A three-way balancing act

I have the chance to speak with many business leaders that desire to have managers that "take more risk" for the orgnaisation and that behave more like "entrepreneurs" than bureaucrats. My response to them is that while individual leadership competencies can be developed, the value these competencies can create will NOT emerge if (1) the organisation does not support the emergence of the entrepreneurial value and (2) the management principles are not in place to grow both the competencies and the organisation simultaneously.

Imagine, developing the "entrepreneurial spirit" in leaders and then not giving them the opportunity to use it. This is a recipe for failure. It is also a quick way to lose some of your best managers.

Also, bear in mind that the competencies development of managers will not be efficient if the orgnisation doesn't reward or support the new competencies. Imagine sending a manager into a training programme that develops their entrepreneurial behaviors when the manager knows that the organisation (middle managers, resource allocation mecanisms, etc.) don't support the new behaviors! This is what is called learning readiness. In this case, the organisation is not ready.

Successful deveopment requires a simultaneous approach that focuses on individual competency development, organisational development (what barriers exist, etc.) and the management of the balance between the two (is the organisation efficient and effective and what feedback mechnaisms help the organisation manage the interface).

Political Agility and Managing Entrepreneurial Vision

Several researchers have studied what competencies are required of entrepreneurs vs. managers. The results are not surprising that managers need to master competencies that focus on relationships and the organizational setting. Entrepreneurs that start-up companies ex-nihilo need to look more at managing external relations, stakeholders etc.

The entrepreneurial leader in the organisation is a mix of the two. At EMLYON we've developed model composed of 24 key competencies for the intrapreneur. While I won't take time here to present all 24, there are two that are often considered among areas for personal development.

Political Agility : Entrepreneurial leaders need to be able to move along the sepctrum of using power of "ideas" to using power of "people". Many refer to this capacity to use the appropriate poltical power as 'political savviness'. Being overly political can create enemies and being underly political does not help advance the intrepreneur's project nor reward his or her team. The effective entrepreneurial leader must balance influence, impact and integrity.

Managing Entrepreneurial Vision: This goes way beyond being able to communicate a vision. It also includes being able to sustain temporal tension that emerges with long innovation projects. To get people to believe in your vision you must 'seduce' them, getting them to say "it's so obvious...why didn't I think of that". In addition you must make sure they hold on to the vision of what 'could be' over long period of time. This is easier said than done.

Navigating the Intrapreneurial Maze

Helping intrapreneurs navigate the company's intrapreneurial maze is a challenge of all leaders and managers. To help understand some of the common tactics used by intrapreneurs to advance their projects, I use a great training tool calle "The Intrapreneurial Maze Game". I've enjoyed facilitating this game in French and English. The game has been used in many cultures and many organizational settings. This is areally unique and cost effective development tool. If you want to learn more about the game, drop me an email at evans@em-lyon.com