How to transit from the executive to entrepreneur mindset?
如何实现从执行者到企业家思维的转变?When I was a young management trainee, my boss threw me out with my idea of appointing agents to help us sell more cable television subscriptions. He said my job was to sell directly to the customers and not try to be funny to venture otherwise. I explained that by myself, it will take a long time for us to get the number of subscribers to make money since we have invested so much in wiring up so many housing estates. 当年我还是个有限电视公司年轻的管理新手时,老板不同意我有关让代理商为我们销售更多有线电视的建议。他说我的工作就是将产品直接销售给客户,而不是在别的方面冒险。我自我辩解说,因为我们花了大精力在居民区配线,当然该花时间来发展电视用户,以此来赚钱。aihuau.comHe said, “D o what you like after I retire. During my watch, you just do your job.” I was rebellious and did not take no for an answer. I started to appoint “agents” who will identify families who would be keen with our cable TV service. I paid them half of my commission. My sales shot up and my immediate supervisor was so proud of me that he danced around the office and pronounced that he found a “high flyer”. I was very happy until a clerk who had been working there for almost 15 years remarked, “If you sold so much so fast, there would be a day your sales will run out and your time here will too.” I was stunned.他说:“我退休以后,您爱干啥就干啥。我在位一天,您就得做好您自己的工作。”我很倔强,就没再多说一句话。我开始委派“代理商”,这些人知道哪些家庭喜欢有线电视。我将自己佣金的一半支付给他们。我的销售量猛增,我的直接主管为我感到自豪,在办公室里手舞足蹈地说自己找到了一个销售天才。我也非常开心,直到一位在这工作15年的同事说:“您卖得太快了,总有一天您的销售量会下降,那时,您的好日子也就没了”我一下就愣住了。You see there are so many such people in a company. Starting from the one who is supposed to groom you to those who are more experienced that you. Why are these people pulling back and refraining from trying new things? I did not take them seriously and went on to do what was profitable. In less than one year, I became the top one million-dollar wonder salesman earning myself a big pay packet. I needed the money as I was hungry. I did not care about what people said. They had their agendas and I had mine. When you are dead broke and out, can the talk from people bring you out of poverty and hardship? Surely not. The only way out and up is to move on to become an entrepreneur within a larger organization.您看看,公司里有那么多的员工,有为您清洁的人,有资历比您高的人。为什么这些人宁可往后退也不愿尝试新事物?但我却没有把这当回事,继续我行我素。不到一年,我成为能赚百万美元销售人员。我如饥似渴地赚钱,不在乎别人怎么说。他们有自己的打算,我也有自己的。当您一文不名时,夸夸其谈能让您摆脱贫穷和困苦吗?当然不能。惟一的出路是向着做大老板的目标,勇往直前。There is a Chinese saying that the word “Gong” does not have a protrusion to the top. That is, the belief that working for others would not make you rich or get you out of the heap. It is this mindset that set many potentially great people back. They stop short of doing anything with this belief. 中文中有个字“工”,“工字不出头”。也就是说,为别人打工的想法并不能让您富裕或是让您在众人中脱颖而出。正是这种观念让许多有潜力的人才停止前进。有了这种想法,他们什么事都不做了。Mr Koh Boon Hwee, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard in Asia, decided that his tour of duty with the US company gave him enough experience and network to do his own business. He left them and joined a Singapore entrepreneur to help him run his conglomerate. As usual, he was not only a good manager; he was entrepreneurial and helped to build up the group with good managers and investments. With the advent of the Internet boom, he graduated to become an astute investor and had the Midas touch in whatever company he invested in. The shares of those investee companies will rise each time he made announcements of his investment. He was even invited to become the Chairman of Singapore Airlines so that he can bring the entrepreneurial flavor into this already very successful company. 许文辉先生,原惠普亚洲地区的CEO,他认为是在美国公司的任期给了他足够的经验和关系网络来做自己的事业。他离开惠普后,加盟了新加坡的企业,帮助创办联合公司。他不仅是位优秀的经理人,也是位企业家,帮助建立团队和发掘可投资的项目。随着网络经济的繁荣,他成长为一位敏锐的投资者,他投资的任何一家公司都赚了大把的钞票。每当他宣布要投资哪家公司时,被投资公司的股票每次都会上涨。因为他能将企业家的作风带到这个原本已经很是成功的企业,新加坡航空公司甚至邀请他出任主席。 The danger lies with many managers who only want to “coast along”. They are typically the administrator type and hope everything to be peaceful. Everything changes and thus there is the need to change before it actually happens. Managers and companies need time to prepare, anticipate or create those changes. The motivation to become entrepreneurial is not money; it is survival and success. There is no such thing as an “iron rice bowl”. Even governmental work, such as looking after a prison, can be outsourced to more capable and gung ho people. Processes and systems need to be revamped for the better even if they are not broken. Street light bulbs are changed even when they are working. It is more expensive, in political and cost perspectives, to replace the bulbs when they fail. You can imagine the chaos and dangers when street lamps go off. What are the benefits for society? How much does it cost to replace a new one? What would be the costs for not changing? The entrepreneurial mindset calls for changing the norm as the norm keeps changing. The investor mode of management stresses the difference between returns and risks of doing and not doing.危险在于许多经理人仅仅想随波逐流,人云亦云。他们是典型管理者的风格,希望一切都相安无事。事物是变化的,变化是有征兆的。经理人和公司需要时间去准备、参与或是创造这些改变。成为企业家的想法并不是为了钱,而是为了生存和成功。这里没有诸如铁饭碗之类的东西。即便是为政府工作,如看管犯人这类的工作,也能外包出去让更有能力、更具协作精神的人来做。尽管程序和体系没有漏洞,但仍需完善。尽管路灯没坏,灯泡就该更换了。当灯泡坏掉时,从行政和成本角度来说,就会花费更多。可以想象一下,当路灯坏时混乱不堪和危险的场面。这对社会有什么好处呢?更换一个灯泡又能花得了多少钱呢?如果不换的话,所付出的代价又是多少呢?企业家思维要求当标准不断在调整时,就已经改变标准。投资者管理模式强调做与不做的风险与回报的差别。
Government institutions, political parties, charities, religious centers, countries, families and businesses need managers and people to be more entrepreneurial – always thinking of ways to create better returns for all, reduce risks and a create better quality of work life and inpidual lifestyles. First, you need to be hungry and desire to stretch to get more for all. What are you doing to make your team and yourself more entrepreneurial?政府机构、政治团体、慈善机构、宗教团体、家庭和企业都需要经理人和员工更加企业化——始终想办法创造更多的回报、减少风险、创造更好的个人生活与工作方式。首先,您必须有发挥潜能,实现个人更大价值的强烈愿望。如何使您的团队和您自己更加企业化?