By Christine McLeod, CHRP

After a decade in Corporate Executive HR, I was presented with the unexpected prospect of redefining my career path. I never thought that I would be thanking the recession of 2008 and my subsequent “downsized” status, but that job loss catapulted me into exploring the incredible journey of entrepreneurship.

Some of us choose to take a leap in a new career direction and other other times such leaps are imposed as the terrain changes. Whether we are HR professionals taking a more entrepreneurial approach within our organizations, making the move to self-employment or contemplating a shift, here are 10 tips to leverage the entrepreneurial spirit within each of us.

1.  Increase your Digital IQ:  Technology and social networking tools can enhance credibility, trust, and relationships with colleagues and clients.  We become social media experts by jumping in. Listen. Watch. Follow. Connect. Be curious and ask questions. Social media is not a fad; it is quickly becoming a key leadership competency. Picking a platform and dipping our toes in is low risk. It is also often the gateway to a whole new mindset.

2.  Invest in Authentic Relationships:  Online or in person, solid relationships are one of the greatest assets we can develop to increase our net worth. People gladly support those they know, respect, and like. The tricky bit is that authenticity is an attribute bestowed on us by others, not ourselves.  Being mindful about conducting ourselves in such a way as to invite that attribution takes practice and reaps big rewards. Our network is our trump card. A trusted network, even if it numbers in the 1000’s is no longer bound by the confines of the people in our office or physical network. THAT is exciting.

3.  Invest in your BRAND: Who are we? What are we about? What do we stand for? How are we unique? What is our story? Our personal brand is everything. It is our reputation, our image, our ability to draw people into our world. There are only two options for our brand creation: either we actively work at it, or those around us will create it for us. An entrepreneurial mind is one that focused at all times on connecting the dots to design and enhance their personal brand.

4.  Help first, then sell: Holding back on desire to self-promote our goods and services takes discipline. If we focus instead on listening with our ears, eyes, heart and taking note of how we show up in that moment for someone, the business always follows and so do the referrals. More importantly we create longstanding rock solid relationships that lead to more business.

5.  Practice patience:  Success always takes longer than we think. Relationships will lead to business, though not always immediately. 100 great ideas might lead to one great one. Sometimes where we end up is not where we thought we’d be when we started, but because we were patient along the way we end up surprising ourselves with how great the outcome can be!

6.  Focus on your strengths: What if you paid someone $35/hr for a few hours each month to handle the books and you took that same time and found three new leads that generated 10 times what you paid your book keeper?  What is your time worth? What would someone pay us top dollar for because we do it BETTER than anyone else? We need to spend time focusing on THAT.

7.  Re-think TIME: ‘What is it time for?’ is a question I ask myself several times a day. As entrepreneurs our work is with us 24-7.  To work most effectively, we can challenge ourselves to think: When do we do our most creative work? Where do we do it? Where do we process and analyze best? We also need to draw the lines where we need to, and know what it’s TIME for. I don’t ever want to be the mum who’s distractedly playing with her kids while checking her iPhone.

8.  Pause often…to speed up: Working on the business and in the business is tough. To think three steps ahead and learn from hindsight, we need to press the pause button and find ways and time to reflect and process. Pausing is not something we should be doing after our work day;  it’s part of our workday. We need to lay off the guilt about not “producing something” or being “in motion” at all times.

9.  Surround yourself with the best: Who are the best? Which sub-contractors? other entrepreneurs? even competitors? If we find out who the influencers and leaders are in our field and create authentic relationships with them or even collaborate with them, we elevate our game tremendously. We need to trust that it’s OK not to have all the answers and know that more we surround ourselves with greatness, the greater opportunities lie ahead.

10.  Enjoy the journey: For those of us choosing to go the route of entrepreneurship, we are saying NO to a certain pace and life as an “employee”. Working for ourselves means it’s OK to take the time off guilt free. It’s important to reward ourselves with our accomplishments along the way. We can recognize the tiny details every day that make this journey what it is for us…. .
My hope is that whatever journey you are on, it is one filled with a tremendous passion for what you do and where you are headed.

Christine McLeod, CHRP, launched her company Impact People Practices after a decade in corporate HR with Intrawest Corporation and Boutique Hotels & Resorts of BC. Just 18 months later, Christine’s approach to innovation in HR and her unique ability to connect the dots between PEOPLE and RESULTS have resulted in her  becoming a sought after speaker, trainer and consultant in the area of employee engagement and leadership. Learn more about Christine at http://www.impactpeoplepractices.com or on Facebook http://www.fb.com/impactpeople.

PeopleTalk: Summer 2011