ENTREPRENEURIAL HACK OF THE WEEK #43
Switch It Up
Avoid these 3 mindsets and positively impact your venture’s success
As a business-building entrepreneur, navigating the complex business world requires strategic thinking, innovative ideas, and the right mindset. Your approach to challenges, interactions with employees, and time management can significantly impact the success of your venture.
Let’s delve into three mindsets to avoid to positively change your impact as an entrepreneur.
Embrace hustle
One of the most detrimental mindsets an entrepreneur can adopt is constantly being in “firefighting” mode. Reacting to problems as they arise rather than preventing them can lead to a chaotic and inefficient business environment.
Instead, entrepreneurs should strive to identify and address potential issues before they escalate proactively. You create a more stable and sustainable business by anticipating challenges and crafting strategies to mitigate them.
Smart and savvy entrepreneurs allocate time for regular evaluations of their processes, products, and services. This approach prevents potential crises and paves the way for continuous improvement.
Embracing a proactive mindset allows you to channel your energy into long-term growth and innovation rather than merely putting out fires.
As my friends and colleagues Dr. Matt Marvel and Dr. Kuratko opined:
“Entrepreneurial hustle leads to venture performance and willingness to invest because urgent behaviors allow individuals to advance their goals, and unorthodox behaviors allow entrepreneurs to be more innovative.”
Look at these seven unorthodox behaviors ranging from quietly reading business memos at the start of a meeting to a doodling notebook for sketches and big business ideas. Which do you identify most with? Least?
Nurture ‘intensive’ employee interactions
Entrepreneurs often wear multiple hats, and it’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of daily tasks. However, overlooking the importance of helping employees understand how their work contributes to other departments and the business can hinder growth.
Encouraging a siloed mindset among your team members can lead to miscommunication, duplication of efforts, and decreased morale.
To counter this, cultivate a culture of cross-functional collaboration and holistic understanding. Regularly communicate the interconnectedness of different departments and demonstrate how each team’s contributions align with the overarching business goals.
When employees see the bigger picture, they are more likely to take ownership of their roles and work harmoniously with others, ultimately driving efficiency and innovation throughout the organization.
Gallup’s Strength of the Workplace reminds me of one of the most important Q12 engagement questions, “Do you have a best friend at work?” Those that do are likely to be more engaged and connected to their work and each other.
Serendipitous collisions and impromptu exchanges are foundational to the innovation process. They rarely happen in isolation or alone in your basement or extra room.
Just say ‘no’
Entrepreneurs often find themselves inundated with meetings that eat into their precious time. While meetings are essential for communication and decision-making, saying “yes” to every invite can drain your productivity and divert your focus from critical tasks. A key mindset to avoid is the belief that attending every meeting is necessary.
While extraordinary customer experiences are built on saying yes as much as possible, entrepreneurs must protect and conserve their energy for the most important “move the needle” activities. Time is energy. Entrepreneurs need to protect theirs.
Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban protects his time and energy by saying “no” to some meetings. He believes the biggest timewaster is attending a meeting that doesn’t make him money.
While we all don’t have the luxury of applying this litmus test exclusively, it reinforces the notion of protecting your time.
Learning to say “no” strategically can be a powerful tool. Prioritize meetings that align with your current objectives and directly impact your business. Politely decline invitations to gatherings that don’t contribute significantly to your goals or can be addressed through other means of communication.
By mastering the art of discernment, you can allocate your time more effectively and dedicate your energy to high-impact activities that drive your venture forward.
Your mindset plays a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of your business.
By being more strategic and intentional — embracing hustle, nurturing collaboration, and saying “no” more often, you can create a more proactive and harmonious work environment and pave the way for sustained growth and success in your entrepreneurial journey.
Want more tips on networking? You can get my best tips here.
Karl R. LaPan is the director of UF Innovate | Accelerate, the place-making, entrepreneurial support organization within UF Innovate dedicated to working with entrepreneurs, innovators, and business builders. Through two award-winning, globally recognized facilities, UF Innovate | Accelerate delivers industry-leading entrepreneurial programs and services designed (1) to accelerate the growth and development of its client companies and (2) to increase the likelihood of success of the business ventures it serves.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
