January 17, 2012

Framing the Finished Portrait:
the Entrepreneur-as-executive

In our first three articles, we explored “The Portrait of the Entrepreneur” as offered by Naeem Zafar and highlighted by other related articles and theories.  As we wrap up this inaugural series of writings, the classic book by longtime management expert Peter Drucker, “The Effective Executive,” when applied to Zafar’s portrait makes for a very interesting, and we hope informative, conclusion.

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ty to take responsibility for decisions

• Ability to focus on opportunities rather than problems
• Ability to run productive meetings
• Ability to think and say “we” rather than “I.”

Although Drucker’s book targets the working executive and the adoption of learned habits to be good decision makers, ergo, “effective,” these same applications to the entrepreneurial focus would do well to reinforce the many parallels encountered by entrepreneurs.  Particularly during the early stages of a new project or business, the “entrepreneur-as-executive” must make many of the same decisions as any senior executive in a large corporation.

Consider Drucker’s first two principles, “what needs to be done?” and “what is right for the enterprise?”  The answer to both of these questions is not always as intuitive as the entrepreneur might think.  Additionally, what needs to be “done” and who needs to “do” it are not always answered with “the entrepreneur.”  “Doing” what is “needed” and what is “right” for the project is almost always directly tangential to the next aspect, developing “action plans.”  In “doing” what is “right” according to a wel l thought out “action plan,” the entrepreneur-as-executive can assess risk and identify the right team or team members to take on different tasks within the plan.

The lone entrepreneur, as executive, feels the lack of time to be focused on any one thing as acutely as the CEO of a large multi-national corporation.  Fostering an ability to trust and delegate, and then to move in a direction where your team feels challenged as well as empowered to tackle the assignment, whether a positive development or addressing a systemic problem, is crucial.  However, in doing so, the entrepreneur can allocate time and concentrate on dealing with issues that only the entrepreneur-as-executive can resolve.  Moreover, the entrepreneur-as-executive can use some of the time gained to consider another aspect of Drucker’s list: focusing on opportunities, rathe r than problems.

In American business culture, according to Drucker, we focus too much time, attention and resources on mending deficits rather than pursuing the opportunities that truly make our businesses successful or profitable.  There is an obvious component to troubleshooting that is necessary in any entrepreneurial project, but at what point does our entrepreneur-as-executive need to leave problems in the hands of others (delegation) and look more forwardly at his or her developing business?  This question leads directly back to another principle, taking responsibility for decisions as well as what is probably the most relevant in today’s corporate culture: running productive meetings.  < /span>

The entrepreneur, as a creative and passionate model and leader can get lost in his or her decision making and meeting running abilities.  Not bring properly focused on the true opportunities available can lead to poor decision making.  Not being properly able to delegate or make clear decisions can lead to the endless mind-numbing and unproductive meetings we have all experienced at one point or another.  The ability to run productive meetings encompasses everything from time management to accountability to planning to rolling out decisions for the entire team.  The entrepreneur-as-executive must really focus on leadership by example, here , and make sure that time spent in conference and away from development, sales and production of a work product is the most efficient time the team spends in this fashion.  Drucker points to examples of the early corporate habits at Bell Telephone under Theodore Vail and General Motors under Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., and their ruthless efficiency at meeting with their senior managers and executives.  This is not to imply that they did not listen or communicate well, in fact, they excelled at both – but the time spent around a table was made as efficient as possible, and that habit was permeated throughout their organization’s corporate cultures.

The ideals of “team” and “conviction” and “passion” again gather together under the umbrella of Drucker’s last aspect, which is to think and say “we” rather than “I.”  The entrepreneur-as-executive, in bringing together the team, and usually as head cheerleader, and in maintaining a positive hold without choking the operation on authority, can employ this aspect with great success.  A team wins together, and a team might have to suffer a loss together, but a true team remains cohesive and faces the challenge of the entrepreneurial project as a group, and with the collective skills and talents brought to the enterprise.  No quarterback wins any football game alone.  Golfers have caddies.  Individual track runners have coaches and trainers.  No “winner” truly “wins” anything alone, and no entrepreneur finds success without his or her peers and their collective sacrifice.

By weaving together the features of Zafar’s “Portrait of an Entrepreneur” with Drucker’s enduring principles for the “Effective Executive,” the entrepreneur-as-executive creates a safety net of wisdom and experience which can be relied on as he or she strives to create something new.