15 Personality Traits of the Corporate IntrapreneurCOLLECTIVE CAMPUS

It is often hard to find the corporate innovators and entrepreneurs in your organisation.

Here are 15 key characteristics and traits you should look out for.

1: RESILIENCE AND TENACITYBuilding a new venture requires facing numerousroadblocks. Setbacks come not only from customers,partners and regulators but also internally.

Intrapreneurs rely on their processes, values andsystems to navigate the minefield that is corporate

innovation.

2: INFLUENCING SKILLS

Most people in the organisation think like risk managers,which hinders innovation. Being able to effectivelyinfluence decision makers will play a significant role.

3: CONNECTING THE DOTS BETWEEN BROAD INTERESTS AND EXPERIENCESThis is two-fold. To innovate effectively, associational thinking - or connecting the dots - is critical. Steve Jobs

connected the dots between calligraphy, zen buddhism and a visit to Xerox’s research centre to come up withthe minimalist and clean graphical user interface of the first Macintosh.

4. CURIOSITY

Broad experiences come with

curiosity. Look for intrapreneurs toconsume or have an interest in

different types of people, music, art,film, literature, travel spots, sport,activities, news sources and so on that

fall far from the definition ofmainstream.

5: CHALLENGES THE STATUS QUO

Innovators won’t just accept “the way things

have always been done around here”.

They will question why things are done a

certain way. They might propose alternativeways doing things.

Innovators challenge authority and would

rather ask for forgiveness than permission.

6: WELL NETWORKED

Corporate innovators tend to

have a wide network which helps them accelerate their

internal ventures through collaboration. Look for them to attend meetups, conferences,

have a large number of connections on LinkedIn and

so on.

7: SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTER

These entrepreneurs and innovators are great

at building brand awareness and authority.This suggests that they have the skills required

to successfully promote new ventures. They

might blog, host podcasts, give talks, have alarge following on Linkedin, be active on the

Twitterverse and so on.

8: PASSIONATE

Innovation isn’t a part time or casual gig.Corporate innovators must be passionateabout their projects if they’re to carry themthrough all the various roadblocks.

9: SOCRATIC THINKER

“All I know is that I know nothing.” Entrepreneurs are happy to

concede that they don’t have all the answers, are relentlesslearners and realise that rapid experimentation will deliver better

answers than their own internal dialogue.

10: TOLERANT OF AMBIGUITY

Rather than call for an elaborate planup front, innovators realise that when itcomes to disruptive innovation, theanswers are unknown. Innovators dowhat they need to do to discover theanswers that other people put in the‘too hard’ bucket.

11: VISION

Innovators and entrepreneurs see things most people don’t. This is due to the coalescence of a number of

different traits - passion, broad interests, curiosity and associational thinking to name just a few.

12: SELF-BELIEF

Entrepreneurs will be told they’re wrong or that what they’re working on is impossible by people who see

the world differently. They need to have self belief and strength to keep going when people say stop.

13: FLEXIBLE AND ADAPTABLE

They are also open to constructive criticism,

customer feedback that invalidates their ownideas and changing the direction of an idea,

despite having spent time on it.

14: HEALTHY

Successfully commercialising a new disruptive venture is a marathon, not a sprint, littered with many hills,

peaks, valleys and troughs. Mental and physical health is required to build something from the ground up.

15: PRODUCTIVE

Curious and passionate entrepreneurs manage their time effectively. Look for to-do lists, prioritisation of

tasks, automation of mundane and repeatable tasks, the use of productivity apps and more.

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