Lead Like an Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs work to create a better world . . . tomorrow. This requires them to present “their” future and then persuade the team to take the journey. That, in a nutshell, is the art of leadership.
The democratic process with an emphasis on polls sadly seems to drive leaders to take the “pulse of the people” and tap into those issues for support. The Trump election campaign milked this strategy. They found enough disgruntled voters, upset about falling wages and the loss of “high wage – low value” jobs to pull off an election win. It didn’t matter that Trump did not have a workable plan going forward. “America First” is a reactionary and negotiating stance.
This view was echoed by Anthony Scaramucci “The mooch” – investment banker, entrepreneur and White House Director of Communication. He spoke in Kuala Lumpur about his support for the Trump campaign and his very public falling out with President Trump over Twitter. He lasted only 11 days in the White House. When asked about Trump, “The Mooch” put it simply by saying there are two type of leaders; “thermometers” and “thermostats”.
Thermometers take temperature, whilst leaders move the temperature to where it should be, acting as a thermostat. Sadly, he said Trump is the former.
Successful entrepreneurs are always “thermostats” – think of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Elon Musk, Jack Ma, Marc Benioff and others. It’s the same for corporate executives. The ones that move the needle are always entrepreneurial – Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, Jamie Diamond, Jack Welch.
