Bibliografia: Workshop de Empreendedorismo - Universidade de Cambridge

SOFT SKILLS

Sometimes the hardest aspect of entrepreneurship

Acknowledgements: These teaching notes are derived from materials used on numerous courses of the Centre for entrepreneurial Learning: Enterprisers; Emerging Technology Entrepreneurship and Ignite.

S.Vyakarnam (August 2011)

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Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 3 Summary of entrepreneurial management competences:............................................................ 3 Being able to demonstrate that you understand Markets and customers ........................................ 4 The Ansoff Matrix – by Igor Ansoff (1957) ................................................................................... 6 Team Building................................................................................................................................. 7 The Entrepreneurial Team........................................................................................................... 7 Ability to Imagine It and Do It ........................................................................................................ 10 Creativity ................................................................................................................................... 10 Team ability to identify resources .............................................................................................. 10 Proving it ................................................................................................................................... 11 Networking Skills .......................................................................................................................... 12 Reflections.................................................................................................................................... 14 Demonstrating your ability to learn from mistakes and feedback ............................................... 14 Pitching......................................................................................................................................... 15 The Elevator Pitch ..................................................................................................................... 15 Common Mistakes..................................................................................................................... 15 Who are you pitching to and what stage of the opportunity are you pitching?............................ 16 The Las Vegas factor! ............................................................................................................... 17 Patience and personal credibility................................................................................................... 19 Keeping the Dream Alive .............................................................................................................. 19

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Introduction This handout has been provided to support the “soft skills” needed to develop a business.

Often entrepreneurs and their investors and supporters naturally focus on the so-called “hard” issues, such as quantifying the value proposition, developing cash flows, equity, valuation, etc., Often, forgetting that more than anything else the quality and a well functioning management team is at the heart of success.

You will hear from time to time that a “B” team with an “A” quality opportunity will make a mess, whereas an “A” quality team can take a “B” quality idea and make a success of it.

There are, in summary, probably three key areas of competence you need to think about: • • •

The ability to identify and articulate the market opportunity Possession of breadth and depth of management skills to execute Risk appetite and spirit to overcome obstacles and keep going when it gets tough

Summary of entrepreneurial management competences: Based on Tristart research1.

1. The ability to identify clearly the market opportunity, demonstrating that you truly understand the needs of the customers, why they buy, the dynamics of the sectors you wish to penetrate and naturally the common sense elements that can make the difference between a nice report and a commercial deal.

2. The possession, within the team of the breadth and depth of management skills, including the ability to plan, sell, manage people, run the numbers, manage cash and the book keeping aspects of the business, have an understanding of where the money is coming from and going to. Figure what makes the venture “tick”. In other words you need a team.

This means going beyond the formation of a group of friends from College into a functioning, credible team of commercially minded, market savvy individuals.

3. Demonstrate you have “fire in the belly”, that you are willing to put your resources where they are needed, take the risks and truly able to inspire and motivate a team of people. You will also need to persuade customers and investors in your ability to ethically manage the business – after all you are going to be trusted with their money. This comes over from evidence that you have taken feedback, your pitch and the way you network in the business community.

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“Tristart” a web-based tool to enhance the assessment of success in start-ups. www.transitions.co.uk

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Being able to demonstrate that you understand Markets and customers This section is an extract from the MARKETS approach document and is unashamedly repeated as it is perhaps one of the most important tasks for you to perform in time to meet investors.

What is the basic unmet need you are trying to fill? Is this unmet need sufficiently large to provide for a big enough and growing market to make it worthwhile starting an enterprise/ business or launching your product? Think through from a generic definition of the market to identify segments, that you can think of as customers, who will buy from you and why they might do so.

All projects must be driven from a thorough understanding of the needs, namely: • •

specific need that the enterprise is addressing; general needs to which the business relates and which set the context - these may affect how the specific needs evolve and may also lead to follow-on opportunities.

Questions relating to the specific needs include the following: • Who are the customers? What problems do they have?

