Modern Business Magazine April 2016 | Page 25

MODERN ENTREPRENEURSHIP will alter status quo and business opportunity. It will change the impossible to the possible; make an inventor into an explorer. Questioning ‘why’ can remove roadblocks to business direction and potentially assist with navigational clarity. ‘Why’ helps us understand a situation as it stands, and how to improve the present for the betterment of the future. Without constant curiosity, and questioning, doors to the future remain firmly slammed shut and the lens of opportunity become blurred. 2 Stand up and be counted Stand in your spotlight, use your voice and don’t be afraid to emphasise your strengths, what you bring in terms of value, your point of difference and equally the courage to ask for the help and support needed to create the change you are looking for. This is not about second-guessing one’s own business judgement ‘why did I do that? What was I thinking?’ This is about having the self-confidence to back yourself; to think beyond the small square of now, in whatever industry or sector you sit in, and always, always want to reach further and understand more. 3 Be leading edge not bleeding edge Become someone who thinks about business with a leading edge, not a bleeding edge. Think with agility, not lethargy – because taking an approach in business where it is just about you and not your team, or your co-workers, is a lazy approach. To include others in the decision-making process can be challenging but the rewards are even greater. Create new discussion opportunities and it will take you further than ten short sharp barked out e-mails ever could – or will. 4 Build your bank of intelligence Skills and intelligence are an increasingly valuable currency for both corporates and entrepreneurs alike. Appreciate the value of an ‘Intellectual Bank’, the value exchange and the possibilities of what it can bring to business. Teach each other something you previously had no knowledge of, build the intelligence bank by embracing the strengths and skills of others around you and as a result create more opportunity to influence others and to disrupt current thinking. 5 Diversify Your Circle Of Influence The seed of disruption and new thinking occurs with difference of opinion, shared insights and learnings. Review your network and ask yourself do you need to diversify, expand your connections, do you actually need to delayer the ‘cup half full’ thinkers that limit ideation. The crossfertilisation of connections, skills and brainpower and the ideas that are openly discussed and shared through network creation, in their turn create new opportunities, innovation and new solutions to existing problems. It is not enough, in the words of the amazing Sheryl Sandberg, to ‘lean in’ for future-proofing individual success or even to be part of disruption in the workplace. Take a moment to look at your own business area or, if applicable, your own business. Where are you tolerating average thought and average leadership - from yourself, and from others? Where could you be disrupting that thinking? Where can you and your team be disrupters? How can you give yourself, and by extension your team, the confidence to engage and overcome the fear of the future and break the barrier of average? As we head into an uncertain future we all have to lean out and collaborate with others. Because to lean out means to embrace and engage on an unforeseen aggregated level — where thinking bigger than ever before will bring rewards to a collective commercial mind. Janine Garner is the Founder and CEO of LBDGroup and works with senior leaders to build high performing teams. She is also the author of From Me To We – Why commercial collaboration will future-proof business, leaders and personal success published by Wiley. For more information visit http://www. janinegarner.com.au April 2016 ModernBusiness 25