Brass Tacks & Gold Standards: Rekindle Your Entrepreneurial Spark

By Joni Daniels



Congratulations. Your business is really moving forward, visibility and sales are up, the bills are being paid and you are thinking about finally taking an actual vacation. You are hiring talented people who come from a variety of company cultures: entrepreneurial, corporate and family owned business.

As your company has grown, has it lost some of that exciting and dynamic entrepreneurial spirit that fueled its success in the first place? Often, the transition from an entrepreneurial company to an established business comes with a more rigid atmosphere, lacking employee creativity and top-down inspiration.

You can learn to recapture or preserve that entrepreneurial spirit by focusing on increasing the perception of opportunity, institutionalizing change by making it part of the company culture and encouraging innovation in your employees.



Get Out of Your Own Way

Although it sounds surprising, many entrepreneurs actually prefer the present state of achievement and prosperity to the excitement and unpredictability of the past. The current state of success involves power, status and financial reward - all positive things. The prospect of change and growth has some scary consequences because those changes imply risk. The very success that is the result of entrepreneurship may also breed complacency. If the owner is enjoying the status quo, then the system, structure and culture of the firm will be developed to accomplish that goal.

It's also possible that an entrepreneur views employees as extensions of him- or herself out of a need for control. The message employees get from the owner is that orders, direction and ideas will come from the top. There may be lots of change - and rapid change at that - but it will not come from any initiative from below. Exploring ways to improve the organization is seen as a waste of effort.

With this culture, internal entrepreneurs in the company quickly become frustrated. Any attempt they make toward change is blocked. These intrapreneurs must decide if there is a personal opportunity in serving the status quo. If there is none, they leave. If they stay, they are discouraged. Either way, it hurts the organization. While the frustration is relieved if the employee leaves the company, the loss is damaging. Not only is the investment in training, experience and judgment lost, so is the source of ideas, the creativity and the driving force for change. Their departure also sends a negative message to other employees.



Restless Dissatisfaction

If satisfaction with and preservation of the status quo become the norm, it is unlikely that opportunity will be perceived, much less acted upon. There needs to be a restless dissatisfaction with the current state. If the leader wants the company to continue to be entrepreneurial, everyone must be convinced that change is the organization's overriding goal, because with change comes opportunity.

The founder-owner must have a genuine desire to renew the excitement and energy that engages people at all levels. This requires building an adaptive firm.

First, there needs to be an increase in the perception of opportunity through careful job design. Work should have defined objectives, and each level of the hierarchy should be kept informed of its role in producing the final output of product or service. This often is known as "staying close to the customer." Another way of doing this is through careful coordination and integration of functional areas that allows employees to work together as a cohesive whole.

Institutionalizing change as the company goal means that the entrepreneur must state a preference for innovation and change rather than preservation of the status quo. If opportunity is to be perceived, the environment of the firm must not simply encourage it - it must be made a goal.

To instill a desire on that part of employees to be innovative, incentives need to be put in place and barriers removed. A reward system should be designed with explicit forms of recognition given to people who attempt innovative opportunities. Fear of failure must be minimized through the recognition that often many attempts are needed before a success is achieved. The company can stay nimble with flexible operations. This creates the possibility of change taking place and having a positive effect.



Cultural Evolution

Changing a culture is an evolution, not a written process and not an event. Patience and persistence are required. The corporate culture cannot change unless the entrepreneur changes, or unless the owner delegates the authority to change and then stands aside and allows it to happen. It doesn't happen quickly either, so the usual impatience of the entrepreneur will not serve this goal.

There are specific things that the owner-leader can do to create a culture where innovation thrives.

¥ Forget about what is said, because it's only what you do that matters. Focus on observable behaviors.

¥ Be aware the company culture starts to be created from the first day on the job, as employees observe the boss's every move. Be aware of their constant and relentless scrutiny, and ensure that the messages being sent are designed to encourage the culture publicly espoused.

¥ Just like skiing, people can't learn and improve in an environment where they are not allowed to fall down. Encourage risk taking and allow first-time mistakes. Determine how much risk and failure can be tolerated, and focus on what is learned from attempts.



Change Is Hard

Do not underestimate the difficulty of changing a firm's culture. Be prepared to go slow. Have a plan based on data, not just hopes and dreams. Conduct a cultural audit to determine how big the gaps are and what may need to be done to eliminate or reduce them.

Adaptation is one of the most difficult areas of running a business. It may require a consultant to hold your feet to the fire, a mentor to coach you through the rough patches or an adviser to guide you though the process. This stage of organizational growth is not an exact science. It requires some focused flexibility.

Not everyone has true entrepreneurial tendencies. But if you build into your company culture the belief that chances for success exist, change is the norm and your people are expected to use their ingenuity and are supported when doing so, you will be able to retain the entrepreneurial spirit and renew the excitement and energy that attracts and retains great people. That is what makes a great company thrive.



As principal of her consulting practice Daniels & Associates, Joni Daniels supports clients in accomplishing their goals and objectives through training programs, presentations and facilitation of meetings and retreats. An authority in the field of professional and personal empowerment and leadership development, her book, Power Tools for Women: Plugging into the Essential Skills for Work and Life, is in its third printing. She is an instructor at Towson University in the Business School and can be reached at 443-270-6074.