Embracing Intrapreneurship: Engaging Senior & Middle Managers - Ms. Folake Soetan
Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the engine of innovation, driving the creation of new products, services, and processes that fuel organizational growth. By fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, organizations can maintain a competitive edge through continuous improvement and adaptability. Empowering employees to think and act like entrepreneurs also boosts job satisfaction and retention, as they feel more valued and engaged. Managers play a crucial role in promoting entrepreneurship within their teams, communicating its importance, and aligning it with the organization’s vision and goals.
Lessons for Managers
Ken Kutaragi’s journey offers valuable lessons for managers aiming to foster an entrepreneurial culture:
- Think Beyond Industry Norms: Innovation often occurs at the intersections of different disciplines.
- Belief and Resilience: Persistence and conviction can turn skeptics into believers.
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Encouraging diverse minds to work together fosters great ideas.
- Calculated Risk: Embracing disruption and taking calculated risks are essential for driving innovation.
Understanding Intrapreneurship
Intrapreneurship involves taking the lead in developing and implementing ideas within a company, even if you don’t own it. This approach can significantly improve organizational performance. Entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs share many traits, including a focus on solutions and a drive to add value. The main difference lies in ownership: entrepreneurs own their businesses, while intrapreneurs innovate within the companies they work for.
The Value of Intrapreneurship Today
Many companies strive to adopt progressive approaches but often remain rooted in traditional structures, which can stifle growth. Intrapreneurship bridges this gap, promoting innovation that sustains a business. Its benefits include:
- Fresh Ideas: Intrapreneurs offer new solutions to identified problems.
- Opportunities: They find and capitalize on opportunities.
- Financial Benefits: Intrapreneurs improve efficiency, streamline processes, and reduce costs.
- Employee Engagement: They help employees feel valued and motivated.
- Enhancing Brand: Companies fostering intrapreneurship are seen as innovative and attractive to top talent.
Characteristics of Traditional vs. Progressive Organizations
- Traditional Organizations: Risk-averse, stable, predictable, scrutinize new ideas, have long decision cycles, hierarchical structures, specialized approaches, and fixed boundaries.
- Progressive Organizations: Encourage risk-taking, experimentation, embrace failure as a learning tool, agile, adaptable, implement exponential growth strategies, leverage technology for efficiency, and focus on rapid expansion.
Characteristics of Traditional vs. Progressive Organizations
Managers are pivotal in fostering an intrapreneurial culture:
- Build a Supportive Environment: Encourage collaboration, knowledge sharing, and cross-functional teamwork. Provide incentives for joint ideas.
- Focus on Learning: Offer programs and platforms for developing design thinking and prototyping business models. Encourage ownership of processes.
- Celebrate Entrepreneurial Spirit: Value innovation and risk-taking, allowing free expression.
- Empower Employees: Clearly communicate the vision, ensure employees understand their contributions, and celebrate calculated risks and their outcomes.
- Encourage ‘What If’ Thinking: Facilitate brainstorming sessions and innovative thinking.
Senior Managers' Role
Senior managers must provide leadership support and align vision with the organization’s goals. Effective communication, efficient resource allocation, and leveraging existing strengths are crucial. Mrs. Folake’s experience of expanding a business into Ghana with limited resources illustrates the importance of entrepreneurial thinking in overcoming challenges.
Intrapreneurship for Personal and Professional Growth
Intrapreneurial experiences contribute to personal and professional growth. Mrs. Folake shares her journey of working in various sectors within the same organization for 15 years, driving growth and solving complex problems using entrepreneurial skills. These experiences benefit both the individual and the organization by fostering innovation, resilience, and adaptability.
Conclusion
Developing entrepreneurial skills benefits both the organization and the individual by fostering innovation, resilience, and personal growth. Encouraging an intrapreneurial culture is essential for any organization’s success and sustainability. Managers at all levels can contribute by starting within their area of influence and working collaboratively to drive meaningful change and innovation. Embracing intrapreneurship not only aligns personal growth with the organization’s success but also enhances adaptability and problem-solving abilities in everyday life.
Reference
Folake Soetan – The Platform Nigeria – 2022 – https://youtu.be/NGcNKv2jLy0?si=LP5-6rq2yeQuk3HC
