The age of the INTRAPRENEUR Posted on April 24, 2018 in Hot Keynote Topics
We are entering the age of the INTRAPRENEUR – the employee who thinks and acts like an entrepreneur while working inside a large organisation. Three powerful and pervasive trends are creating a perfect storm giving rise to intrapreneurialism. In this article, Dr Irena Yashin-Shaw discusses this new workplace trend.
Firstly, every organisation is living with the innovation imperative -the pressing need to innovate in order to successfully negotiate the challenges of a VUCA (Volatile Uncertain Complex Ambiguous) world. Innovate or die has become a commonly accepted phrase in businesses in every sector. Only organisations that are constantly innovating will survive. This is why an increasing number of large organisations are asking their employees to be intrapreneurial.
Maintaining a constant stream of innovation requires a critical mass of intrapreneurial employees who are constantly looking for ways to create value. This may be in the form of improved processes, products, services, customer attraction strategies and innovative delivery models. Without this fuel in the tank of a business, it will eventually start to get run-down and falter even if it has had a great run in the past.
Secondly, employee empowerment is increasingly seeing people having more discretion, latitude and autonomy over their work. There is no greater opportunity and permission for people within organisations to take ownership of innovative ideas and projects. Smart, successful, progressive leaders are obsessed with developing and empowering their people. They are constantly looking for opportunities to nurture and grow potential and find contexts in which their team members can apply their evolving skills and capacities.
Great leaders WANT their people to demonstrate initiative and to problem-solve independently and are prepared to support them on that journey to independence. They give them latitude to experiment in safe-to-fail environments, to create minimum viable solutions (MVPs) which can be refined and scaled up over time and to generally leverage their talents and expertise to create value through innovation within the team and organisation.
Thirdly the future of work belongs to lifelong learners who actively and independently seek out opportunities to extend themselves – both within their workplaces and beyond. In a world that is rapidly automating and moving to freelancing, it is now vital for people to develop themselves in a way that will future-proof their careers. People with a demonstrated ability to rise above obstacles, overcome barriers, persist in learning new skills and capitalise on opportunities will be in high demand. Those who can overlay their expertise with an entrepreneurial approach and outlook will be the ones who will do the best.
The perfect storm of conditions is providing employees, those who have and want to develop their entrepreneurial qualities, with unprecedented opportunities. They are on the cusp of a new world of work which is providing them with the enabling environment, the opportunity and the incentive to develop these capacities within their existing organisational roles.
Smart organisations are identifying, nurturing and harnessing the creativity, drive and energy of their intrapreneurs to help the organisation to soar.
Intrapreneurialism is the new hot topic! Dr Irena Yashin-Shaw speaker and author shows corporate organisations why it is so, and how to capitalise on it. Her new book Intrapreneur: How leaders ignite innovation, break bureaucracy and catalyse change gives people insights into how to unleash the power of intrapreneurialism in the service of your organisation.
If you would like to know more about Dr Irena Yashin-Shaw and this emerging new topic, click here to submit your enquiry, or contact us directly on 1300 55 64 69.
ABOUT DR IRENA YASHIN-SHAW | web profile
Irena also speaks on the topic of effective communication and has speech and drama qualifications from Trinity College London. She leads people to a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, the mechanisms and psychology of expressive, confident speech showing how mastery of some basic principles can transform an individual's sense of personal power, a business's bottom-line profit or a company's corporate image. Read More.