• How serious is the need and why? Is it a need or just a “nice to have”? Will it endure or could it fade away? What is the urgency?

• If there are several aspects to the need, what is most important? Where could the greatest value be created by a good solution?

• What constrains how any solution will be accepted and used? What is needed in order to fit with existing standards, practices, infrastructure, products, assumptions, and culture? What is needed to achieve easy adoption and use?

• Is a technology solution needed? For example, could the problem be solved by legal, social or legislative means? To what extent is a “soft solution” or whole life support needed alongside any technology solution?

Questions relating to the general needs include the following: • To what extent are the specific needs a subset of wider and longer-term problems, concerns or opportunities? How far, by addressing the specific needs, can we position ourselves to address the more general needs? How might the technology, product or service be re-used for other offerings?

• Can we foresee how these general needs will develop? How might this increase or decrease the specific needs?

• What assumptions underpin our analysis of the specific needs? What events or changes could substantially alter these needs? How likely are they to happen? What do we need to watch?

• Where are the needs most acute and/or growing rapidly? How important are they in the UK? There is always a danger of “pushing” an existing ideas or technology solution instead of focusing on what is really needed. Therefore care must be taken that the analysis of specific needs is done objectively, without being distorted by personal enthusiasms or what you want to sell or develop.

The analysis must be well informed by information from customers and those who know the market and customers well.

It is sometimes true that customers do not know they need a product until they see it, but we need to clearly recognise if we are making a leap of faith about the needs. It may be that we have a leading position in some radically new technology for which it is not possible to foresee all of the 4

applications. But it is essential to identify what can provide the initial market and the revenue for exploiting other opportunities as they become clearer.

The analysis of needs should include a preliminary quantification of the value proposition in financial terms: • How much is the output worth to customers and what are they likely to pay?

• What is the benefit through preventing loss of life, waste of time or resources, loss of output, financial loss, poor decisions…?

In putting together the information and assumptions about customers’ needs and the size and dynamics of the market place you can then begin to think about the approach you will take to enter the market – the business model you need to maximise your opportunity.

Making a Business Case (particularly within Organizations) This part of the note is particularly relevant to those who expect to work for a larger organization at some stage, rather than say starting their own company.

In large organizations, there are further internal criteria that are required, beyond those demanded by investors (shareholders) to persuade senior managers that the innovation will fit with the nature of the Organization, its existing resources and position in the market place.

You will need to start with assessing the climate of innovation within the Organisation. In many large companies there is – at least – at the Board room level (known as the “C” level) positive statement about innovation.

You may find that there are several locations, “fathers” and meanings to it – such as process innovation, market innovation or product innovation.

Try and assess whether there is a free market – laissez faire mechanism or whether it is driven from the Centre. In other words understand the context, so that you will know how to frame your proposition.

In a free market context, access to funding/budgets is subject to much negotiation and perhaps even compromise. This may either dilute or skew the nature of the innovation that the originator has in mind.

Access to this funding can also become somewhat political, subject to connections. (Although there was a push back stating preference for “data over decibels”).

The long careers of innovators within an Organisation might also suggest that one has to be around for long enough to build credibility and trust before suggestions are taken seriously.

When or how do ideas either die or get killed off? In essence if the ideas are deeply rooted in customer need/demand with clear evidence it has a much better chance of success. This may make innovation incremental and stifle radical innovation, so if you want to push ahead with something radical you will really need to deeply understand the context of business models and ask yourself – are you asking the turkey to vote for Christmas?

Does your innovation fit with any particular programme or vision statement?

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You will also need to demonstrate that you have internal support, a team that can deliver and a clear line of sight to customer orders.

Common sense understanding of the financial implications, a well presented case in the language of the company with a compelling proposition is what is needed to round off the pitch to your internal senior managers.

One of the best worked models for making sense of how to present the fit of the new market/product innovation with the company’s strategy is illustrated by the Ansoff model, described below.

