Entrepreneur mindset but we all need a job
I went to a lunch where I was most certainly an anomaly. The attendees were all women who were Presidents, CEO’s and overall astoundingly powerful women of some of the top companies in the US. It was interesting listening to these women talk about the future of their companies. How the workforce is changing, how their companies are changing (they all refer to their companies as technology companies now), how their companies sit in regards to the world around them and where that world is going. Impressive conversation.
Then I return to where I spend the majority of my time…the start-up world. Everyone is an entrepreneur and not only that they can be. The available tools allow anyone (if they have trained themselves) to build an app in a few days and get it in the Apple store. It could be for fun with a few friends that think that over the course of a night that they have a brilliant idea or it could be people who are really drilling down on building a company that they believe will be the next big thing. That’s pretty awesome.
The big corporations and the start-up community are certainly on different sides of the spectrum but at the end of the day we all need a job that produces income to live. Ten years from now there will be jobs that don’t even exist today. There are jobs today that didn’t exist ten years ago.
Big companies are acutely aware that they need to have a culture shift for their next workforce. Millennials desire certain things from their work life and Generation Z will want something else. Everyone needs a salary to live and you want a happy workforce. Social responsibility has become a top priority, flexibility is key too, balance of family not just for mothers but fathers as well is another addition to the list and there are more.
As a culture we can all be an entrepreneur. The tools are there to play in the world around us. It doesn’t mean we will all be successful as entrepreneurs but the ability to live on both sides of the fence is becoming more and more part of the world that we live in. The women at lunch got that and not only did I did it fascinating I was happy to hear it.
Comments (Archived):
Ah, “if they have trained themselves” a big “if” for the jobs of today and the ones of 10 years from today. That means staying current with the tools.
staying current is the key
I’m seeing more and more personal profiles with the word autodidact in them. Thinking of adding it to mine. Being able to identify what you need to learn, find the resources to learn it and acquire that learning is the new mba.
i like that. “the new mba”
I’ve been doing that for 30 years. I’m glad it’s now a trend. Platforms like YouTube, et al, make that a lot easier; the knowledge, in many cases, is just a few clicks away. BTW, I use “self-taught” more than “autodidact”.
I’m constantly reminded that I live in a great time to be alive for people like me 🙂 It’s an autodidact’s nirvana!
I LOVE that! I have always been a freelancer and THRIVE on going into new situations and just figuring things out. It’s good to be a little scared and great to have the confidence to know that you can pull it off (whatever “it” is) — even if you don’t know exactly HOW you’re gonna pull it off! I am adding “autodidact” to my resume right now! It’s funny bc I went back and got a masters at Columbia a few years ago in Energy & Environmental Conflict. I thought my background showed that I could take the bull by the horns and make things happen in any field, but folks just wanted to know where I had held full-time jobs and for how long. So strange to me bc as a freelancer, you constantly have to prove yourself and make people recognize you as the best because you always need a new job! Fortunately, I had the idea for my startup right then — and being an autodidact is the one thing you definitely need to be to be an entrepreneur. Glad to hear that you are seeing change at even the highest echelons, Joanne!
I LOVE that! I have always been a freelancer and THRIVE on going into new situations and just figuring things out. It’s good to be a little scared and great to have the confidence to know that you can pull it off (whatever “it” is) — even if you don’t know exactly HOW you’re gonna pull it off! I am adding “autodidact” to my resume right now! It’s funny bc I went back and got a masters at Columbia a few years ago in Energy & Environmental Conflict. I thought my background showed that I could take the bull by the horns and make things happen in any field, but folks just wanted to know where I had held full-time jobs and for how long. So strange to me bc as a freelancer, you constantly have to prove yourself and make people recognize you as the best because you always need a new job! Fortunately, I had the idea for my startup right then — and being an autodidact is the one thing you definitely need to be to be an entrepreneur. Glad to hear that you are seeing change at even the highest echelons, Joanne!
refreshing to see…
It’s a great age for autodidacts 🙂
Doing a side project is a powerful way to explore an entrepreneurial idea without taking the plunge of doing a full-blown startup and raising capital from the onset. That’s how Duck Duck Go got started, for example, and they were able to outlive other competitors who had raised tens of millions of dollars from the start, but who subsequently went down in flame trying to take on Google.
obviously i am a fan of duck duck go.
i hope this isn’t too glass half empty, but my personal observation is that i’m seeing more and more startups where seed capital comes from wealthy family (and friends, but mostly family), and this seems to be crowding out true sweat equity. i hope i’m wrong about this but it’s something i’ve definitely observed (albeit i’m a small sample size)
very small sample size.