I sat and talked yesterday with a uniquely impressive entrepreneur.  She is not yet successful, and in fact she is barely two weeks young in her new adventure.  If I was asked to handicap her chances of success, the odds would be very good. 

I’ve known this professional for a number of years and it’s always been clear that she would move out from underneath her position as an employee and go off on her own.  It was just a matter of time. 

The time happened recently as the work environment became untenable not only for my friend, but for a number of the other talented members on her team.  Bad Boss syndrome came home to roost as cutbacks and new policies were implemented that both destroyed internal morale and damaged the customer experience. 

My friend and her team took matters into their own hands, and in a mere few weeks in their new service business, schedules are filled, business is good and the air in their shop is filled with the excitement of something new being created.

As we chatted about the experience, I asked my friend some of the vexing questions that trip up so many big organization executives. 

  • What’s your vision for your practice?
  • What do you want people to associate your business with?
  • What’s unique about your practice?
  • 5 years from now, when you look back, what will you have accomplished?
  • Why did your team follow and what makes them tick in this venture?

She fielded the questions effortlessly and offered simple but powerful answers that stopped me in my tracks.  I’m not used to hearing answers to these questions without them being couched in business-speak and filled with lofty, mission-statement sounding answers that are like sugar-free frosting on a wedding cake. 

Her answers focused on creating opportunities for employees, working with customers that the team loves and finding ways to contribute to the community.  The answers came from the heart, were offered without hesitation and were backed by specific ideas. 

There was also an underlying theme that the fuel propelling the team was the ability to do something truly unique in building a business.  I sensed a burning desire on the part of my friend and her colleagues to create their own great organization, and to provide opportunities for those interested in working hard to pursue them. The talk on the floor was all about creation and avoiding the mistakes of former bad bosses and building for the future. 

Money was not singled out as a driver.  However, when I inquired about the “M” issue, she looked at me and indicated that they were already profitable and exceeding their best expectations in just two weeks.  

The drive to create is powerful and while the pilot burns in the background for many, for the few that dare to jump in, the power to create is what fires the rocket.  

The Bottom-Line for Now:

Is your pilot burning?  What do you want to create?  What will push you to move from ideas to actions?