The Ansoff Matrix – by Igor Ansoff (1957) In generic terms, for managers to make a business case internally, it is probably most helpful to use the Ansoff Matrix, with axes of markets and technologies/products. This matrix can be used to make sense of the way that an innovation fits into the overall strategy of the company. It can be viewed from a high level, through to a fine grained fit within product categories and customer needs. It is somewhat dependent on the imagination of the team using the matrix. The greater the fine grained use of the matrix the more the distance from competitors and thus the more compelling the proposition.

New

Customer/Market

Existing Technology /Product

New

The use of the matrix allows us to pose a number of questions: • Are we innovating within a comfort zone of existing customers/products? In other words is the innovation incremental? This has implications for market entry, risks, fit with other products etc., •

Are we taking new technologies/innovations to existing markets/customers? These new innovations might also open up new markets, thus diversifying our portfolio? But the essence of it is that the innovation is in markets we understand?

•

Are the innovations more about market entry? Taking an existing product/service innovation and growing the market place? And to achieve these new market entries do we need to adapt the product/service?

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And finally is it completely new to us/the marketplace and to customers?

Further generic questions might include: • Are we innovating with products or with processes? Are they radical to us or to the market?

• What is the minimum market size that will make it attractive to us? Is there a global unmet need for this innovation?

• What are the implementation costs?

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• •

Are there regulatory issues we need to consider? Or industry standards?

What are the risks – to brand, to the team to the business?

Team Building The Entrepreneurial Team The entrepreneurial team is a key ingredient for success. The leader needs to learn and teach; deal with adversity; be resilient; exhibit integrity, dependability, honesty; and build entrepreneurial culture.

The team needs to have relevant experience and track record; motivation to excel; commitment determination and persistence. It needs to have tolerance of risk, ambiguity and uncertainty; creativity; team focus of control; adaptability, opportunity obsession; leadership; communication. (Timmons, 1999) There are typically two stages to the evolution of a team – the formation and the continued development. In the first instance, selection of team members is accomplished through examining track records, references, skills needed in the team and the potential for the chemistry to work between team members. Once a team starts to form and shape – other dynamics take over such as compatibility, work rate, ability to deliver on promises and the day to day experience of working together in good and hard times.2 Underlying much of what happens in team formation and development may be described as the softer aspects of team building, such as personal skills, social dynamics, preferred work styles, personalities, motivations, values and ethics.

There are many psychometric instruments, coaching tools and models for opening up discussions on team formation and development. Scholars on the one hand and people in organizations on the other develop their own preferred approaches. On Enterprisers we have used the term role inventory developed by Meredith Belbin as an example of one such instrument.

Belbin’s theory of team roles was developed after many years of observation and research using personality tests and behavior analysis. Belbin found that human behavior in decision making groups is not random. He acknowledged, that a team role is simply “a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way. “ As a result of his research he identified 8 distinct roles. An effective team will be made up of a range of people who can perform a variety of roles and majority of the time most people have 2 or 3 preferred roles within a team and most people can be flexible about the roles they adopt.

The cautionary note is that in a typical entrepreneurial team there may not be 8 people, but it is to acknowledge that individuals within a smaller team may well have to adopt many of these roles.

There are of course many psychometric instruments to assist in team building; Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; 16 PF; Thomas International are just three more such examples.

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S Vyakarnam and J. Handelberg: (2005) Four Themes of the Impact of Management Teams on Organizational Performance: Implications for Future Research of Entrepreneurial Teams.

International Small Business Journal. Special Issue 6; vol 23:pp236-256

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Plant

Role: To act as a prime source of ideas and innovation for the team As a person: Individualistic, intellectual, serious minded, unorthodox, creative

Resource Investigator

Role: To explore outside resources and develop contacts that may be helpful to the team As a person: Enthusiastic, extrovert, communicative, good under pressure

Coordinator

Role: To control and organize the activities of the team, making best use of the resources available As a person: Mature, calm, self-confident, fair minded, quietly charismatic

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Shaper

Role: To give shape and form to the team’s activities As a person: Outgoing, dynamic, challenging, has drive and courage

Monitor-Evaluator

Role: To analyse ideas and suggestions both from within and outside the team and to evaluate their feasibility and practical value in terms of team’s objectives As a person: Highly intelligent, sober, strategic, critical, skeptical

Team Worker

Role: To help individual members to achieve and maintain team effectiveness.

