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Key Question 1 - What is the entrepreneurial mindset?

The webinar began with an examination of Key Question 1 - What is the entrepreneurial mindset? Paul Coyle, the Director of the Network, explained the MINDSET mnemonic and the corresponding 7 essential entrepreneurial behaviours - see the panel below.

The MINDSET mnemonic is based on a systematic analysis of published research and professional practice. It provides a practical definition of the mindset which can be applied in a variety of work sectors and personal circumstances. 

The entrepreneurial mindset is a set of behaviours, that mimic the essential behaviours of entrepreneurs, and which lead to actions and successful outcomes. An entrepreneurial mindset is essential for starting, running and scaling a business. It is equally valuable for employment in the private, public and not for profit sectors. 

The entrepreneurial mindset supports personal, organisational & societal change and the creation of economic, social & cultural value. 

Key Question 2 - Why is the mindset important?

Roberto Brambilla

In the second part of the webinar, our speakers responded to the Key Question  2 - Why is the mindset important?  In the Video Clip, shown below, our first speaker Roberto Brambilla introduces himself and shares his own thoughts about the importance of the mindset. Roberto is Director of Postgraduate Education & Research Partnership at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy.

Roberto says that anyone can develop an entrepreneurial mindset whether they are employed, work as a freelancer, are self-employed or they are an entrepreneur. The mindset pushes everyone and encourages them to be more creative and innovative. It helps people to develop their professional skills and to create beneficial impacts for society.

Zohra Omar

Zohra Omar was the second panel speaker. She is the Founder and Lead Facilitator at the Mentoring Hub, based in Pakistan. Adding value to relationships and peoples lives is her intrinsic passion. Zohra works as a a Mentor, trainer, startup expert, and senior management professional. Kuwaiti born, educated in the Middle East and the US, she promotes human learning and development.

For Zohra, as she explains in the Video Clip that the mindset is essential.  She sees it as liberating, helping you to see things in a new way, to see past traditions and rules, and to see how you might “go outside the box’ or break through the ‘glass ceiling’. The mindset helps you to look beyond traditional definitions of entrepreneurship and the rules of business. It helps you to see that entrepreneurship is much more than just selling. 

Neil Bowie

Neil Bowie was our third panel speaker. He is an opportunity focused and result oriented individual with a mix of commercial and public sector experience. His experience is mainly focussed around marketing, business development, IT and construction - all undertaken with an enterprising and entrepreneurial approach. Currently, he is a Business Partner at the University of Dundee in Scotland. 

In the Video Clip, Neil introduces his own background, his studies and work experience.  He sees the value of the  mindset as helping people to cope with change, especially as the pace of change continues to accelerate. He identifies the importance of meeting real needs. He notes that the mindset doesn’t necessarily come naturally to people and, therefore, it is something that continuously needs to be worked at and developed over time. 

Key Question 3 - How can the mindset be developed?

In the third part of the webinar, the speakers and the participants discussed Key Question 3 - How can the mindset be developed? Our speakers share their views and in addition examples are given of the learning support provided by the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network that can help you to develop your own entrepreneurial mindset.

Roberto shares his experience of the Entrepreneurial Mindset text book and the Network’s 2020 online course. He believes that the mindset is something that can be learned; people can learn to innovate, to move outside their comfort zone and take more risks. This means that despite different jobs, countries and professional perspectives, many people can share the mindset, this common way of working and inner motivation.

Neil  share shares his view that if you want to help people to develop the entrepreneurial mindset then you must encourage them to stop thinking about the mindset as only being about business and help them to see it as something that is so much broader.  Mentoring can also help someone to use the mindset and make a big difference in their life.  

For Zohra, the mindset helps you to nurture and develop your professional and personal life.  It is a concept that adapts itself to any context and is therefore useful to anybody, whether you are working in business or working as a home-preneur or mum-preneur. She believes more people need help to develop the mindset so they can become empowered to deal with change.

The participants in the webinar identified the need to develop the entrepreneurial mindset as a way of responding to the changing and challenging context in which we find ourselves.  They see the mindset as helping people to prepare for the likely changes in the world of work because it enables people to become more creative, innovative, adaptable and flexible.

Our participants identified a number of actions that they intended to take as a result of the webinar. These actions included taking steps to make sure that they continued to develop their own mindset and to bring the mindset to the attention of their teams. ◼️