

Hopefully, you are excited about allowing your employees to be more entrepreneurial, and you want to know how or what to do first. 

Create a reward system that incents specific “entrepreneurial” (not entrepreneur) behavior. Don’t pay an employee to be an entrepreneur but reward them (or the whole team) for being high-spectrum entrepreneurial. This can mean being an innovator, risk-taker, or problem solver. If someone solves a difficult challenge for a department or the company, how could they be rewarded? Read my book to learn more ideas about being “entrepreneurial.” 

Recognize (another one of the Three “R”s of a powerful CARE program) the person in front of the whole company for how they solved a major problem. Brag about them and reward them publicly. What was the problem? What was the impact to the company to have it solved? What was the employee paid or compensated for? Make the recognition and reward measurable. 

At one point in my career, I led a team to solve a billion-dollar problem in the company where I worked. I wasn’t expecting anything extra, but I was rewarded with an all-expense, all-inclusive, paid vacation in the Caribbean. That reward, unexpected, had me excited to solve more complex problems. 

WHAT YOU MUST KNOW

One of the most important things you can do to transform your company to compete better and win more (maybe even survive) is to have your employees become more “entrepreneur-ial.” 

Create a culture, reward system and publicly brag about specific behavior that is high-spectrum entrepreneurial. 

Know this: Entrepreneurial winning environments are more fun, more rewarding, and attract and retain top talent. 

And don’t worry that when an employee becomes more entrepreneurial, they will quit or become mavericks. Few employees want to take on the total risks, the huge stress, and life absorbing commitment to running a whole company. However, many employees leave their current jobs because their ability to be entrepreneurial and be rewarded, can’t be found with their current employer. 

WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW

1. You and your employees must learn what “entrepreneur-ial” means.  Read (or now listen) to the book Entrepreneur to Millionaire. 
2. Discuss what being an entrepreneur versus being entrepreneur-“IAL” really means.
3. Identify areas and ways that everyone can be more entrepreneurial.
4. Create a culture, reward system, and strategy to transform your business to become entrepreneurial.
5. Contact us, and we can give you ideas, strategies, and methods.
6. Also, join an E2M Wealth Acceleration Group in your area to accelerate entrepreneurial learning and making more sales and profits using fewer resources – forming now.

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AUTHOR BACKGROUND

Kent Billingsley is the founder and president of the Revenue Growth® Company, LLC (TRGC). He is a published author, international keynote speaker, and business transformation expert. He has become America’s Revenue Growth® Architect by helping thousands of entrepreneurs and CEOs (representing over a million employees) generate several billion in new sales, as well as tens of billions in new revenue and profits for large corporations. He has personally designed, built, transformed, and turbocharged several thousand organizations in 36 countries. Over the last 20 years, his proprietary content and trademarked programs have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and employees become millionaires and multimillionaires by “creating wealth” inside their companies. He can be reached at [email protected].