Implementer

Completer Finisher

As a person: Socially oriented, mild, likeable, sensitive, perceptive Role: To translate general concepts and plans into a practical working brief and carry out that brief in a systematic fashion.

As a person: Disciplined, reliable, conservative, hard-working, predictable

Role: To ensure that the team’s efforts are as near perfect as possible and that nothing gets overlooked As a person: Conscientious, orderly, anxious painstaking

Belbin Team Roles

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Ability to Imagine It and Do It Creativity Entrepreneurs and successful managers are and need to be creative in the way they see opportunities and harness energies to solve problems. This is a crucial skill set to develop, because the more passionate you become over the idea and the more you face customer feedback and perhaps even skepticism - you will need to be flexible and open to thinking of new ways of solving problems.

“There are no problems…only opportunities to be creative.” Dorye Roettger The main enemies of creativity are tunnel vision and lack of inspiration. Either we know too much about something to do anything but continue trudging down the same path or we haven’t got the vision to see a new destination. The idea of a creativity technique is to push you away from the well-trodden path, to get a different viewpoint, to offer you the opportunity to do something you wouldn’t normally do. Yes, this can be uncomfortable, but it is the best way to make something new happen3.

But remember, creativity techniques aren’t creative – YOU are. Although groups can stifle the creative process, shifting in and out of a group can maximise the creative output of that group4.

Team ability to identify resources Specifying the resources needed to enable your opportunity to go to market is usually one of the early steps you need to take.

These resources can be classified as:

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Human capital – in other words who do you need in your team with the right level of skills, from the early inventive stage to the more commercial stages.

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Financial capital – how much money will you need to convert the idea into a business?

Where will you find that money and how will you “pay it back”?

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Fixed assets – what facilities do you need in terms of laboratory, offices, technology infrastructure etc.,?

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Social capital – Who do you need to get to know to enable you to open doors? These might be senior internal colleagues, channel partners, advocates at clients’ organizations

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Intellectual capital – What IP would you need in addition to what you have. Your idea may embody something that can be protected by copyrights/patents etc., but is it sufficient to protect it from competing solutions or will you need additional surrounding/augmenting IP?

Clegg, B. and Birch, P. (1999) Instant Creativity. Kogan Page Limited, London.

Epstein, R. (2000) The Big Book of Creativity Games. McGraw-Hill, NY.

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Proving it No doubt you will be seeking funding, from investors, government grants, customers and hoping to arrange delayed payments to suppliers etc., you may even approach your friends and family. In all cases and not least for your own satisfaction as a team – especially if you are going to devote your energy into the venture is to “prove it”.

Does the technology work, is it novel, can it be protected and if so why? But more than anything else – do customers want it and will they pay for it?

Beyond resources what are the key activities that will determine the success or otherwise of your proposed opportunity? For example: • • • • • • • • •

Conducting market research/client research?

Proof of concept – the technology, the business model and the overall service/product package Effective beta tests with demonstration clients.

Early adoption by prospective customers Raising “internal” budgets – from family, friends, and others Finding a senior colleague (or mentor) who can provide access to budgets. This may be central to your prospects.

Branding – getting the essence of who you are so you can communicate the vision and value to the customers Presence on website And a 101 other crucial tasks!

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Networking Skills Networking can sometimes be seen in a rather negative light by people who think it may be exploitative, shallow, noisy or just not their “thing”. This is to miss the point that among the resources needed to implement ideas/opportunities is the knowledge, experience, expertise, energy, connections that people have in the wider environment.

Broadly this would be defined as social capital. There are two main forms of this – structural social capital – which forms as a result of formal interactions and relational – which forms through friendships, socializing together etc., Sometimes relational social capital can lead to friendships and sometimes relationships can lead to opportunities for formal interactions (business or otherwise).

