The document outlines 15 personality traits of corporate intrapreneurs or entrepreneurs within established companies. Some of the key traits include resilience in the face of challenges, an ability to influence others and gain support, connecting diverse experiences and knowledge to spark new ideas, questioning the status quo, being well-networked, self-promoting to build awareness of ideas, having a vision for the future that others don't see, and being flexible and adaptable when receiving feedback. Overall, the traits suggest intrapreneurs are resilient, creative thinkers who can gain support and drive innovation within a corporate environment.
2. It is often hard to find the
corporate innovators and
entrepreneurs in your
organisation.
Here are 15 key characteristics
and traits you should look out
for.
3. 1: RESILIENCE AND TENACITY
Building a new venture requires facing numerous
roadblocks. Setbacks come not only from customers,
partners and regulators but also internally.
Intrapreneurs rely on their processes, values and
systems to navigate the minefield that is corporate
innovation.
4. 2: INFLUENCING SKILLS
Most people in the organisation think like risk managers,
which hinders innovation. Being able to effectively
influence decision makers will play a significant role.
5. 3: CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN BROAD INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCES
This is two-fold. To innovate effectively, associational thinking - or connecting the dots - is critical. Steve Jobs
connected the dots between calligraphy, zen buddhism and a visit to Xerox’s research centre to come up with
the minimalist and clean graphical user interface of the first Macintosh.
6. 4. CURIOSITY
Broad experiences come with
curiosity. Look for intrapreneurs to
consume or have an interest in
different types of people, music, art,
film, literature, travel spots, sport,
activities, news sources and so on that
fall far from the definition of
mainstream.
7. 5: CHALLENGES THE STATUS QUO
Innovators won’t just accept “the way things
have always been done around here”.
They will question why things are done a
certain way. They might propose alternative
ways doing things.
Innovators challenge authority and would
rather ask for forgiveness than permission.
8. 6: WELL NETWORKED
Corporate innovators tend to
have a wide network which
helps them accelerate their
internal ventures through
collaboration.Look for them to
attend meetups, conferences,
have a large number of
connections on LinkedIn and
so on.
9. 7: SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTER
These entrepreneurs and innovators are great
at building brand awareness and authority.
This suggests that they have the skills required
to successfully promote new ventures. They
might blog, host podcasts, give talks, have a
large following on Linkedin, be active on the
Twitterverse and so on.
10. 8: PASSIONATE
Innovation isn’t a part time or casual gig.
Corporate innovators must be passionate
about their projects if they’re to carry them
through all the various roadblocks.
11. 9: SOCRATIC THINKER
“All I know is that I know nothing.” Entrepreneurs are happy to
concede that they don’t have all the answers, are relentless
learners and realise that rapid experimentation will deliver better
answers than their own internal dialogue.
12. 10: TOLERANT OF AMBIGUITY
Rather than call for an elaborate plan
up front, innovators realise that when it
comes to disruptive innovation, the
answers are unknown. Innovators do
what they need to do to discover the
answers that other people put in the
‘too hard’ bucket.
13. 11: VISION
Innovators and entrepreneurs see things most people don’t. This is due to the coalescence of a number of
different traits - passion, broad interests, curiosity and associational thinking to name just a few.
14. 12: SELF-BELIEF
Entrepreneurs will be told they’re wrong or that what they’re working on is impossible by people who see
the world differently. They need to have self belief and strength to keep going when people say stop.
15. 13: FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE
They are also open to constructive criticism,
customer feedback that invalidates their own
ideas and changing the direction of an idea,
despite having spent time on it.
16. 14: HEALTHY
Successfully commercialising a new disruptive venture is a marathon, not a sprint, littered with many hills,
peaks, valleys and troughs. Mental and physical health is required to build something from the ground up.
17. 15: PRODUCTIVE
Curious and passionate entrepreneurs manage their time effectively. Look for to-do lists, prioritisation of
tasks, automationof mundane and repeatable tasks, the use of productivity apps and more.
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Editor's Notes
15 ersonality traits of the corporate intrapreneur
When it comes to identifying, recruiting and nurturing intrapreneurs (corporate innovators and entrepreneurs), there are a number of characteristics and traits you should look for.
While many employees may get temporarily excited by the prospect of working on a ‘corporate startup’ or taking part in a hackathon, the number of employees who embody the mindset and approach required to successfully innovate within a large organisation is much lower.
What to look for, in no particular order:
1: RESILIENCE AND TENACITY
Building a new venture requires facing numerous roadblocks and setbacks, not only from customers, partners, regulators and so on but also internally, as intrapreneurs navigate the minefield that is corporate innovation, the processes, values and systems they need to work around and the politics that comes with it.
2: INFLUENCING SKILLS
Large organisations are built to execute, not to discover. As such, most people in the organisation will not think like innovators and instead will think like risk managers and by extension of their trying to do what’s in the interest of execution, will hinder innovation.
Being able to effectively influence decision makers will play a significant role.
3: CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN BROAD INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCES
This is two-fold.
To innovate effectively, associational thinking - or connecting the dots - is critical.
Steve Jobs connected the dots between calligraphy, zen buddhism, a visit to Xerox’s research centre to come up with the minimalist and clean graphical user interface of the first Macintosh.
But one can first not connect the dots without having broad experiences and interests in the first place which brings us to...
5: CHALLENGES THE STATUS QUO
Innovators won’t just accept “the way things have always been done around here”.
They will question why things are done a certain way. They might propose alternative ways doing things. They will be the bane of the existence of change averse managers.
Innovators challenge authority and would rather ask for forgiveness than permission.
