Entrepreneurship - Competency
Definition: Entrepreneurship is the ability to recognize opportunities, envision new possibilities, and innovate in ways that create meaningful value for the organization. It involves navigating uncertainty with confidence and strategic insight, using independence, resourcefulness, initiative, and sound business judgment to move ideas from concept to execution. Entrepreneurial managers build strong relationships, influence others, and continually improve systems and themselves while persistently advancing opportunities despite obstacles. Ultimately, Entrepreneurship is defined by the courage to take risks, the discipline to deliver results, and the commitment to cultivate an enterprising, customer‑oriented environment where new ideas can thrive.
Self-Comments:
Do you have to complete a self-assessment or performance appraisal? If so, the
self-comments here may help.
360-Feedback Surveys Measuring Entrepreneurship:
Survey 1 (4-point scale; Competency Comments)
Survey 2 (4-point scale; Competency Comments)
Survey 3 (5-point scale; Competency Comments)
Survey 4 (5-point scale; radio buttons)
Survey 5 (4-point scale; words)
Survey 6 (4-point scale; words)
Survey 7 (5-point scale; competency comments; N/A)
Survey 8 (3-point scale; Agree/Disagree words; N/A)
Survey 9 (3-point scale; Strength/Development; N/A)
Survey 10 (Comment boxes only)
Survey 11 (Single rating per competency)
Survey 12 (Slide-bar scale)
Survey 13 (4-point scale; numbers; floating anchors)
Survey 14 (4-point scale; N/A)
What is Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is the ability to recognize opportunities by spotting problems that need to be solved, identifying issues that require attention, and envisioning new possibilities that others may overlook. It begins with innovation and value creation--conceiving and launching new products, services, and approaches that strengthen the organization's capabilities, meet real business needs, and generate meaningful impact. This work is guided by a compelling vision, reinforced by strategic insight, and sustained by the capacity to handle uncertainty with balanced judgment, confidence, and forward momentum even when outcomes are unclear.
Entrepreneurship also depends on personal qualities that drive progress: persistence in the face of shifting conditions, independence in evaluating opportunities and challenging conventions, and resourcefulness in finding creative ways around barriers. It thrives on strong interpersonal relationships that build trust, encourage open input, and energize people around new ideas. Through initiative, business acumen, and authentic influence, entrepreneurs mobilize others, cultivate early-stage ideas into viable opportunities, and adapt strategies to changing environments.
Finally, entrepreneurship is a disciplined commitment to risk taking, entrepreneurial thinking, and continual improvement, supported by high learning agility and the ability to adjust based on real-time feedback. It requires translating strategic concepts into actionable steps, coordinating execution, and taking responsibility for outcomes. At its core, entrepreneurship is defined by the drive to deliver results--creating solutions that differentiate the organization, advance its mission, and turn promising concepts into measurable, market-ready achievements. Core Components of Entrepreneurship
- Recognizes Opportunities: Recognizes Opportunities focuses on an employee's ability to see what others miss--spotting unmet needs, emerging trends, hidden problems, and potential improvements before they become obvious. It is fundamentally about perception, insight, and early identification: noticing issues that need to be addressed, seeing potential in difficult situations, and translating signals in the environment into actionable possibilities.
- Innovates: Innovates is about creating something new in response to those openings--designing novel products, services, processes, or approaches that expand capabilities and strengthen the organization's competitive position. It involves generating original ideas, championing new offerings, and transforming concepts into forward-looking solutions that succeed in the marketplace.
- Value Creation: Value Creation is about turning ideas into tangible, sustainable business impact. It focuses on developing offerings that generate revenue, strengthen the organization's value proposition, and meet real customer or business needs.
- Vision: Vision is about imagining what the future could look like and helping others see it clearly. It involves articulating compelling possibilities, spotting emerging trends early, framing why an initiative matters, and guiding people through the journey from idea to prototype to scalable solution.