The manifestation of social capital is through networking. But at a high level there are some fundamental principles as follows: • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Building social capital is a two way process.

It is highly dependent on reciprocity You need to be sensitive when to approach people – depending on where they fit in the social pecking order It requires trust It requires follow through – keeping your word Being sensitive and ensuring confidentiality (so there is no room for negative gossip) You never embarrass the person that made the introduction An indicator of success would be that you begin to form a network where you know many people, Many people also know about you That you can reach key decision makers within about 3- 4- phone calls/emails That people are happy to introduce you to their senior contacts You have to become known for something special You are also someone that gets known to be helpful, open and sharing

Other key tips • •

Find the network brokers – the people who know the most number of people Ensure you “feed” the broker with information, knowledge, insights – beign helpful gives you much more than you give

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Becoming the norm

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See Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo etc., - so make sure you get about, get to know people, ensure they know about you.

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Building your social capital is a subtle process, takes time and is a lifetime asset.

Make use of these tips during any networking event.

Networking Tips •

If you go with a friend (a colleague), separate or you will stand talking with him or her.

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Get the host to introduce you to people you would like to meet.

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Shake your contact’s hand firmly.

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Make comfortable eye contact, be enthusiastic, and smile.

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Give honest and sincere appreciation.

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Show respect of the other person’ opinions. Never say “you are wrong”.

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Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

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Ask questions; avoid statements.

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Get referral(s).

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Get business cards and ask “can I contact you, -------?”

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Watch your body language – Do not fidget, play with your hair, or chew gum.

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Make rough notes straight after the event and then write them up as soon as you can.

Questions you might want to ask guest entrepreneurs at the networking event

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How did you get the idea to start the business?

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Why did you start the business?

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What are your personal values/goals in driving the business forward?

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What are the sources of finance in the early stage of your business?

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What are the routes to market for your products and services?

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What is your business model (e.g., license, consulting, manufacturing, joint venture, etc.) and why do you employ this particular model?

“Networking is part of the process of developing your social capital and constantly building relationships”.

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Reflections Demonstrating your ability to learn from mistakes and feedback It is said that entrepreneurs learn from making mistakes! Actually they also learn by not repeating mistakes. So one of the skills you need it to be able to reflect on what you are learning, what you observe, and creating strategies for how you will behave next time round. Naturally being able to listen is key, but in addition you should develop an ability to reflect on what is going on around you.

To get you started – here are a few prompts.

Here are a few prompts for your thought for the day!

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Write down your definition of entrepreneurship:

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What did I learn about the resources needed to start up a new venture? (Also discuss what you learnt about the process of starting a new venture)

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What characteristics do you have that most closely resemble those of an entrepreneur?

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What have you done that most resembles an entrepreneurial process?

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What inspired or put you off entrepreneurship as a result of listening to the guest speakers?

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Have you changed your perceptions of entrepreneurship as a result of today and if so in what way?

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Pitching Whether you are trying to raise money from investors for a commercial project or trying to persuade a grant making agency, your company or institution to sponsor your idea – you will need to make an “elevator pitch”. The following section is worded for raising money from investors – but the principles apply to all situations where you are trying to gain the support and resources you need for implementing your project/idea.

The Elevator Pitch The ‘Elevator Pitch’ is a very short (one or two minutes) introduction to your project/business and is something you will use regularly when introducing yourself, making new contacts at networking events or in opening up a conversation with a senior colleague whose support you seek.

In these tight situations you need to be able to come over in a compelling way so as to grab the attention of people who can either support you directly or give you connections/introductions to people who can. A good elevator pitch also enhances your personal credibility in promoting your project.

The key is to have ready a well rehearsed and well delivered pitch that covers the key areas of your proposition, without the need for any visual aids or props.

The following is a checklist of what you should try to include in your pitch.

