Archive for July 8th, 2008

Initiative vs. Entrepreneurship

Many hiring managers are looking for initiative, especially for agile team members. (In agile, the team members self-organize, which means they are looking for ways to do work better and to solve problems without requiring management’s involvement.)

I was thinking about initiative how to look for it, and I realized that at least some people with high initiative are only one small step away from being entrepreneurs. Sometimes it can be difficult to see where initiative ends and entrepreneurship begins. Should you hire people who have a high probability of walking away?

Yes.

First, there’s no guarantee how long any of your hires stay, so not hiring someone because you think the candidate might leave doesn’t buy you anything. But even more importantly: how much could you take advantage of this candidate’s ideas? High initiative people/entrepreneurs have lots of ideas. Many of them could benefit you, your team, your organization.

Bring on the high initiative/potential entrepreneur candidates. Let’s see them rock!

3 comments July 8th, 2008


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