Entrepreneurs are touted for their grit, innovation, and risk taking. Professional Managers, on the other hand, are known for their oversight in an established business setting, as someone who leads their direct reports through their daily activities, makes decisions, establishes routine and is often risk averse. While Entrepreneurs and Managers are often placed in two completely separate boxes, it is important to recognize there are key competencies Managers can learn from Entrepreneurs to ensure success.

Create solutions:

It’s no question that entrepreneurs have problem-solving mindsets, as most businesses are started as either a proactive or reactive measure to a business problem that has been identified for a target audience. Often times, entrepreneurs are required to come up with creative solutions to problems without having a lot of information readily at their fingertips and also without a superior whom they can ask for help. For this reason, successful leaders are required to make effective decisions quickly.

This isn’t a skill that is reserved solely for entrepreneurs; the best people managers are often required to do the same. Great managers are able to make decisions on their toes and are able to think strategically both when they have been given abundant information and when the surrounding details are ambiguous in nature. Both managers and entrepreneurs alike need to be creative and decisive in the decision making process in order to be successful. Not only should leaders be able to create solutions instead of asking for them, they should also be able to collaborate with their teams to come to the best solution.

At Abilitie, we foster an environment of collaboration and communication that is strongly encouraged by our leadership team. Not only does this ensure that we are pulling ideas from every area of business and utilizing the expertise and background of all of our employees, it also keeps our team engaged and excited about the work we are doing. While final decisions are often made by the executive team, each Abilitie team member has fingerprints all over the work that we do, and much of that has to do with the leadership that we have at the highest level. The ability to collaborate with a group of individuals and applying the best input and ideas to the final solution is a key component of effective leadership.