PR for People Monthly November 2013 The Entrepreneurial Mindset | Page 8

When you’re saddled with the name of a
national forest, you have to do something pretty big
to stand out. For Gifford Pinchot III that took the
form of creating a brand new word – along with an
approach to innovating in corporate America that
defines it: “intrapreneurship.”

The American Heritage Dictionary defines an
intrapreneur as “A person within a large corporation
who takes direct responsibility for turning an idea
into a profitable finished product through assertive
risk-taking and innovation.” In his own words, “Intrapreneuring is about people who behave as entrepreneurs within large companies,” Pinchot said.

The grandson of a former governor of Pennsylvania and the first chief of the US Forest Service,
Pinchot has had a storied career in his own right –
going from blacksmithing to writing correspondence
courses on entrepreneurship, to consulting on new
products, to promoting the concept of intrapreneuring with his wife, Elizabeth. They began with a paper
they coauthored, later adding a series of books and
most recently by founding the Bainbridge Graduate
Institute, and the first MBA program in sustainable
business.

“Intrapreneuring is about people who behave
as entrepreneurs within large companies,” Pinchot
said. In order to work within a hierarchal organization, which are known more for avoiding risks
than taking them, an intrapreneur needs a partner, a
sponsor (or more likely sponsors). These sponsors
lend their power within the organization, can help
find resources, and run interference when necessary.
They manage some of the behind-the-scenes politics
required to do anything new inside an organization,

Being
Entrepreneurial
Inside the Box
By Manny Frishberg

while the intrapreneur focuses on results. “Sponsors,” Pinchot explains, “don’t do the work but they
protect it and help to find funds for it.”
- Manny Frishberg