Do you think like an entrepreneur? It’s a subtle, yet important distinction. You have the power to dictate how to market, sell, and deliver your services regardless of whether you are an employee, an independent contractor, or a business owner.
Employee Mindset
An employee relinquishes most of
her control to an employer, giving up
initiative in her work.
An employee mindlessly punches in and
out on a clock until an unemployment
crisis occurs.
An employee takes company policies,
including compensation structure, at face
value and doesn’t consider negotiating.
An employee does a good enough job
not to get fired.
An employee feels dependent on the
employer for her future.
An employee holds tightly to her job
and paycheck, fearful that others will
take them away.
Business Owner Mindset
A business owner feels ownership in
her work and treats her employer like a
customer.
A business owner is always marketing and
networking so she is ready to find new
opportunities when needed.
A business owner questions everything
and negotiates to get the most mutually
beneficial situation possible.
A business owner takes pride in her work
and continually increases the quality of
her services to the customer.
A business owner knows her value stems
from her productivity. She keeps her skills
current and her value high so she is ready
for the future.
A business owner perceives others as
collaborators who will help to grow her
opportunities.
I love this “Declaration of Independence” by Daniel Pink, Author of Free Agent Nation…
When in the course of economic events, it becomes manifest that traditional work arrangements stifle innovation, reward timidity, devolve into nothingness, and offer at best a perilous prosperity, it becomes necessary for citizens of conscience and talent to break free from that decaying tradition and declare their independence.
And so we, the working women and men of America, declare ourselves free agents—and declare these truths to be self-evident:
Who we are and what we do should not stand on opposite sides of a psychological divide.So for us, work is personal! We are committed to unifying our personal interests and our business interests, our lifestyles and our work styles—because we fundamentally believe that we will be happier and more productive if we work and live as whole people.
Nothing is permanent. Security is an illusion. A work life based on workplace insecurity is no work life at all. So we choose the freedom to be ourselves and to follow our interests. And we are discovering that, in an economy of opportunity, freedom promotes security. The more we work in our own best interests, the more secure we become.
As free agents, we are choosing our own work paths—choosing the clients we want to work with and the projects we want to work on. And we are distinguishing ourselves from our colleagues in the old workplace by reserving the right to say no! No to clients who are hard to work with, who underpay us, who ask for proposal after proposal (but never hire us).
We’ve spent too much of our working lives running scared—scared that we’ll be laid off, yelled at, or blamed for something that wasn’t our fault. And what have we learned? That fear doesn’t motivate us for long; eventually it impedes our performance. Top performers become great by playing in their own terror-free zone.
