Employee Vs. Entrepreneurial Mindset

A common topic of conversation that comes up in coaching sessions with the small business owners and entrepreneurs that I serve and meet - is around the difference between an employee mindset vs. an entrepreneurial mindset.?

First and foremost, it is important to say that there is no mindset that is greater or lesser.? Both the employee mindset AND the entrepreneur mindset have value in the right context.? Those who have an employee mindset can offer guidance and growth to the entrepreneur and vice versa.?

What are really important to focus on first are awareness and context.??

I encourage you to start today by taking this quiz to help you become more aware of whether you tend towards more of an employee or entrepreneur mindset.? Knowing is half the battle!??

I have many entrepreneurs who come to their business and approach it as an EMPLOYEE of their business.? This often happens when someone is transitioning from a traditional career, job or role as an employee into business ownership; or when someone is naturally employee minded and looking to create a business.

We will see business owners who are trying to grow their business with an employee mindset potentially:

• Fearful of failure
• Unwilling to take risks?
• Not willing to invest in themselves
• Not trusting themselves, their product, service or process?
• Setting firm 9am-5pm boundaries with their time and energy?
• Wanting someone ELSE to tell them how to grow their business?
• Being crippled by the fluctuations in their pay or business cycle?
• Wanting someone else to fund their education, coaching or growth?
• And so many more detrimental behaviors…..

Once we become aware that we are falling into an employee mindset in the CONTEXT of our business, the really good news is that we can begin to learn how to shift that mindset into a more entrepreneurial approach to support our growth as business owners.??

We want to work on getting comfortable with risks, ride the waves of entrepreneurship with joy, learn to trust ourselves and set boundaries that support our business, product, service and ideal client, as well as our wellness and self-care.??

We want to practice investing in ourselves for the return on that investment and trusting our business enough to know that the return is coming.???

We want to step up, step in and embrace what we are building, take charge of our growth, and pay attention to the numbers.

We want to see failure as the:

And be willing to see mistakes as accelerated learning.??

We need to practice leaning in, speaking up, and letting the mission drive our decision making AND forward, consistent behavior that matches our mission.

We want to put people first - without waiting for others to do for us, make decisions for us, or letting others limit us.??

Now - sometimes we have employees that are housed in our business. ? This does not make their employee mindset WRONG.??

As an employee of YOUR business, you need to respect and honor what their employee mindset brings to the table, be aware of the differences, and not fall prey to expect your employees to think like entrepreneurs.?

If your employees crave structure, safety, consistency, clarity and a mission to uphold - it is YOUR responsibility as the leader to make that happen for them.

Not everyone is meant to be a business owner; and certainly, not every employee within a business will thrive with the expectation that they will learn to become an entrepreneur.?

Instead - create an environment that honors what they bring to the table and creates favorable conditions for success within their preferred mode of being.??

We can also learn FROM the employee mindset - by creating as many systems, processes, productive boundaries, consistencies, and safety WITHIN our business.?

Once you are more aware of who you are naturally being and who is working for you naturally - you can begin to decide where your growth lies in your experience as an entrepreneur!?

Listen to this month's podcast to learn more about both employee and entrepreneurial mindsets:

I look forward to hearing any questions, comments or follow up in the DM’s on?LinkedIn?or?Instagram?and I look forward to speaking with you next month too!

?? Raeanne