- Handles Uncertainty: Handles Uncertainty is about how an employee functions when clarity is missing. It focuses on staying composed, making progress, and making sound judgments when information is incomplete, conflicting, or rapidly changing.
- Strategic Insight: Strategic Insight is about how an employee thinks strategically within that uncertainty. It focuses on evaluating ideas through long-term organizational goals, understanding competitive dynamics, and selecting initiatives that strengthen the organization's strategic position.
- Persistent: Persistent describes how an employee continues moving forward despite obstacles, delays, ambiguity, or adversity. It is about sustained effort, resilience, and the determination to keep progressing even when results are slow, conditions shift, or challenges multiply.
- Independence: Independence describes how an employee initiates and drives work on their own, without needing direction, reassurance, or established pathways. It emphasizes self-direction, original thinking, and the willingness to deviate from norms or conventions when a better approach exists.
- Resourcefulness: Resourcefulness is about finding a way forward using whatever is available. It focuses on creatively solving problems, repurposing existing capabilities, securing needed resources, and turning promising ideas into viable, commercially successful offerings.
- Interpersonal Relationships: Interpersonal Relationships is about working effectively with people to advance entrepreneurial efforts. It emphasizes building trust, collaborating across departments, inviting diverse perspectives, maintaining open communication, and creating an environment where others feel safe contributing ideas or concerns.
- Initiative: Initiative is about taking action proactively -- stepping forward before being asked, driving ideas into motion, and pushing work ahead even when the path is unclear. It emphasizes personal drive, early movement, and the willingness to lead new efforts, tackle difficult assignments, and transform how work gets done.
- Business Acumen: Business Acumen is about making smart, strategically aligned decisions that ensure entrepreneurial efforts create real, sustainable value. It focuses on understanding markets, customers, competitive dynamics, financial implications, and the stages of business development.
- Confidence: Confidence is about an employee's inner belief -- belief in themselves, in their vision, and in their ability to navigate uncertainty and lead others through it. It shows up as clarity of purpose, steadiness during transitions, and the ability to help teams stay motivated when ideas are untested or conditions shift.
- Risk Taking: Risk Taking is about an employee's willingness to act boldly in uncertain or high-stakes situations. It focuses on balancing risk and reward, stepping outside comfort zones, experimenting with unconventional approaches, and making decisive moves even when information is incomplete.
Why is Entrepreneurship Important?
Entrepreneurship is important in a company because it fuels innovation, adaptability, and long-term relevance in a constantly shifting environment. Entrepreneurial employees spot emerging opportunities, identify problems that need solving, and bring forward new ideas that strengthen the organization's portfolio and create meaningful value. This mindset helps companies avoid stagnation by encouraging experimentation, calculated risk taking, and the ability to navigate uncertainty with confidence and strategic clarity. In fast-moving markets, that combination of opportunity recognition and innovation becomes a core competitive advantage.
Entrepreneurship also strengthens organizational execution and culture. People who think entrepreneurially take initiative, persist through obstacles, and mobilize others around compelling ideas, creating momentum that pushes the company forward. They combine business acumen, resourcefulness, and learning agility to turn early-stage concepts into real solutions that deliver measurable results. Over time, this builds a culture of continual improvement--one where teams are empowered to challenge assumptions, improve processes, and create differentiated products and services that keep the organization ahead of its competitors. What are key aspects of Entrepreneurship?
- Recognizes Opportunities
- Innovates
- Value Creation
- Vision
- Handles Uncertainty
- Strategic Insight
- Persistent
- Independence
- Resourcefulness
- Interpersonal Relationships
- Initiative
- Business Acumen
- Confidence
- Influence
- Risk Taking
- Entrepreneurial Thinking
- Continual Improvement
- Learning Agility
- Execution
- Delivers Results
How can I improve my Entrepreneurship?
- Recognize Opportunities: Strengthen your opportunity recognition by training yourself to notice problems, gaps, and emerging needs. Make it a habit to ask "what's missing here?" or "what could work better?" in everyday situations.
