Your small business needs effective leadership.  Possibly your most important asset besides your product is your intrapreneur.

You have decided that you are entrepreneur not intrapreneur.  Your business needs an intrapreneur – the entrepreneur inside the business. But how can you identify such a key component of your team? You can’t afford to get this one wrong.

To help, I have highlighted 30 ways to spot an intrapreneur, those key traits which mark him out as the special one, the one that your business can’t do without.

An Intrapreneur ………

• wholeheartedly embraces the entrepreneur’s vision for the company

• earns respect, not demand it

• energises and excites people

• is prepared to admit when he is wrong

• listens to others’ ideas and opinions and takes action on them

• recognises the boundaries of his own capabilities

• is consistent

• exudes positivity from every pore

• never brings domestic crises to work with him

• is prepared to take risks

• defaults to saying “we”, not “I”

• exhibits positive attributes such as fairness, integrity, compassion, loyalty

• understands the full spectrum of business activities

• makes consistenly good business decisions

• deflects praise onto his team

• is a good time manager

• is not afraid to ask for help

• naturally attracts trust and loyalty

• believes in the carrot, not the stick

• makes sacrifices without hesitation

• understands the numbers

• preaches empowerment

• understands that if you never fail, you’re not pushing the boundaries hard enough

• communicates at all levels and in all directions

• seeks never ending improvements, no matter how small

• thrives on change and hates maintaining the status quo

• takes humour seriously

• is not prescriptive or controlling

• loves his staff as much as his customers

• constantly reviews his business planning process

Effective leadership in small business relies on  – the intrapreneurs.

An impossible brief?

Almost.

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• Entrepreneur or Intrapreneur?
• Intrapreneur – Work Smarter Not Harder
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