• • • • • • • • • •

Always start with a bold statement of the problem and market opportunity (attention grabber) Our product is (simple, non-technical description) That provides (key benefit that solves a problem) Your solution should be different and compelling For (target customers) Who have/are (their compelling reason to buy) Unlike (objective analysis of competitor shortcomings) Our unique selling point is….(your main source of competitive advantage) We need to raise £….in order to….(why you need the money) Call to action (a way to engineer feedback and a follow up meeting) - This might be about how much money or what other resource you need and how your supporter will benefit. Or you may be asking for some other form of support for your project and within this statement you need to reassure the person to whom you are pitching that there are no/low risks in taking the next steps.

Common Mistakes Anyone who has watched the ‘Dragon’s Den’ on television will be painfully aware that delivering a professional and compelling pitch can be fraught with difficulty. In our experience, entrepreneurs and students frequently make the following mistakes when pitching: •

Going on about the technology – way beyond the interest of the audience.

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Failure to grab the audience’s attention with their opening statement. The opening statement must demonstrate a compelling unmet need and have a ‘wow’ factor.

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Failure to explain upfront what the product is or to baffle the audience with jargon. As a guide, imagine you are explaining your concept to a truculent and non-too-bright teenager!

(This advice was received from a Venture Capitalist…)

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Failure to ask for what you need! You aren’t delivering your pitch for your entertainment or that of the audience. You must clearly state how much money you are seeking to raise in this round of investment. You must also explain what you will use the money for

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Not tailoring the pitch to the audience.

Who are you pitching to and what stage of the opportunity are you pitching?

As you develop your opportunity – so your story will get more sophisticated and the pitch will be more refined and compelling – assuming of course you listen and take effective feedback.

Who will you be pitching to? Within an Organization are those might identify as: •

Gatekeepers to resources and to senior decision makers

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Decision makers who can say yes or no – you need to research who these might be

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Influencers – people whose opinions are valued and who may not have a direct say in the decision but whose nod of approval or a quiet dissenting voice in a car park can make or break a project.

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Time wasters – who give you the impression that their voice matters but in reality they may well be past their “use by date” or who may block you because they support another project. For political reasons or other reasons better known to themselves they do not tell you straight and this can waste a huge amount of your time and cause frustration.

Even outside of organsiations as a solo entrepreneur who has to approach large bureaucracies, agencies and potential client organizations, you will find that you need to try and identify the same four basic categories of connections – gatekeepers, decision makers, influencers and time wasters. These ideas are derived from “buyer behavior” literature in marketing and are well developed models.

You will need to adapt your pitch and the way you reach these people. In some ways you may need to circle around them, working gradually to win over support. One of the best ways of doing this is to find yourself a mentor who can advice you on the local terrain, give you practical advice and counsel you with wisdom from time to time.

In addition to the internal lobbying and pitching, you may need to figure out who you need to talk to at client organizations, regulatory Institutions and other organizations in the value chain. In all cases you need to find the gatekeepers, influencers and the decision makers. This takes careful research, diplomacy and the support of people who can open doors for you.

One of the common failures is to assume you know the people who can help you and not seek out further information and introductions. If you are in a sales role you are probably pretty good at this skill, but no matter how well you know your current contacts, to be entrepreneurial means you need to continuously grow your networks of connections. You never know when you will need a contact.

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The Las Vegas factor!

At various stages you will need to go up the corporate ladder to get the support of the most senior people. You get one shot at this level – so using the metaphor of entertainment – get plenty of practice with people and audiences whose opinions you trust, and in live situations where you can verify the proposition. Only once you are truly ready to get an audience with the most senior people is when you should go there. Think like an entertainer who practices for years in smaller clubs before making it to Las Vegas!

These people will want to know: • Who else supports you? – This is crucial for personal and project credibility •

What is the hard evidence from the market place?

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Have you fully understood the way your project will fit within the company strategy?

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Do you know what the hot buttons are for the senior management and have you “got it”?

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Is the implementation team you propose credible? Do they have the experience and the expertise? In other words are they people who have earned the rights to take risks for the company?

