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