Times at workplaces have changed, demanding a lot more than the status quo from every employee. The job roles have evolved to be more agile and dynamic. Companies want entrepreneurs as their candidates, therefore, all the job descriptions you now read have one or all of the keywords, ‘entrepreneurial’, ‘swiss-army knife’, ‘dynamic’, ‘jack of all trades’, etc.
What does this tell you? How are you preparing yourself to be in power with the top performers and deliver what is anticipated of you? Does this mean these companies expect you to know how to run your own company within their company or willing to bet your resources and income on a project?
No!
Earlier, the word ‘entrepreneurs’ were synonymous with the maestros like Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft since they introduced the world to exciting things and altered the business landscape. But today, ‘entrepreneur’ isn’t just limited to that and definitely, you do not need to own a business to alter the landscape or be entrepreneurial. And here the terms like ‘Intrapreneurs‘ and ‘Intrapreneurship‘ comes into the picture!
What are Intrapreneurs?
An entrepreneur inside a company is called an Intrapreneur. More specifically, an intrapreneur is an employee having entrepreneurial skills and is primarily tasked with developing an innovative idea or product within a company. Though these intrapreneurs are provided with the required resources and capabilities for the project, by the employers. Let us tell you that the term ‘intrapreneur’ is a made-up word with two general terms – internal and entrepreneur. The term is getting popular day by day in the organizational sector and various leading companies like Google, Microsoft, etc. are offering intrapreneurial programs.
While all can not become entrepreneurs but can become an intrapreneur. Plus almost every entrepreneur was once an intrapreneur too.
How? Any employee who possesses the traits of an entrepreneur – who are leaders from the beginning, who can think outside the box, devise and execute a strategy end-to-end and who are willing to take calculated risks – is an intrapreneur.
In today’s time, being an intrapreneur can spearhead your career in the right direction, providing you with opportunities that are suited for your journey.
While this sounds like a clear win-win for an employer and employee, let us still present a case to you on the magnitudes of benefits Intrapreneurship can provide.
Why You Should Become an Intrapreneur?
1. Be an Entrepreneur Without Being an Entrepreneur
If you feel like quitting your job and starting something on your own but aren’t somehow practically ready for the same may be due to the kind of time and money investment or other compromises that it requires then intrapreneurship can be the right thing for you.
The good news is if you are quick to think that entrepreneurship is your fix-career pill then you are already suited for Intrapreneurship.
And once an intrapreneur, there are high chances of you becoming an entrepreneur tomorrow. Being an intrapreneur provides you with a chance to explore whether entrepreneurship is right for you, at the comfort of being in your paying job and investing your money elsewhere. Go out, and test the waters with a safety net around you and more resources at your disposal.
2. Exponentially Increase Your Job Security
Large organizations today, amid the daily firefighting, get far away from innovations and implementing creative ideas to execution. This keeps them away from having a competitive edge in a high-stakes market.
Intrapreneurs can now focus on innovation, get things done quickly, achieve their true potential and grow to create more opportunities. This means the employer will do anything to keep the intrapreneur with them and ensure their morale is high. Aka better job security and higher earning potential for every intrapreneur in an organization.
3. Spearhead the Strategic Direction of Your Firm
An intrapreneur spearheads new projects, programs, and policies for their firm.
Think of it, you will have the autonomy to craft your job, harness innovation cut down on mundane tasks, and bring ideas to execution. Taking on an intrapreneurial route, you will have an opportunity to do all that while shaping the strategic direction of your firm, your input will have more weight and you will be able to make a dent in a big way.
4. Shape Your Career Direction
It’s a win-win for both your employer and yourself.
As an intrapreneur, you continue to push yourself, embodying the best of your traits, and proactively exploring solutions to unsolvable problems. Great intrapreneurs have the same level of openness to risk and tenacity as an entrepreneur who made it.
This dedication and spirit will open new doors for you and establish you as a top talent in your career path. As you take on a dynamic role, you will experience this while being able to extract more creative ways to make your current job role more powerful, both at your firm and in your resume.
5. Find Your Passion, and Your Motivation
Being an intrapreneur, you get to cross-function and learn from other departments, and teams too. While donning multiple hats, you can identify your passion, what drives you to work hard and succeed, and what doesn’t. While doing that, you get to make your role more meaningful too.
You build your credibility, own up to the responsibilities, take up a leadership position, make a great impact on the business and shine your resume, all within the safety net.
Aka you gain greater satisfaction in your current role and make way for a super bright job role in the future.
And did you know that even the simplest of redesigns or reframing could make you and your role more intrapreneurial?
How to Become an Intrapreneur?
First, assess whether you already possess intrapreneurial seeds in you.
When looking out for an intrapreneur, what the company needs is the entrepreneur’s mindset from the particular person. They need not be in a managerial position, an intrapreneur could be anyone in the organization who is in alignment with their overall objectives and doing more each day to overdeliver.
Answer these to find out whether you have the seed implanted already or if you need more work.
- Do you see beyond the traditional strategies and tactics while solving a problem?
- Are you trying to continuously learn new things at work?
- Do you often take on more responsibilities than what is formally required of you?
- Do you seek a coach or mentor to guide you through unexplored aspects of your work?
- Do you think about the ways your company could expand in terms of growth, market, and clients?
Did you answer ‘yes’ to all these questions?
Then you are already job crafting, turning your job role into more than a job description by aligning it with your professional goals and overall values and interests.
In case you answered ‘no’ to the questions above then ask yourself the motivation behind your job, are you more of chasing carrots or avoiding sticks? If you are reward-sensitive or cautious then Intrapreneurship might not be for you.
But if you aren’t that person either and looking out for critical competencies and behaviors to adopt to become more intrapreneurial, there’s more good news.
5 Best Tips To Become a Successful Intrapreneur:
1. Be Proactive
Make things happen rather than wait for them to happen – get stuff done, take initiative, and move faster than your peers. If you are proactive, things will start turning out actively for you.
2. Be Transparent About What You Know and Be Coachable For Things You Don’t
One of the key competencies to adapt is to be transparent – in owning up to your strengths and weaknesses, accepting the mistake that you may make, and in seeking help when needed.
3. Be a Problem Solver, Not Just a Task Owner
If you are proactive, you will start to find ways to solve a problem rather than ticking off some items on your checklist. Yes, there will be tasks you’d have to complete but that doesn’t mean you keep limited to that and not work on assisting the company on a larger scale.
4. Be a Leader and a Manager
Guide your team with the right principles, leading by setting an example and managing them when they try. Being results-driven is important, and so is being an effective team player. So invite input, be collaborative and engage the team at every step of the way.
5. Be Nice and Do Good
Humility goes a long way. Walking the talk, and doing good to and for others are some of the traits you need to hone to be an intrapreneur. Ultimately, your goal will be to drive progress, and you can get that done faster with support from others. To gain that support, you need to earn credibility which begins and ends with humility.
Conclusion:
Intrapreneurs are invaluable assets to every company and it also creates an invaluable asset for you professionally. That said, it doesn’t take an entrepreneur to be an intrapreneur, with efforts on some fronts, anyone can learn and scale as an intrapreneur.
So, do not wonder why you should become an intrapreneur, instead, go out and be!