Example: Here is an example of a pitch by Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics • • • • • • •

Over 25% of film budgets are spent on post production editing.

Our workstation is a digital film editor that lets you modify film images any way you choose.

It’s aimed at post production film engineers who are dissatisfied with the unreliability of traditional editing packages.

Unlike workstations such as Sun, HP or IBM, we have assembled all the interfaces needed for post-production film editing into one package.

Trials have shown that our workstation can reduce post production budgets by up to 50% We are looking to raise $20m in private equity to take this exciting product to market.

Could we arrange a meeting to discuss this investment opportunity?

The effective delivery of your elevator pitch will: • • • •

Demonstrate sincerity, including listening Communicate a sense of value, empathy and urgency Convince the ‘target person’ to schedule a longer meeting with and be receptive to doing business with you.

Empower and enable the ‘target person’ also to convince other appropriate people to become interested in your company

Your elevator pitch should require no more than 1-2 minutes. Helping each other. Here are some notes for you to help your team members to prepare their pitch.

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Observation and Feedback Form Nonverbal Does the speaker’s body language demonstrate true interest in the listener? (Notice especially, the following aspects of nonverbal behavior): Eye Contact/Facial Expression Position and Movement of Body Verbal How would you describe the speaker’s tone? Was the speaker confident? Enthusiastic? Convincing?

Passionate?

Did the speaker use vocal inflections to stress key points or show enthusiasm for the idea?

Structure/Organization Did the speaker provide a brief overview of the idea?

Did the speaker offer evidence to support the proposal?

Giving Appropriate Feedback 1. Be sure your intention is to be helpful.

Feedback should be given in a manner which communicates acceptance of the receiver as a worthwhile person and of that person’s right to be different.

2. Be specific.

Feedback should refer to performance, behaviour or outcomes, not to the individual.

3. Be sensitive to the context in which you give feedback (one-on-one).

The environment should be right - comfortable for the receiver, never a surprise.

4. Avoid loaded terms.

Which produce emotional reactions (“Here’s a dumb thing you did...”)

5. Use “I” statements.

Take ownership for the feedback (“I noticed....”, “I saw....”, “I observed...”, “I felt....”, etc.). Remember that perceptions, reactions, and opinions should be presented as such and not as facts.

Receiving Feedback 1. Listen carefully.

2. Ask clarifying questions if necessary.

3. Summarize your understanding of the feedback you receive.

4. Try not to let defenses build, but mentally note questions or disagreements.

5. Carefully evaluate the accuracy of the feedback and then modify your behaviour if you choose.

6. Gather additional information from other sources or by observing your own behaviour and other people’s reaction to it.

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Patience and personal credibility It takes time to build ones personal credibility.

You need to be able to demonstrate track record of success and learning from difficulties. It is of course much harder to demonstrate “fire in the belly”, but this may translate to visible passion for your idea, the camaraderie in the team, the evidence of having been in touch with customers, the support of senior and well respected people in the sector/community (without “dropping names”).

Often a new project may not fit with the dominant business model, may be just too small to have an impact on the bottom line – something that might be more easily solved in the short term by better sales efforts of existing products! So – you will need to demonstrate a common sense understanding of business and the commercial nature of the industry or market sector you will be entering.

You have to build your personal credibility for being innovative, risk taking and proactive in small projects. Gaining a track record of more successes than failures will help as evidence builds of your mindset, energy, ability to both spot opportunities and take tough commercial decisions. Make sure that people know about these through soft personal marketing. Not by being boring and bragging, but through softer means where others talk positively about you. You need to build a network of advocates of your ability and track record.

You might also like to get a reputation for seeking forgiveness rather than permission! To achieve this you need a strong set of social skills where you have developed a wonderful network of people who support you and from time to time can speak up for you! All this takes time and patience too.

Keeping the Dream Alive Think about the following questions; •

How do I now intend to move forward with my project?

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In what way will I become more entrepreneurial in all aspects of my life?

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What are the four most important things I have learnt about myself?

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What are the main take home messages from the programme?

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