Читать книгу The Business Intrapreneur: Profiles of Unsung Heroes of Corporate America - Kristin Boone's Eilenberg - Страница 8

This book has been written for two types of audiences.

The first is employees that are searching for answers about who they are, why they seem to be so different, and maybe, just maybe, are looking to find other people just like them. My bet is that the search for published information to help with their own self discovery process was triggered by some kind of discussion or intervention that happened with their direct supervision where they were told that they were ‘rocking the boat’, ‘rattling the cages’, ‘ruffling feathers’ too much and that they had to tone it down and start to tow the line, or else. The person probably feels like the organization ‘just doesn’t get me’ or the signals that the organization is sending don’t jive with their internal compass. They feel like a misfit. I want these people, who very likely may be intrapreneurs, to realize that they are not alone and there are others, just like them out there.

Separately, the tough truth is that there’s probably some level of legitimacy in the feedback that is being given. The challenge is to filter the feedback in a way that is meaningful and that will lead to answering some questions:

Am I a misfit in this organization? (let’s just assume that the response = yes.)

Does it matter to me that I am a misfit in this organization?

Am I a misfit because of the organization or who I report to?

Are there other parts of the organization where I would be seen as less of a misfit?

Are there other organizations that may better suit me and my misfittedness?

Do I have any interest in making my own company based on my ideas and concepts?

I realize that these are tough questions to answer and the answers may change over time, but these things need to be considered and addressed. I also want to recognize that your answers and level of misfittedness do not qualify you as an intrapreneur. Instead, I think that your misfittedness is more like a symptom that needs to be better diagnosed and understood. You may be a misfit for your profession, job, company, or industry. Sometimes the misfit classification is legit, others it is just based on a bad situation with a direct supervisor. Make sure that you know the difference. Being a misfit in one company’s culture does not equal being a misfit in another company’s culture. This type of assessment has to happen separately and/or in parallel to the evaluation of being an intrapreneur.

Second, my hope is that this book will help leaders better identify and take advantage of the unique skills an intrapreneur can bring to an organization; skills that will not only help the organization survive, but also drive for bottom line growth. I am a huge champion for intrapreneurs and believe that they are significant contributors to an organization. Intrapreneurs may not be the easiest direct reports to have or manage, but they are the ones that selflessly make things move within an organization. If leadership can figure out how to mobilize intrapreneurs from within their organization and culture, there will be a recognizable impact from increasing revenue to reducing costs and expenses. Each organization will need to identify their own relevant proxy measurements to determine if they are establishing a framework that allows the intrapreneurs to harness and fulfill their potential.