Why do so many people today think that the America Dream is to get a job? To be an employee? That’s not what this phrase origionally meant. The American Dream was all about building a business, about owning your own company – about changing the world, and certainly your community, by the way you provided leadership in the enterprise (s) you owned. This was the cornerstone of free enterprise, the foundation of the American Dream. Any other definition is a step backwards, a symptom of modern decline. – Oliver DeMille
Today’s world requires new thinking and new ways of doing business. The economy is global and the winds are shifting, We can no longer hope to rely on old models that functioned in an outdated, dead and buried economy. We must pay attention to the Paradigm Shifts. It serves no purpose to whine and complain that the economy is bad. It is our job to fix it and the best and really, the only way is through entrepreneurship. The book entitled Paradigm Shifts, 7 Realities Of Success In The New Economy with a foreword by leadership speaker George Guzzardo has, as one of the shifts,:Building a Business Is the New Career. It is from this chapter that I have written the following.
The “Hidden Thread” of Success
It was entrepreneurship that built the economy (in the U.S) in the postwar years. Today, however, there is a global shift in the middle classes from North America to Asian countries such as China and India. Many see this trend as a disaster and a predictor of the downfall of America. They see Asia as the rising global force and worry about the standard of living for future generations.
But what people fail to see is that the same economic force of entrepreneurship that built up the economy in the postwar years is the same force that can rebuild, in the book The Millionaire Next Door the authors Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko found (in their research) that over 80 percent of America’s millionaires are self-made and two thirds are self-employed entrepreneurs.
Building a business was at the heart of the American Dream. Businesses allowed communities to thrive and people to be employed. It was a win-win situation. America was built on the foundation of entrepreneurship.
Yes, the trend is toward Asian economic wellness, but this is not disastrous. It just means that entrepreneurs need to step up to the plate and put on their creative and innovative caps to regain lost ground. Today, the North American West needs entrepreneurial leadership once again.
The new careeris building a business for those who want to be economic leaders in the newly defined competitive market.
Thriving
Bringing back economic growth to North America requires a mind shift – a paradigm shift. We can no longer sit on and benefit from the business successes of the past. Economic wellness thrives in adversity and entrepreneurship came out of adversity, first from the need to survive and then from the desire to thrive. What has happened today is that we (North Americans) have, for the most part, forgotten how to face adversity and how to fight to survive in difficult economic times. We have coasted along on the sails of prosperity and become weak.
So, we have (unwillingly) passed the baton over to Asia and, as we know full well Asians are typically hard-working entrepreneurial people. They understand adversity and have built up their economy through hard work and plowing through.
What also needs to be revived is the spirit of entrepreneurship – the exciting challenges, the goals, the thrilling and fun aspects as well as the challenging sides. We need to once again teach the next generations that true economic freedom begins with entrepreneurship.
The Importance of Risk
Thoughtful risk-taking is very rarely taught in school and is generally thought to be reserved for the crazy few. Perhaps this is because we don’t fully understand the notion of risk. We are not talking about careless risk, but rather a risk that has been calculated and that brings about change, innovation and service.
Risk necessarily implies the possibility of both success and failure, It means being willing to try knowing that you could either succeed or fail. But without risk, nothing of any significance can happen. Risk-taking forces us to draw on our creativity and develop skills that help us to improve and expand our enterprise.
Risk is seen as negative by those who want to maintain the status quo. Chris Brady (leadership author and speaker) calls it the “committee of they”. This committee tries to put a halt to innovation, and criticize originality and authenticity. This committee of they would prefer for everyone to fall in line and not question their way of doing things.
Here is the problem, too many members of the committee if they have led people to believe that risk is dangerous and innovation is questionable. They have kept people in the old economy and academia rather than encourage entrepreneurship. But true success belongs to those who push the limits and lead.
Building Teams
It has been said that “no man is an island” and how true this is. No one can succeed in any endeavor without the help of others. True leaders team up with other leaders for a common purpose – to build and succeed. Leaders teaming up with leaders is powerful because it is the synergy of independent thinkers working toward a common goal.
Teams of leaders redefine the notion of success. Typically success was seen as a more individual endeavor in the old economic modal where such notions as conformity, standardization, specialization were the norm. But we no longer live in this old model world. Today’s global economy calls for a new way of thinking and doing. it calls for team units working together with shared goals. A new dynamic of teamwork is required.
In today’s vision of the entrepreneurial environment, people are challenged in a friendly spirit of competition, supported, encouraged, and inspired by one another. the book Paradigm Shift calls these units cohorts. They work individually or in combination with other cohorts towards commonly shared goals.
Mentoring
An important key in the new model of entrepreneurship is the concept of mentoring, which is contrasted to the expert in the old way of thinking. Experts used to be looked up to as the ones who held the knowledge. They were specialists in different domains. Today, more and more these “experts” are losing ground and are increasingly being criticized or ignored.
Now mentors, which could simply mean someone who has more experience, a longer track record than you or someone who has the results you are seeking to achieve, are being sought after. Mentors are the new “educational / teaching source” when it comes to succeeding in an economic field and even personal areas of life. Mentors do not need academic credentials, badges or certifications. what they have to offer is wisdom from experience.
Mentorship is the “new college”. Who can be a mentor? Mentors can be people that you interact with in person, such as someone who has already built one or more businesses. They can also come in the form of books, audios, and seminars through which you can learn from the experience of many people. In today’s world, the guidance of a trustworthy and competent mentor is not just a perk, it is essential to success.
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Diana Lynne’s passions are family, traveling, learning, and pursuing a debt-free life. She also loves hanging out with family, friends and being with her dog Skye. Diana is a Quebec City girl. who loves living life. You can connect with her through Livingandstuff.ca
