BEING THE ENTREPRENEUR OF YOUR LIFE Charles (Chuck) Sacco Drexel University Associate Dean for Strategy and Innovation, Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship Director, Laurence A. Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship
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et’s face it. The world faces enormous problems. The pace of change is accelerating. Technology is rapidly advancing every industry, and the impact of globalization is increasing. We are in the midst of a worldwide pandemic and facing unprecedented climate challenges. The pace of change is not likely to slow down, and with it will come new problems that need to be solved and new needs to be fulfilled.
place. If we’re going to bring about positive change, entrepreneurs need to be everywhere, embedded in the threads of companies, government, nonprofits, and all types of organizations.
develop creative solutions, and more. If done well, there will be more students able to collaborate, experiment more, go out of their comfort zone, and persevere even when things look tough.
We all have the potential to be entrepreneurs, whether in big or small ways, if we look at problems around us, recognize opportunities to solve those problems, take action, and build community.
This is why Drexel University created a new school, the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, to help college students become the entrepreneurs of their lives. The first school at a university fully dedicated to teaching this subject, it goes broader
IF WE’RE GOING TO BRING ABOUT POSITIVE CHANGE, ENTREPRENEURS NEED TO BE EVERYWHERE, EMBEDDED IN THE THREADS OF COMPANIES, GOVERNMENT, NONPROFITS, AND ALL TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS. So, how are we going to solve these challenges, and who will lead us into the future? We all certainly have a part, but mainly it’s going to fall on today’s students, tomorrow’s leaders—hopefully bright, entrepreneurially minded leaders equipped to solve big problems. As educators, it’s our job to prepare today’s students to be the “entrepreneurs of their lives”—to use their skills, initiative, and, most importantly, a strong “entrepreneurial mindset” to solve problems, build innovative solutions, and help make the world a better
CEL 10th Anniversary Book
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For our students, we can encourage this approach by helping them focus on and develop the key traits and characteristics of entrepreneurial thinking. What if they were more curious and apt to take action? What if they were more likely to seek opportunities, use creative problem solving, and have more resilience and resourcefulness? And what if they were more creative, more communicative, more collaborative? What might be the positive outcomes? The result should be more individuals equipped with the tools to see problems, recognize opportunities,
and deeper into entrepreneurial skill development, with the fostering of an entrepreneurial mindset at its core. Part of our vision at Close is that every student at Drexel will have at least an appreciation of entrepreneurship. We also want students to “start something” and be ready to launch their careers in any size organization with the skills to tackle the problems of today and tomorrow. To achieve this, we focus on helping students develop what we call their “power skills.” Using a tool called the Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile, we help them