- Innovate: Build your innovation muscle by experimenting with small, low-risk ideas regularly. Treat each experiment as a learning cycle rather than a pass/fail test, and look for ways to extend your team's or department's capabilities.
- Be Strategic: Develop strategic insight by connecting your ideas to long-term organizational goals. Practice evaluating concepts not just for novelty, but for how they create value, differentiate the organization, or support future growth.
- Tolerate Uncertainty: Increase your comfort with uncertainty by taking action before everything is perfect. Start with partial information, make a thoughtful first move, and adjust based on what you learn along the way.
- Show Initiative: Strengthen initiative and independence by proactively pursuing ideas without waiting for permission. When you see an opportunity, outline a plan, gather resources, and take the first steps to move it forward.
- Learn: Deepen your learning agility by seeking out unfamiliar situations, stretch assignments, and real-time feedback. Use each new environment to refine your approach, adapt your communication, and expand your problem-solving range.
- Execute and be Accountable: Improve execution and results by breaking big ideas into clear, actionable steps. Prioritize what matters most, delegate when appropriate, and hold yourself accountable for delivering outcomes that make a measurable difference.
What are the benefits of Entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship benefits a company by making it more adaptable, innovative, and capable of turning ideas into meaningful value. When people think and act entrepreneurially, they help the organization stay competitive, responsive to customers, and resilient in the face of uncertainty.
- Drives innovation that keeps the organization ahead of competitors. Entrepreneurial thinking encourages new products, services, and approaches that expand capabilities and open new opportunities.
- Strengthens opportunity recognition across the company. Employees become more skilled at spotting problems, unmet needs, and emerging trends that can be turned into strategic advantages.
- Builds a culture of initiative and ownership. People take responsibility for moving ideas forward, reducing bottlenecks and increasing the organization's overall speed and agility.
-
- Improves adaptability in uncertain or rapidly changing environments. Entrepreneurial teams make progress without waiting for perfect information, adjusting quickly as conditions evolve.
- Enhances value creation for customers and stakeholders. By focusing on meaningful impact, entrepreneurial employees develop solutions that differentiate the organization and strengthen its market position.
- Increases organizational learning and continuous improvement. Experimentation, feedback, and learning agility become part of everyday work, raising the performance of individuals and teams.
- Boosts execution and results. Entrepreneurs break big ideas into actionable steps, mobilize others, and deliver measurable outcomes that advance the company's goals.
Overall, entrepreneurship helps a company grow stronger, smarter, and more future-ready. It builds the mindset and behaviors that turn possibility into progress and progress into sustained success. What questions could you consider for including on a 360-degree feedback assessment regarding Entrepreneurship?
The questionnaire items below will measure competence in Entrepreneurship. These questions are grouped into different facets of feedback. When creating a 360-degree or other performance assessment, try to select one or two items from each group. 360-Feedback questions that measure Entrepreneurship
Recognizes OpportunitiesRecognizes Opportunities focuses on the ability to see what others miss--spotting emerging trends, unmet customer needs, hidden problems, and openings for improvement. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it reflects perceptiveness, pattern-recognition, and the skill of reframing challenges as possibilities. This competency is about discovery: identifying issues that need to be solved, recognizing potential in difficult situations, and translating early signals into actionable opportunities. It is fundamentally insight-driven--centered on noticing and capitalizing on what could become valuable.
- Able to recognize and capitalize on opportunities.
- Sees opportunities where others see problems.
- Identifies unmet customer needs.
- Looks for opportunities to make improvements.
- Recognizes emerging trends and translating them into action.
- Identifies problems that need solved.
- Sees potential in difficult situations.
- Recognizes and acts on opportunities.
- Identifies solutions to problems.
- Identifies issues that need to be addressed.
