"A vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is nonsense. A vision with action can change the world"

I have chosen as a title for this entry a quote from Joel Arthur Barker, whom I admire since I was in college, which is very relevant to the first two attibutes of an Attitude-E: Envision and Energy.

What does a company, a product, a service, a good theater play, a song, a great dancer, a sculpture, an olympic athlete, a unique architectural work, a board game, a family or a philanthopic cause have in common?

All, without exception, are the product of an entrepreneurial process that originated in an idea. In an objective, a purpose, a vision. All are the product of someone's imagination which enabled them to visualize something.

I have already mentioned in other entries that the entrepreneurial process goes well beyond the creation of companies. All of what we pursue in our lives is an entrepreneurial endeavor. Choosing a career, having a hobby, reading a book, writing a poem or working out -among others- are vivid examples of entrepreneurship in action. Think about them for a minute and realize that all initiate with an idea, or a vision.

The problem arises when we acknowledge that we only pursue and fulfill a small subset of all the ideas and objectives that we accumulate along our lives. "You will fail 100% of the shots you don't shoot" is a saying that I use in my presentations which I think is very accurate. We have a huge backlog of plans and dreams in our minds and souls, but the truth is that most of them are like arrows in a stretched  bow that we never let go. Henceforth, we reach the end of our lives with thousands of unrealized plans and dreams.

This applies to all of our life dimensions. In the personal dimension, we all have in our plans to learn a new language, or how to play a musical instrument, climb certain mountain or run a marathon. However few people achieve them. in our family dimension, thousands of troubled couples want to fix their relationships, but only few take the first step to do so -most of the times pride blocks it - ; or the parents of a troubled son or daughter [ie. with a learning or eating disorder] that because of fear are unable to confront reality and act. In our professional dimension, we all have ideas on how to better perform at work, but we fear to share them with our teams, we all have plans to increase sales, but we don't execute them. Finally we all have the opportunity to help those in need but we hardly do so. In general terms, we have an idea-execution gap. A gap that can only disappear when we have an Attitude-E.

My conclusion is that this is not an issue of ideas or plans. We all have them in great quantities. The real issue here is about Envision and Energy. Once we have an idea, we must envision it, focus on it and visualize it realized and then apply energy to it so that we can evolve from plan to action. "If you are going to fail, fail fast and go on" but don't hold your dreams for fear of failing. As Mark Twain stated "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowline. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover"

Applying energy to an initiative is working on it with enthusiasm and passion. If we really want to run the Chicago Marathon we have to go out and train with discipline. If we really want to learn how to play the trumpet, we must find the right teacher, call her, and schedule the first session. If we really want to save our marriage we must overcome our pride and give the first step. And this applies to all of what we pursue in our daily lives. We have to let go the arrow in our bow, because if we don't do it, as Barker states, it will only be a dream. On the other hand, a vision with action [Envision + Energy] can change the world.  

So it's all in your hands. Work hard to pursue your dreams and you will certainly change the world. Your world, your family's, your work's and the world around us that is in so much need!!! 

So, what makes an Attitude-E?

This is the first of a series of entries to this blog, in which I will share with you a description and some examples of the attributes that make an Attitude-E. In this entry, I will briefly introduce them and in the ones that follow I will cover them in more detail. 

As you have probably read in this website, an Attitude-E is positive, contagious and constructive. Its an attitude that has the potential to change the world; and I am really convinced about it, because it is a seed of change that grows deep within each individual -positively affecting his attitude- empowering him to be an agent of change. An Entrepreneur, -positively changing his behavior patterns- and generating positive impact in his own life, in his family, in his workplace and in society through philanthropic or social endeavors. 

But what is it that it takes to have an Attitude-E? After a lot of thought, after reflecting on my own experience as an entrepreneur, after reading biographies of famous entrepreneurs and after analyzing people that have pursued their dreams, I have decomposed the Entrepreneurial Attitude, or Attitude-E in six fundamental attributes that are: Envision, Energy, Endurance, Ensemble, Elasticity and Engagement.

Every entrepreneurial endeavor starts with someone Envisioning an end goal, having an idea, defining a vision. This is how great corporations, high performance athletes, a winning product, a great husband or wife, a talented artist or a good philanthropic cause is born!  However, a lot of us get stuck right there: in the idea. We never pursue it. That is why Energy is so important. Energy will take us from idea to action. Having the intention of learning a new language or how to play the piano is useless if we don't apply energy and take the time to find a teacher, schedule our classes and start. It is common that we start our purposes with high levels of energy and enthusiasm, but as time passes, the energy fades and fades until its non existent and we drop-out of whatever we are pursuing. This makes the third attribute, Endurance, instrumental for any entrepreneurial endeavor. Perseverance has been the single most important characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. Without endurance it will be very difficult to fulfill our vision, since the path to reach it is usually pretty hard. 

