Who do you serve with your business? Serving entrepreneurs have a different view of the world. They tend to see a better world then create businesses that help them bring their dreams into reality. Does your business serve a greater good?
I’ve been on the road for the past several weeks and I’m always amazed by the entrepreneurs I meet with. They are fantastic, inspirational serving leaders. Their lives are their message to the world. Does your business echo your life’s mission?
The most successful serving entrepreneurs embrace several key elements in building an exciting entrepreneurial life. They find joy in their lives through serving others through their businesses. They’ve integrated their lives with their work and it shows up in their extraordinary results.
These serving entrepreneurs embrace their gifts, strengths, and life experiences. Here are the several ways serving entrepreneurs differ from many other business owners. When you embrace these ideas, your life will be transformed, and so will your business. The only way to become a great serving entrepreneur is to embrace who you are and how we are shaped by the people and events in our lives.
Serving entrepreneurs embrace their life’s mission. They are all in. When you spend time with them you understand their business is another tool in helping them achieve their vison for our world. Even before they start building their extraordinary businesses, they have a clear mission. This mission drives their major decisions and life choices.
Serving entrepreneurs share their vision for the world with others. I’m not sure which comes first, mission or vision, but exceptional serving entrepreneurs work very hard to create a vision of the world. They know what they expect to see and they go to work to make it a reality.
They share their vision with other serving entrepreneurs who help understand the power of vision and purpose. Because they have such a clear vision of the possibilities, they can attract and retain the best people and partners to make their vision become real.
One difference I find with serving entrepreneurs is they place a very high value on their values. As I grow older I’ve become more comfortable saying no to people who are unclear about their values. They don’t have to share all of mine, but they do have to be clear about what theirs are.
One of the major things I enjoy about working with younger entrepreneurs is the passion they have around their values. Even when they don’t always agree with mine. I like to know where they stand on the big issues of our time. These discussions help me better understand how they live their lives.
Serving entrepreneurs understand the power values can have in inspiring themselves and others. I believe having strong values can help serving entrepreneurs in the most challenging times. Because they understand what their values are, these entrepreneurs can make decisions very quickly. Values also allow you to decide what opportunities you seize and what you let go.
Serving entrepreneurs’ values help them focus on what’s important to them and why. It provides clear guidance during the more challenging times in the entrepreneur’s career. An interesting fact I’ve noticed is that most serving entrepreneurs are more flexible in evaluating other people’s values that are different from their own. It took me a while to master this capability.
These successful entrepreneurs are comfortable in dealing with many different value systems. This provides them a significant advantage in dealing with global markets and constantly changing business conditions.
Serving entrepreneurs understand that a truly extraordinary business is built on the foundation of serving others. Through history there have been times in history when serving others becomes unpopular or maybe even uncool. Successful serving entrepreneurs understand that service is not something you do, but who you are. It’s how you connect and empower the world.
If you embrace these qualities, you will be able to build a remarkable business that will help change the world.
See you next week when I have another great event to share with you that’s on August 7, 2018 at 12:00 EST. You might want to put it on your calendar. It should be a great tweet-chat! The topic for the chat is If growth is the goal…how can you achieve it? I would love to see you there!
This article has been updated from an article appearing on Market Leadership Journal.