InnovatesInnovates focuses on creating something new in response to those opportunities. It emphasizes designing novel products, services, and solutions that expand capabilities, strengthen competitive advantage, and drive growth. Innovates is about invention and execution--conceiving forward-looking ideas, championing new offerings, and launching solutions that meaningfully advance the department or organization. Innovates builds what becomes real, turning insight into tangible, market-relevant outcomes.
- Conceives and launches innovative solutions that extend the department's capabilities.
- Builds innovative products and services that strengthen and expand the department's portfolio.
- Creates forward-looking offerings that enhance the department's competitive edge.
- Creates new products and services to expand the company's capabilities.
- Champions the creation of new services and products that help drive further innovations.
- Leverages creativity to produce solutions that succeed in the marketplace.
- Develops new offerings that open additional avenues for departmental growth.
- Creates new ideas about what (or how something) should be done.
- Changes, revolutionizes, or transforms the approaches to how work is done.
- Introduces new products and services that broaden the department's reach and impact.
- Designs novel products and services that position the department for new opportunities.
Value CreationValue Creation focuses on turning ideas into tangible, profitable, and sustainable outcomes that strengthen the organization. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it emphasizes execution--developing marketable products, expanding the department's value proposition, and making decisions that generate long-term organizational benefit. This competency is about producing measurable impact: transforming emerging ideas into commercial successes, pursuing value-creating opportunities even outside formal job boundaries, and helping teams understand how incremental wins contribute to broader business growth. Value Creation is fundamentally about delivering results that advance the business.
- Creates value for the organization.
- Turns ideas into commercial successes.
- Develops ideas into profitable products and services.
- Transforms emerging ideas into new offerings that expand the department's value proposition.
- Pursues value-creating ideas even when they fall outside formal job boundaries.
- Cultivates ideas into sustainable business opportunities.
- Creates marketable products that meet business needs.
- Helps teams understand how small wins contribute to long-term value creation.
- Makes decisions that support sustainable value creation, not just quick wins.
- Focuses on growing the business and identifying new opportunities.
- Develops offerings that generate new revenue streams.
- Identifies and develops new products and services that advance the department's strategic direction.
- Adds value by providing unique services.
VisionVision focuses on imagining and articulating what the future could look like--and guiding others toward it. It emphasizes foresight, strategic framing, and the ability to communicate possibilities in a way that energizes people and clarifies long-term direction. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, Vision is about identifying emerging trends early, spotting high-potential ideas, and helping teams navigate from concept to prototype to scalable solution. It involves translating a high-level vision into actionable steps and distinguishing promising opportunities from distractions. Vision is fundamentally about direction and inspiration, shaping the path before value is created.
- Articulates a compelling vision of what could be achieved.
- Communicates a vision of new possibilities in a way that energizes people to try new approaches.
- Translates a high-level vision into actionable steps that guide innovation and execution.
- Identifies emerging trends, technologies, or customer needs early and positions the team to act ahead of competitors.
- Helps others understand why a new initiative matters and what success might look like.
- Spots ideas, markets, or process improvements with potential impact.
- Creates a vision in a way that resonates with different audiences.
- Frames entrepreneurial initiatives in a way that clarifies their long-term value.
- Helps teams navigate the transition from idea to prototype to scalable solution.
- Has the vision to recognize which opportunities are worth pursuing and which are distractions.
- Has the vision to see potential value in ideas that are still vague or unproven.
- Frames prototypes, pilots, and early tests as steps toward a broader strategic direction.
Handles UncertaintyHandles Uncertainty is about how someone operates when clarity is missing. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it reflects the ability to stay steady, focused, and productive when information is incomplete, conflicting, or rapidly changing. This competency emphasizes comfort with ambiguity, balanced judgment under uncertain conditions, and the ability to identify patterns or emerging signals even when data is sparse. Someone strong in Handles Uncertainty keeps moving forward without needing reassurance, avoids paralysis, and maintains a solution-oriented mindset when others may feel unsettled. It is fundamentally about navigating ambiguity with composure and progress.
- Can work effectively in an environment of uncertainty.
