Initiative vs. Entrepreneurship
July 8th, 2008
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!
Entry Filed under: candidate, hiring strategy
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3 Comments Add your own
1. Hiring good people «&hellip | July 10th, 2008 at 11:05 am
[...] latest post, Initiative vs. Entrepreneurship, highlights something I’ve thought for as long as I’ve been “managed” as an [...]
2. George Dinwiddie | July 12th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Not only do you not know how long anyone will stay, but the worst hires will tend to stick around on their own lack of initiative.
If you want to keep that employee who shows initiative, let her exercise that initiative in your company. There’s a lot of baggage with being an entrepreneur, and not everyone wants that–even those with high initiative. Make it easy for them to stay, and you’ll both win.
3. Tobias Fors | August 7th, 2008 at 2:44 am
Yes, hire! And, if you’re a consulting company, like the one I work for, you’ll have one more ambassador for your services when the entrepreneur chooses to move on! IF you have played your cards right and valued that person’s initiative, AND can see the value in the fact that he or she chose to move on.
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