When it is worth risking

Alan Greenspan talks about Capitalism and Creative Destruction in his book "The Age of Turbulence". It talks about how people need to be constantly improving and how it can be uncomfortable to feel at risk but how at the end, we all profit as it fosters wealth creation and prosperity.

So risk is an interesting topic... it indeed may not feel good every once in a while but as you keep "risking", it just kind of feels "right" and exciting. Risk is not just financial risk and many times, there is also financial risk. Entrepreneurs are in the game to capture rewards and face many different types of risks.

One of the risks involves looking like an idiot... yes, looking like a fool for believing in something and being willing to go after it with an open heart. Risk taking is at the heart of visionary leadership... When we look back and think about the man going to the moon, if you were too young or not born in 1967, you may think it was a logical thing... It was not. There was no proof and no evidence that the man or woman could go to the moon. As a matter of fact, over 90% of the time the NASA team was working on it, they were off track. Often times, you are developing a new software or researching the cure for a disease and it looks like it is going to be impossible.
It is worth taking the risk when you have a vision that is bigger than yourself.

Entrepreneurship is not just about making money or making it in business... Successful entrepreneurs know that... they contribute to their customers, their teams and communities. They do that day in and day out, sometimes working long hours, working when things look hopeless... risking looking like fools because they are committed to making a difference. They are catalysts for change, wealth and value creation... They try a thousand times, like Thomas Edison did when inventing the light bulb, because they know it is worth it.

Power to create

According to the Entrepreneurial Experience by Richard Giannamore, POWER is the willingness to take action in the face of not wanting to, or being afraid to fail. POWER is the ability to bring your ideas and VISION into reality. honoring your word and doing what you say you are going to do is access to POWER. This may not be what most people think POWER is, and that is fine. POWER to stay in action, on purpose, no matter how you feel, what the weather looks like, or any other circumstance, no matter what. In the book, POWER is shown as a key entrepreneurial and leadership characteristic.

POWER is not something that is granted or awarded to someone. It is not a matter of force, domination or position of authority. It is a way of being that is based in an experience of you by yourself and by others, as a person who can be counted on to do what they say they are going to do, in spite of circumstances that would stop an ordinary person. It is you experiencing yourself as a person with a new level of INTEGRITY.

When you experience yourself as powerful in this way, you are able to speak with authority and confidence, even when you don’t have all the answers. When you honor your word, you get the experience of the POWER of your word to create wealth and prosperity. You can trust yourself to do what needs to be done, and so can others. This is very important in business, especially when things are not going the way we want them to go.

Often times, Entrepreneurs make decisions and define a direction to go without having all the answers. An entrepreneur takes risks and being powerful and confident is key when you serving customers or leading a team.

Freedom in relationship to money

Money is a tool, yet very often we make up many things about it...
Some people will say "money is dirty", "money does not buy happiness", and the list goes on.

Would we feel the same way about these statements if we were talking about a box?
"Box is dirty"... ok, that does not seem like a big deal.
Or, "box does not buy happiness". This one even sounds a little funny. What does box have anything to do with happiness?

Ok, the point here is that because of how we feel or think about having or not having money, or about when others have it or don't have it... we end up not having much freedom about money.
When we start to think of money as a tool, we can CREATE some freedom around it.

That is a very important concept when you are a manager, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist. It takes money to do good and produce results. If you don't have freedom around it, you are likely to get stopped or stuck in raising, managing or dealing with money in general.

Thinking of money as a tool gives me freedom around it. What gives you freedom around money? What difference does it make for you?