Entrepreneurship And Business Skills The WritePass Journal

Entrepreneurship And Business Skills Question 1 Entrepreneurship And Business Skills ). The biggest obstacle that I have had to face is the negative traits that I posses. However, over time I have come to the conclusion that what one lacks on one side, they compensate for it on the other. I am for instance a poor networker. The network of contacts that I started off with was very narrow and since I am not so good at connecting with people, the situation did not get any better. What I lacked in network skills, I made up for in commitment and determination. The important thing is to match the strength that compensates for your weakness and apply it (Hauser, 2012). Although, I could not connect with people easily, I could rely on myself to get the job done. The feeling that I was an ‘outsider’ reduced my reliance on other people’s help and I immersed myself in the mission that I worked towards. Failure was not a letdown but rather an opportunity to learn and avoid a similar mistake in the future. As a result of my commitment and determination, prospe ctive partners sought me and my network grew not because I was good at connecting with other people but because of my drive to succeed that appealed to them. It is important to find one’s weaknesses and strengths followed by strategies to turn the weaknesses around. Every business is an entire system that contains numerous tasks which cannot be accomplished by a single individual no matter how strong that individual is. As a result, the best strategy is to focus an individual’s energy on those areas that they are strong therefore compensating for the weaknesses (Collins and Lazier, 1995). I applied the recommended strategy by Collins and Lazier in my weakness regarding poor communication skills by maximizing on my ability to think of the big picture. Although I could not persuade people to support my views, ideas and business as a whole, I could see the patterns and relationships in the environment I traded in. These patterns and relationships made me an excellent predictor of market as well as competitor moves. As a result, I did not have to persuade anyone to follow my lead, adopt my ideas, or engage in transactions with me because the statistics talked on my behalf. The consistent positive results made others to gain confidence in me. The other trait that disadvantaged me was my strong action orientation that caused me to sometimes desire to act prior to comprehensive contemplation. There are several occasions that my ventures failed resulting from my immediate actions that were based on incomplete information. These ventures failed but I did not give up on them and instead kept on trying until they succeeded. My strong action orientation was my weakness but the motivation to excel is the strength that avoided my downfall. Every time I went into a venture because I felt the need to act, my goal and result orientation pushed me until the goal was achieved. I overcame my weaknesses through the strengths that compensated for what I lacked. I would recommend such an approach to every individual who desires to overcome or turn their weaknesses into strengths. Question 3 I would choose the role of either an organizer or a moderator. Often the group is split over which is the right and the wrong approach to an activity or task (Adeak, 2010). Every individual in the group seems to think that their idea, suggestion, or plan is the correct one. However, the best plan, strategy, and organization come from extensive preparation, assessment, and consideration. I prioritize these three elements because I do not like to undertake a task while unprepared and I set my mind to achieving the goal therefore the approach used, the organization chosen and the strategy formulated all have to be centered on the goal. Since this is a group activity, achieving the goal is not only dependent on my effort but on each group member’s effort. It is therefore my responsibility to organize the team and ensure that the plan that I have formulated to achieve the goal is integrated into the whole team. Team organization is a critical component of long-term success of any b usiness therefore ensuring the team’s procedures and plans are formulated and each team member is assigned a role that they will perform effectively would guarantee positive results (Collins and Lazier, 1995). A particular occasion that I played this role was in a research project on advertising where I divided the group into sub-groups so that every sub-group could research on a sub-topic which would then be followed by consolidation of all the sub-topics. The role of a moderator would also be an appropriate role for me because I am impartial and maintain an open mind at all times. Through such an approach I believe the interests of every group member would be addressed therefore ensuring that no member is dissatisfied. One hurdle that often arises in group activities is the allocation of resources and resolution of internal disagreements (Adeak, 2010). I believe in fair treatment and therefore would ensure the resources are coordinated and allocated fairly. This step would also help reduce disagreements in the group. This quality is an indication that the moderator is an appropriate role for me. The role that I would least play in a group is that of a critic. This is majorly because I choose to look at things positively whereas the critic searches for the flaw in order to expose it. A team needs to be motivated in order to perform well but criticism often dampens the motivation of the team (Adeak, 2010). This role is therefore not appropriate for me at all. References Brockhaus, R. H. (1982), The Psychology of the Entrepreneur. In Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship , edited by Calvin A. Kent, Donald L. Sexton, and Karl H. Vesper, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Collins, J. C. and Lazier, W. C. (1995), Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company, Prentice Hall, New Jersey. Caird, S. (1990), What does it mean to be Enterprising? British Journal of Management, vol. 1, Issue 3, pp. 37–145. Gunther, M., R. and MacMillan, I. (2000), The Entrepreneurial Mindset, Harvard Business School Press, Boston. Hauser, A. (2012), How to Overcome Business Weaknesses, Resources for entrepreneurs, viewed May 2, 2012, gaebler.com/Small-Business-Administration-SBA-Advice.htm What is a Team Role Structure? Adeak. 2010, viewed May 2, 2012, adeak.com/2010/02/what-is-a-team-role-structure/