Six Practices of Entrepreneurial Thought and Behavior For Thinking Like and Owner - By Jeffrey Elsworth, PhD, School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State Univ.

How de we empower employees? How do we get employees to think like an owner? Companies want recruits who 'think like an owner'; that is, managers who demonstrate entrepreneurial aptitude and skills, think on their feet and possess good problem-solving abilities.

Last year I completed a study with Jeffrey A. Beck and Ronald F. Cichy exploring the characteristics important for ownership-like thought in the hospitality industry. We surveyed 182 restaurant and hotel industry operators, executives and owners using a questionnaire based on a review of entrepreneurship literature. The results suggested six characteristics that lead to ownership-like thought or behavior.

The six characteristics of hospitality entrepreneurship are:

• Intrapersonal communications

• Interpersonal communications

• Agility

• Creative savviness

• Problem-solving pragmatism

• Legacy leadership

Let me address each of these characteristics and the traits that indicate someone is proficient in that characteristic:

Intrapersonal communications

Intrapersonal communication skills refer to traits of honesty, listening to inner voices, patience, self-awareness, self-understanding and technical skills.

This is fundamentally about communication with oneself. It includes honestey, listening skills, patience and technical skills. Honesty with oneself begins with knowing one's strengths and weaknesses. Self knowledge includes clearly articulating values, vision, mission, strengths, areas needing improvement and goals.

As it is important to listen to others, it is also important to listen to oneself. By listening to one's own needs, wants, expectations, requirements, dreams and vision for the future, one is able to create a business atmosphere that aligns with these personal aspects.

Patience is also part of this characteristic. And technical skills are especially important, They come from an understanding based on practical work experience, of what it takes to succeed. Technical skills include detailed knowledge of the operations of the business.

Interpersonal communications

Good interpersonal communication traits include being a good listener, having empathy, being able to communicate a vision and easily interacting with others. These skills are focused on communicating with others.

Communicating effectively begins with a clear vision of what one wants to create/accomplish. The vision must be communicated effectively to others so that they can help achieve the vision. It's focused on listening to others.

Agility

Agility refers to adaptability, autonomy, good decision-making skills, independence and resourcefulness and perseverance.

The adaptability includes being flexible and learning something new each day. It's a blend of initial commitment and the ability to change. Autonomy is part of agility. Comfort in making decisions relates to dedication, commitment and passions.

People who are independent are determined, focused and patient. They work hard and take risks. And they are willing to work long hours, evenings and weekends. Resourcefulness relates to having the initiative to get started, they find a way to make things happen.

Creative Savviness

Creative savviness shows up as creativity, intuitive abilities, inventiveness, politically savvy and anticipating situations. All of these characteristics add to opportunities to present something new and fresh.

Creativity is the hallmark of staying one step ahead of the competition. It can simply be going out of one's way to please loyal customers, both internally and externally, in unique ways.

Intuition stems from a feeling inside based on knowing the customers and looking for ways to improve products, services, and experiences continuously. Inventiveness occurs when an individual looks for hidden opportunities, particularly in areas where others are not filling a need. Once the need is identified, that person must possess the vision to capitalize on these opportunities, facilitate the changes necessary to move the business and stay out in front of the competition.

Political savvy is important because it demonstrates an intimate understanding of the industry and government regulations related to the industry (e.g., government regulations about food safety, building codes etc.).

Problem-solving Pragmatism

The traits of problem-solving pragmatism include: understanding the numbers, objectivity, factual decision-making, being realistic and practical, and being able to solve problems.

Knowledge of financial numbers includes a detailed understanding of budgets, balance sheets, profit-and-loss statements, cash flow and return on investment (ROI). This characteristic also involves being objective in order to make fact-based decisions. Objective people study the demographics of the market to determine that external customers are in need of the proposed product, services and experiences. They also use more than intuition-they use the facts at hand to make decisions.

Pragmatism also includes being realistic and practical. The realism includes ability and necessity to balance work and quality of life. The quality speaks to finding a balance between the personal with the professional. They are also problem solvers and this quality differentiates them from the run-of-the-mill operators. The focus on problem solving is their way of continuously improving all elements of the business.

Legacy Leader

Traits of a legacy leader are that they have a vision for the future, that they create memorable experiences, leave a significant mark and make a commitment.

IMPLICATIONS FOR HIRING and TRAINING

When we are looking to hire new employees, we want to look for employees who have a lot of these traits. The six factors identified by the analysis include a wide range of characteristics, traits, attributes and skills as identified above. Some of the characteristics can be identified in people through their actions, while others may be identified only through questioning.

Some characteristics are inherent, but the other possibility is that individuals can learn these characteristics. Once the personal characteristics of successful entrepreneurs are identified, they can be taught to managers enabling those managers to develop both intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial attitudes.

The purpose of our exploratory study was to identify those entrepreneurial characteristics that are important for ownership-like thought in the hospitality industry so those characteristics can be used in developing and identifying successful managers.

When hiring managers who have entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial traits you can look for characteristics like: honesty, patience, good listening skills, empathy, adaptability, resourcefulness, good decision making, creativity, inventiveness, savvy, problem-solving, understanding of numbers, objectivity, vision for the future and desire to create memorable experiences.

The traits you need to or can train for include: technical competencies, values, vision and mission, patience, listening, communication skills, flexibility, anticipation, resourcefulness, understanding politics, understanding of numbers, understanding the customer, figuring out what is practical and what can be achieved, creating a vision for the future, and the importance of commitment.

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