MPowerment Matters

Entrepreneurs

December 2008

I am not going to beat around the bush or try to
make things sound pretty. Entrepreneurs cannot
rely on miracles to save them or get them through
a rough patch. If miracles do happen in this
world, and maybe they do and maybe they don't,
they happen at random in a totally unpredictable
manner. In business, we strive for
predictability, and therefore must base our
decisions and judgments on factors that we can
either shape or predict.

It has often been said that hope is not a
strategy. That adage applies here. Entrepreneurs
cannot sit back and wait for something positive
to happen. Those that do are not true
entrepreneurs.

The very nature of true entrepreneurs is such
that they believe that through their vision,
creativity, innovation and foresight they can
identify commercial opportunities around them.

Entrepreneurs see things that other people miss.
They can see resources or potential resources
that can be used or utilized in a more beneficial
way than they are being used now. They see the
slight changes that turn a product or service
from "okay" to "terrific." They see future needs
before they are actually needs. Look at the Sony
Walkman, the Apple ipod, the cell phone, the
internet. There is no brief "window of
opportunity" for entrepreneurs. Opportunities
abound. Many exist outside of time.

Being an entrepreneur is no more than a decision
to be one. That decision involves the desire to
control the world around them and not let it
control them. In that sense, entrepreneurship is
more about guts than brains. Thus, the key
competencies of an entrepreneur are independence
and a strong character. Of course, creativity,
innovativeness, a willingness to take some level
of risk and a degree of clarity are helpful
traits.

An entrepreneur is a person who has decided to
take control of their future and become
self-employed, usually, but not necessarily by
creating their own unique business, product or
service. Entrepreneurs thus add value to society
by bringing something new and useful into the
marketplace.

Entrepreneurs make their own luck. As Gary
Player, the great South African golfer said, "The
harder I work, the luckier I get." How does that
happen? The good ones observe, analyze and
constantly ask themselves questions. They
believe that in everything that happens there is
opportunity somewhere. If things crash around
them, they don't look for a miracle. They somehow
find the opportunity in the ashes. They think
ahead. There is no time for "woe is me."

Miracles happen, but entrepreneurs make things
happen. Entrepreneurs make things happen through
their belief, conviction, determination,
enthusiasm, commitment and practical ability. If
a wildly successful result is achieved,
entrepreneurs don't look to the heavens. They
look to their strategic plan, their projections,
their blueprints or their notes and other
predictors of the success.

This is not a question of science vs. religion.
It is a question of doing what needs to be done
to get the result you want. It is about
self-reliance and about getting results from your
efforts.

Life itself could be called a miracle.
Entrepreneurial success is not. Waiting for
anything is not in the DNA of a typical
entrepreneur. So, all of you pseudo-entrepreneurs
who are waiting for the miracle of success to
drop on you...Go back to your jobs. If you aren't
willing to make your own success happen, you are
not a true entrepreneur.


On a different note, 2008 has not been a terrific
year. We are still at war in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Problems in Israel continue. The
world continues to ignore Darfur. On top of all
of that, our world economy has come crashing down
around us, with the worst yet to come.

There is a note of hope. On January 20, we usher
in a new era, with the promise of a fresh
approach. Again, we cannot hope for miracles. But
we can look forward to a new plan, with new,
important goals and a strong will to achieve.

At the end of the year I like to look back at
what I have enjoyed over the course of the last
twelve months in books, movies, television and
music. For whatever it is worth, here are some of
my choices for the most interesting efforts of
the year, taking into account that I have been
somewhat limited in my ability to see, read or
hear more offerings.

Movies
The Dark Knight
There Will be Blood
Appaloosa
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
I've Loved You so Long
No Country for Old Men
Doubt
Milk
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Reader
The Visitor
I have yet to see Defiance, Frost/Nixon, Gran
Torino and Revolutionary Road, all of which look
great too,

Television
Damages
True Blood
Mad Men
Weeds
Entourage
Saving Grace
The Closer
30 Rock
The Office
Bill Maher

Music
Bettye Lavette- The Scene of the Crime
Juggling Suns- Tranzmutation
Lucinda Williams- Little Honey
Neil Young- Sugar Mountain Live
Nudge it Up a Notch- Steve Cropper & Felix
Caviliere
Lizz Wright- The Orchard
John Mellencamp- Freedom's Road
Bruce Springsteen- Magic
Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs
Robert Plant and Allison Krause- Raising Sand

Books
Non-fiction:
* Patriotic Grace by Peggy Noonan
* American Lion by Jon Meacham
* The Republic of Suffering by Drew Gilpin Faust
* Hot, Flat and Crowded by Tom Friedman
* The Dark Side by Jane Mayer
* The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
* Forger's Spell by Edward Dolnick
* Tried by War by James McPherson
* Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer by Fred
Kaplan
* Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley

Fiction:
* The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
* My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru
* The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
* The Likeness by Tana French
* The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg
Larsson
* Swan Peak by James Lee Burke
* A Most Wanted Man by John le Carre

Business:
* Relevance by David Apgar
* A Sense of Urgency by John Kotter
* The Breakthrough Company by Keith McFarland
* Leaders at All Levels by Ram Charan
* Differentiate or Die by Al Trout and Steve
Rivkin
* Transparency by Bennis, Goleman and O"Toole
* Flirting With Disaster by Marc Gerstein
* Innovation to the Core by Peter Skarzynski and
Rowan Gibson

Happy New Year to all. Let's hope 2009 is a better year. Let's be smart, do the right things, and do the things we do right.%$firstname$%