After that, we have to realize that we are not alone in the process of fulfilling our vision. Regardless of the size and kind of vision we have, we will always interact with other people along the way. They are key to fulfill our goals. These people conform our Ensemble, our team and it is our responsibility and our role as entrepreneurs to identify it, motivate it, align it and efficiently work with its members to accomplish our goals. We will also need Elasticity or the ability to adapt to changing conditions, to think creatively in order to find new solutions to old problems and to stretch ourselves so that we can work with the resources we have -which are usually scare- to reach our goals. Finally there is Engagement. To engage is to invest all the energy, passion and love that we have to whatever we are pursuing. When we do so, we will absolutely reach our goals regardless of the obstacles and adversities that we will encounter in our voyage!

This six attributes make an Attitude-E. We can control them all and it is in our will if we want to pursue them and work on them. But there is one more, which is the only one we cannot control, but it is as important as the other six. It is Serendipity. Fate, destiny or luck. It is said that life is determined by events of very low probability, almost random ones,  and we must be alert to realize when those moments of luck cross our paths so that we can capitalize on them and make them work to fulfill our vision!

My next entry to the blog will go deeper on the first attribute of an Attitude-E: Envision.

Until then!

F

You don't have to start a business to be an entrepreneur!

Welcome to my Blog. I will be regularly posting ideas, thoughts, discussion topics and case studies of people that through their example and testimonials can inspire us to have an Attitude-E or an Entrepreneurial Attitude in our lives. Thanks for your time and interest and I really hope that you enjoy these lines. 

In this first entry, I would like to put on the table what I think its the essence of all of this Attitude-E idea. I am talking about the fact that the concept of Entrepreneurship is associated almost exclusively with the process of starting and building a business, however, I believe that this is a limiting and narrow approach and that a lot of the value of the entrepreneurial concept is being totally ignored, thus wasted. It is obvious that a person that starts a business is an entrepreneur, however, the true concept of entrepreneurship should transcend this limiting scope. There are millions of examples of highly entrepreneurial individuals, that never started a company!

Any person can be an entrepreneur. You can be an entrepreneur in your personal, family, professional and philanthropic dimensions. 

We were all born entrepreneurs. Just take a moment and watch a child in her development process and the only thing you will witness are entrepreneurial processes taking place. When she learns to crawl, then walk, then talk, etc.. These are all entrepreneurial endeavors that we have all experienced and lived in our early childhood. Now visualize two 8 year old kids playing. Isn't it a vivid example of entrepreneurship in action? They invent stories, create amazing fiction worlds and get vividly involved in them. They let their imaginations fly in such an admirable way; in a way that I envy since as an adult, it gets so hard to replicate. Sir Ken Robinson, talks as how as we grow our creative potential shrinks and shrinks and we end up framed and limited in behavioral patterns that most of the times cuts our entrepreneurial and innovation wings. Even better, it hides them, it turns them unnoticeable,  because they are always part of our being, but we are not aware that we have them and that we can use them. Its our decision to extend those wings and take off to a fascinating flight, or just stay in the ground and settle with that. We can all pursue our dreams, we can all learn a new language or how to play a musical instrument. We can all have our ideal weight, and we can all run the Chicago Marathon. We all have in our hands the potential to do whatever we want. Its just a matter of attitude. Of Entrepreneurial Attitude or Attitude-E.

If we take some time and see around us, we will see a lot of examples of people that have assumed an Attitude-E in their lives, and haven't started a company. Artists as Andy Warhol or Vincent Van Gogh, singers as Bono or Pavarotti, sportsmen as Michael Jordan or Beckman are all people that have followed their souls, their dreams and have invested time, energy and endurance to pursue them. That's what really makes an entrepreneur. Similarly, the parents that motivate and help their child in pursuing a hobbie, the couple that decides to dinner for a night a week, or who just decides to study law or read Hamlet and makes it, is an entrepreneur. In the corporate world, people like Jack Welch, GE's famous CEO who completely transformed the company, or the insurance salesman that creates innovative ways of selling his services are also entrepreneurs. They have an Attitude-E.  Finally who decides to contribute so a social cause, donate some dollars or just give away some of his or her time and talents to make a difference, is also an entrepreneur. He or she also has an Attitude-E.  

We can be entreprenur everyday. I encourage you to be one. Extend your wings and fly, just like the eagle at the top of this page. That amazing sensation of reaching altitude and the unique feeling that we have when we dream, pursue and achieve something for ourselves, our families, our companies and for those in need has no par in the scale of achievement, emotion and happiness.