ENTREPRENEURIAL PASSION A slowly smoldering fire? By Malte Krohn PhD Student in Innovation, Hamburg University of Technology Faculty Innovation Fellows Candidate Without a doubt, entrepreneurial passion can truly move mountains and we will need a lot of it to solve our many societal challenges. And don’t get me wrong! I believe that this world needs change makers more than ever. I recently looked at the photo of a Friday’s for Future demo and a young activists sign said:
“You will die of old age, I’ll die of climate change.” Surely, this is one of the more pressing issues and you might want to have a look at the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals to find some more “inspiration.” Personally, I am more than skeptical that the corporations, which in many cases got us into this mess, will manage to get us out of it…. Our society always relied on creative destroyers. On entrepreneurs who blend creativity and resources with grit to tackle pressing issues and eagerly direct ubiquitous change into more desirable directions. Yet, as with many things in life, there is a catch, a dark side. Do we really ignite our protégés or do we set them on a secretly smoldering fire? In this article, I want to take you on a journey to the dark side of entrepreneurial passion and how we can kindly meet it with mindfulness and compassion. Are you with me?
THE DOUBLE EDGED SWORD OF ENTREPRENEURIAL PASSION Since our society needs passionate and dedicated change makers, university ecosystems are trusted with an important task. As teachers, trainers, mentors and ecosystem builders, we need to ignite the spark of students’ entrepreneurial mindset. We have to hone their willingness as well as ability to see challenges as opportunities and own them with curiosity, creativity 1 2 3
and confidence. However, there is something I would like to have an honest discussion about. In a recent conversation with my friend Rogelio Arellano, who is an entrepreneur and two times Forbes 30 under 30 alum himself, he suggested that starting up is rather a marathon than a sprint1. Quite a tiring one for that matter. Something that many aspiring entrepreneurs underestimate or don’t think about at all. So did Rogelio, by the way. He ended up suffering from sleep deprivation, bad eating habits and missing his brother’s wedding. Unfortunately, Rogelio is not the only entrepreneur with such an experience. Indeed, there is a dark side of entrepreneurial passion and too much of it can even result in entrepreneurial burnout2. Recent research also suggests that entrepreneurs are frequently challenged with various mental health issues. Michael A. Freeman of the University of California San Francisco and several colleagues from Stanford, Berkeley and Columbia University conducted a study among 242 entrepreneurs and 93 comparison participants in the U.S. The study finds that during their lifetime3: • Twice as many entrepreneurs report having depression • Six times as many entrepreneurs report Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) • Three times as many entrepreneurs report substance abuse • Eleven times as many entrepreneurs report bipolar disorder Furthermore, 49% of entrepreneurs in the study report having a mental health condition during their lives, so far, 32% report having two or more mental health conditions and 18% report having three or more
Krohn, M. (2020) ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD… INTERVIEW ON ENTREPRENEURIAL WELL-BEING WITH ROGELIO ARELLANO, CTO AT CITRUSLABS AND FORBES 30 UNDER 30 ALUM. Retrieved 2 28, 2021, from On Minds & Motion: https://www.onmindsandmotion.com/blog/entrepreneurial-well-being De Mol, E., Ho, V. T., & Pollack, J. M. (2018). Predicting entrepreneurial burnout in a moderated mediated model of job fit. Journal of Small Business Management, 56(3), 392-411. Freeman, M. A., Staudenmaier, P. J., Zisser, M. R., & Andresen, L. A. (2019). The prevalence and co-occurrence of psychiatric conditions among entrepreneurs and their families. Small Business Economics, 53(2), 323-342.
73
