Most of us have bosses.<\/p>\n
As a result we experience ourselves reacting to both people and events that are outside of ourselves.\u00a0 It feels to us like control lies elsewhere.<\/p>\n
“Mike you don’t understand.\u00a0 I can’t make any of this happen unless senior management buys in and supports the idea.\u00a0 Once we get them on board we will have a chance.”<\/p>\n
A reluctance to take full responsibility for our actions develops.\u00a0 We learn to shift the blame elsewhere.\u00a0 We lose sight of our responsibility for the type of organisation that we have helped to build.\u00a0 We genuinely believe that the mediocrity that surrounds us has nothing to do with us. It is all the work of someone else, somewhere else.<\/p>\n
Of course it is true that there is nearly always someone who has power over us.\u00a0 But even in the face of this reality, we still have choices.\u00a0 Choices that can lead us towards enterprise and progress – entrepreneurial choices; or choices that lead us towards safety and maintenance – bureaucratic choices.<\/p>\n
We can choose to operate from an entrepreneurial mindset or a bureaucratic one.<\/p>\n
We can choose between:<\/p>\n
In my experience many managers do not recognise these choices.\u00a0 They wrap themselves in the\u00a0 cultural cloaks of the organisation – usually more bureaucratic then entrepreneurial – and lose sight of the fact that THEY can make a difference.<\/p>\n
In the short term of course the bureaucratic choice has many advantages:<\/p>\n
In the context of making the most of your life however the entrepreneurial mindset wins every time:<\/p>\n
So just reflect as you go through your working day what do your actions say about the choices that you have made – entrepreneurial or bureaucratic?<\/p>\n
\nThe second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half.<\/p>\n
Fyodor Dostoevsky<\/p>\n
\nThe second half of a man’s life is made up of nothing but the habits he has acquired during the first half – unless he is bloody careful!<\/p>\n
Mike Chitty<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n