LEADERSHIP
Developing An Entrepreneurial Team
By Prof . Dr . Ajit Patil
Businesses are facing major challenges on how to develop risk taking ability among their leaders and develop entrepreneurship among the team . In today ’ s VUCA world , post-pandemic , it is even more important .
Who is responsible for this culture where leadership and employees fear to take risk ? How do you make them realize the cost associated with it ? How do you train them ? How do to create autonomy and entrepreneurship as the competitive advantage of the organization ? This article discusses this important aspect of leadership .
Tom Peters & his co-author / researcher from McKinsey identified eight principles that are followed by successful organizations . These principles make them maintain their strong position in the industry and feature in the Fortune-500 list .
Everyone loves autonomy at work . But very few understand that this privilege goes with the responsibility of entrepreneurship . Autonomy without entrepreneurship is like a car without gasoline . When a team works as if they are the owners of the organization then they can be bestowed with freedom in the form of autonomy . As suggested by Henry Fayol in Fourteen Principles Of
Management , Authority and Responsibility must go hand in hand .
Entrepreneurship is a sense of responsibility and autonomy is the ecosystem provided for such a responsible attitude .
Autonomy is freedom . It is freedom to act . But autonomy has become like a vacuum cleaner at Indian homes . For us , it is an aspirational gadget to have but we hardly put it to use . Autonomy by design , is also susceptible to misuse . Autonomy at work is like a trade-mill at home . It has a decorative and esteem value but is always misused for everything other than doing exercise . Management introduced audit system to put checks and balances on autonomy . But the audit culture is inadvertently killing the risk-taking ability of the teams .
Most of the managers treasure autonomy as pride possession but they either don ’ t use it or misuse it due to lack of entrepreneurship .
What is Entrepreneurship ?
Entrepreneurship is about taking ownership of the mission and goals which are risky and challenging . Risk taking and taking the onus are two key elements .
“
Who is responsible for this culture where leadership and employees fear to take risk ? How do you make them realize the cost associated with it ? How do you train them ? How do to create autonomy and entrepreneurship as the competitive advantage of the organization ?
They get combined to carve a leadership . Taking onus is making critical decisions and initiating strong actions that can go either way . Great leaders keep risk with themselves and distribute rewards to the team . But when a coin flips on the wrong side , the team shares the risk .
Entrepreneurship expands your employment universe and provides a satisfaction of doing business . It is fun people enjoy while playing an adventure sports like bungee jumping . You know that you are safe , a rope tied firmly to your foot will save you from any possible disaster but still enjoy the thrill . Entrepreneurship is about enjoying the thrill rather than fear of unknown .
How are they different ?
Entrepreneurship at work is an attitude to do business rather than performing just the duties specified in the Job Description . Such a team respects systems and processes but when it comes to choosing between systems and business , they choose the later . The last line one can hear from such team members is , “ it is not my problem .”
For a team with entrepreneurial spirit , all problems are everyone ’ s problems . Customer complaints are as sacrosanct as the national anthem ; everyone stands up to the occasion leaving whatever work is being done . A team with entrepreneurial attitude is different in all aspects of the business . They have a different perception and perspective . They look at the broader picture and don ’ t miss woods for trees . They respect the hierarchy but don ’ t get entangled in it . A team with an entrepreneurial approach work as huddle rather than a structure .
Great organizations are products of the great contributions and sacrifices of its team . Maturity to understand that ‘ when
72 MAL48 / 22 ISSUE