Are You a Secret
Entrepreneur?
By Elana Shoval
If you are a hard and dedicated worker and yet
find yourself fighting office policy time and
time again - maybe it's because you shouldn't
be there in the first place
Are you one of those workers who is constantly
getting into trouble with the boss? Do you sometimes
wonder whether you have a problem accepting
authority? If you do, and if you feel guilty about it,
maybe it's time to stop. Maybe you feel that way not because there is some terrible flaw in your personality, but because you are a secret entrepreneur who never let his or her real personality out of the closet. Maybe it's time you should.
Many people who could be very successful as self-employed entrepreneurs go through a long and frustrated period trying to fight their true nature; they try for years to fit into various working places, believing this is the only way to support themselves and secure their financial future. They do it because this is what they know, this is what their parents did and taught them to do, this is what most people do and any way, they are too scared to leave and start over on their own.
Many of them manage to keep a steady job, sometimes for years, but the price is very high. "I was quite successful at my job", says Mira Bloom (49), who worked for 15 years at a large advertisement agency. "I was very creative and dedicated to my work, but my way of thinking and operating was a lot different than my co-workers or my bosses".
How so?
"Other workers didn't mind following office rules and regulations. I, on the other hand, often disagreed with them. I had my own ideas about how things should be done and found it really hard to bend to rules I didn't approve of, or thought were actually dumb".
The gap between what Bloom thought and believed and what was demanded of her took its toll: "I was constantly angry. The way things were handled and the ineffectiveness of my boss drove me nuts. It was so obvious to me what should be done and I couldn't understand why I was the only one who saw it".
Although she was very good at her work her boss was always checking on her. "He never trusted me, no matter how good and efficient I was. He didn't like my independence; he tried to watch my every step and restrain me so that he could control me, and this drove me even crazier. I wanted to excel at my work but instead I had to deal with useless instructions and interference. He wanted me to ask his permission for every step I took. It felt like someone was gluing my feet to the ground. Eventually, when he realized he couldn’t control me, he fired me. I was devastated at first but eventually opened my own business and became the happiest person I know. Looking back at those years I can't believe I put up with it for so long".
Bloom is a typical secret entrepreneur. You can find people like her in almost every organization, large or small. It's easy to locate them: They are usually very matter-of- fact workers who don’t let their emotions or ego get in the way. They don't like to spend time talking and gossiping during work hours. They have too much to do, and their first commitment is to their work and to what needs to be done. They can usually be found busy at their office duties.
"I hated participating in office events or trips", says Bloom. "Most of all I hated it when one of the managers talked about us being ‘one big loving family'. I liked my co-workers a lot but they weren't my family, not even close. They were just people I worked with. Most people around me didn't get my attitude. Some of them thought I was a snob, others figured I hated big events. Neither was true".
So are you a secret entrepreneur? Test yourself:
1. Are you always busy at one or more projects that you yourself initiated?
2. Do you find yourself thinking differently than most people in your organization?
3. Do you find yourself in constant disagreement with office policy and sometimes form an opposition in order to change it?
4. Are you dedicated to every project you are involved in and get very good results?
5. Do you constantly feel you are being limited at your job, underpaid or that you deserve better conditions?
6. Do you feel it's OK for you to be part of a team but that you prefer to lead it?
7. Does your schedule, your visiting card or your office look different than those of your co-workers?
8. Are you being summoned more often than others to clarify something or another with your boss?
9. Do you try to avoid big events at the office and hate it when management talks about "us being one big loving family"?
10. Do you hear many comments from your superiors like, "She/he never asks for my involvement", "She/he is different" or questions like, "What are you doing right now"?
If you answered "yes" to six or more of these statements - you should start thinking seriously about leaving your job and starting your own business. Life is too short to waste on unfulfilling tasks and dead-end jobs in a restricted environment. Get out of there, create your own business and start having fun.
<back
Entrepreneur?
