Do You Really Want To Be An Entrepreneur?

Welcome to The Shift, a weekly newsletter where I provide thought-provoking ideas to help you think differently about your career and money.

I’m Gonna Be An Entrepreneur

I know you’ve thought about quitting your full-time job to be an entrepreneur…

Haven’t we all? The idea of complete freedom and control over our time and income is enticing, to say the least.

This trend toward entrepreneurship is an important one. But I think we may be misinterpreting our desires.

Is it about working for ourselves or is it about having control, freedom and power over our work?

According to the numbers… Last year, 51% of workers said they considered leaving their current job to work for themselves¹ .

I’m starting to think entrepreneurship has become a fancy catch-all for independence.

Agency Inside Work

Independence doesn’t always mean entrepreneurship.

Yet, we’ve become wired to believe those two words are one in the same. It’s a natural connection because being independent means you are not subject to control by others (according to Merriam-Webster). Entrepreneurs make their own rules.

This thinking also aligns with the status quo. We all know how hard a good status quo is to break. 😉

Another definition of independence is “showing a desire for freedom”.  This is the definition that aligns with the idea of “agency” at work.   

While I write a lot about the trend toward independence, what I really advocate for is empowerment or control in our careers. In other words, more agency.

That can be through entrepreneurship, or other types of independent work.

It can happen inside a company.

What Does Agency Look Like?

In my TEDx talk, I mentioned my pal Jim who invented his own role at the company he worked for. He started working on a side project for his boss and was able to turn that into a full-time gig.

Jim built trust and proved his ability to think strategically about the business prior to the side project. Then, he was able to show the benefits of the project to the company, making it easy for them to allow him to create this new, full-time role.  

That example might not be easily replicated, but it worked because the transition in Jim’s job was tied to the result, i.e. how the company would benefit.

This isn’t to say agency is creating your own job. Instead..

• It’s having the latitude to evolve in your career, with the support of the organization, but without micro-management.

• It’s having clarity on what your role is and how it impacts the organization.

• Most of all, it’s having trust and being empowered to make decisions.

• It’s being paid fairly for the work that you do (including the stuff that is beyond the scope of your role).

Employees thrive on agency.

Can’t Say The Right Thing

The problem is that the number of companies embracing an innovative culture, offering flexibility, and creative freedom to breed agency - aka optionality - are limited.

It reminds me of this saying:

I think allowing agency at work is like that. It’s hard for organizations to accept because they only see the workplace as linear (think corporate ladder). It’s always been that way. However, it’s easy for open-minded organizations to embrace the idea of employees owning their careers and having creative latitude.

We need to shift the mindset of the organizations stuck in the past.

Workers are moving further along the scale, moving ever closer to where independence lives.

To me those trends not only feel unstoppable, they feel irreversible.

The good news for companies is: There are massive benefits from offering employees freedom or ownership in their careers.

Corporations Thrive On Agency

A big reason companies don’t allow for agency is because they aren’t set up to.

They don’t have clearly defined goals or outcomes that cascade clearly down to the individual. And typically, the culture doesn’t allow for it.

Companies that have ground rules in place that allow for the latitude necessary for employee agency thrive both monetarily and culturally.

The biggest benefits are:

• Increased employee focus on achieving corporate business goals

• Reaching business goals faster

• Increased employee engagement and morale

• Increased productivity

• Improved retention

• Reduced time wasted on unnecessary projects

• Reduced expenses

• Builds a multifaced workforce with multiple skill sets

• Creates a more agile company

When an employee has ownership of their careers, corporations benefit. 

Let’s make The Shift!

P.S. Linking my TEDx Talk again - please watch, like, comment, and share to help me spread the word. 🙏

Lindsey

Sources:

1. HoneyBook and The Harris Poll, 2023.