By Elana Shoval
If you are a hard and dedicated worker and yet
find yourself fighting office policy time and
time again - maybe it's because you shouldn't
be there in the first place
Are you one of those workers who is constantly
getting into trouble with the boss? Do you sometimes
wonder whether you have a problem accepting
authority? If you do, and if you feel guilty about it,
maybe it's time to stop. Maybe you feel that way not because there is some terrible flaw in your personality, but because you are a secret entrepreneur who never let his or her real personality out of the closet. Maybe it's time you should.
Many people who could be very successful as self-employed entrepreneurs go through a long and frustrated period trying to fight their true nature; they try for years to fit into various working places, believing this is the only way to support themselves and secure their financial future. They do it because this is what they know, this is what their parents did and taught them to do, this is what most people do and any way, they are too scared to leave and start over on their own.
Many of them manage to keep a steady job, sometimes for years, but the price is very high. "I was quite successful at my job", says Mira Bloom (49), who worked for 15 years at a large advertisement agency. "I was very creative and dedicated to my work, but my way of thinking and operating was a lot different than my co-workers or my bosses".
How so?
"Other workers didn't mind following office rules and regulations. I, on the other hand, often disagreed with them. I had my own ideas about how things should be done and found it really hard to bend to rules I didn't approve of, or thought were actually dumb".
The gap between what Bloom thought and believed and what was demanded of her took its toll: "I was constantly angry. The way things were handled and the ineffectiveness of my boss drove me nuts. It was so obvious to me what should be done and I couldn't understand why I was the only one who saw it".
Although she was very good at her work her boss was always checking on her. "He never trusted me, no matter how good and efficient I was. He didn't like my independence; he tried to watch my every step and restrain me so that he could control me, and this drove me even crazier. I wanted to excel at my work but instead I had to deal with useless instructions and interference. He wanted me to ask his permission for every step I took. It felt like someone was gluing my feet to the ground. Eventually, when he realized he couldn’t control me, he fired me. I was devastated at first but eventually opened my own business and became the happiest person I know. Looking back at those years I can't believe I put up with it for so long".
Bloom is a typical secret entrepreneur. You can find people like her in almost every organization, large or small. It's easy to locate them: They are usually very matter-of- fact workers who don’t let their emotions or ego get in the way. They don't like to spend time talking and gossiping during work hours. They have too much to do, and their first commitment is to their work and to what needs to be done. They can usually be found busy at their office duties.
"I hated participating in office events or trips", says Bloom. "Most of all I hated it when one of the managers talked about us being ‘one big loving family'. I liked my co-workers a lot but they weren't my family, not even close. They were just people I worked with. Most people around me didn't get my attitude. Some of them thought I was a snob, others figured I hated big events. Neither was true".
So are you a secret entrepreneur? Test yourself:
1. Are you always busy at one or more projects that you yourself initiated?
2. Do you find yourself thinking differently than most people in your organization?
3. Do you find yourself in constant disagreement with office policy and sometimes form an opposition in order to change it?
4. Are you dedicated to every project you are involved in and get very good results?
5. Do you constantly feel you are being limited at your job, underpaid or that you deserve better conditions?
6. Do you feel it's OK for you to be part of a team but that you prefer to lead it?
7. Does your schedule, your visiting card or your office look different than those of your co-workers?
8. Are you being summoned more often than others to clarify something or another with your boss?
9. Do you try to avoid big events at the office and hate it when management talks about "us being one big loving family"?
10. Do you hear many comments from your superiors like, "She/he never asks for my involvement", "She/he is different" or questions like, "What are you doing right now"?
If you answered "yes" to six or more of these statements - you should start thinking seriously about leaving your job and starting your own business. Life is too short to waste on unfulfilling tasks and dead-end jobs in a restricted environment. Get out of there, create your own business and start having fun.
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Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (1898 -1993) was a Protestant preacher known best for his book The Power of Positive Thinking and a progenitor of the theory of "positive thinking".
Dr. Norman
Vincent Peale
Vincent Peale
"Change your thoughts and you change your world"