- Is comfortable operating in an environment of uncertainty.
- Makes sense of incomplete, conflicting, or rapidly changing information without becoming stalled.
- Evaluates uncertain situations with a balanced view of potential upside and downside.
- Identifies patterns or emerging signals even when data is sparse.
- Moves forward in uncertain situations without needing reassurance.
- Stays steady, focused, and solution-oriented when others may feel unsettled.
- Uses strategic intuition and pattern recognition to make informed choices in uncertain or fast-moving environments.
- Treats uncertainty as an opportunity to gather insight rather than a barrier.
- Avoids analysis paralysis by choosing progress over perfection.
Strategic InsightStrategic Insight is focusing on evaluating ideas through long-term organizational goals, selecting initiatives that strengthen competitive position, and converting strategic concepts into meaningful commercial outcomes. This competency emphasizes understanding industry trends, customer behavior, and competitive dynamics--and using that knowledge to make strategically intelligent choices. Someone strong in Strategic Insight helps teams understand why an idea matters, how it contributes to broader outcomes, and which opportunities are worth pursuing versus ignoring. It is fundamentally about seeing the bigger picture and making choices that advance the organization's strategic position.
- Has a strategic awareness on how to promote the organization.
- Selects ideas that not only are creative but also strategically meaningful.
- Selects initiatives that strengthen the organization's strategic position.
- Uses knowledge of industry trends, customer behavior, and competitive shifts to shape entrepreneurial decisions.
- Converts strategic ideas into high-value commercial outcomes.
- Evaluates new ideas through the lens of long-term organizational goals.
- Helps teams understand how an idea contributes to broader strategic outcomes.
- Strengthens the organization's competitive position in the market.
- Positions the organization to benefit from changes before they fully materialize.
- Identifies how new initiatives can set the organization apart from competitors.
PersistentPersistent is about endurance--continuing to move forward despite obstacles, delays, ambiguity, or adversity. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it reflects determination, resilience, and sustained effort over long innovation cycles. Someone strong in Persistence keeps initiatives moving even when results take longer than expected, finds alternative paths when blocked, and maintains motivation when conditions are difficult or outcomes are unclear. The core idea is staying committed to a goal until it is achieved, regardless of challenges.
- Does not quit when faced with adversity.
- Stays committed to achieving goals despite hurdles and obstacles.
- Is able to continue progressing in difficult times.
- Persists in the face of of obstacles and challenges.
- Keeps initiatives moving even when results take longer than expected.
- Maintains motivation and drive throughout extended innovation efforts.
- Finds alternative paths when confronted with obstacles rather than stopping.
- Works hard until the project is a success.
- Continues forward even in the face of adversity.
- Continues moving forward even when outcomes are unclear or risks are high.
- Avoids being pulled off course by competing priorities or shifting conditions
- Treats failures as information and uses them to refine the next attempt.
IndependenceIndependence centers on self-direction--taking action without needing instruction, relying on one's own judgment, and moving forward based on personal reasoning rather than consensus. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it reflects autonomy and initiative: identifying what needs to be done, acting before being asked, and advancing promising ideas without waiting for reassurance or explicit guidance. Independence is fundamentally about charting one's own course and progressing through self-guided decision-making, even when that means deviating from established practices.
- Identifies what needs to be done and takes action before being asked.
- Works with a high degree of independence on projects.
- Encourages others to think independently and explore alternative paths.
- Moves forward on promising ideas without waiting for explicit instructions.
- Uses independent judgment to determine when to deviate from established practices.
- Evaluates opportunities using independent reasoning rather than relying solely on the opinions of others.
- Is proactive in finding answers to problems.
- Defies conventions and the "normal" way of doing things.
ResourcefulnessResourcefulness centers on creatively overcoming obstacles and making the most of limited means to achieve results. It emphasizes finding needed resources, discovering unconventional ways around barriers, optimizing time and tools, and generating inventive solutions that keep entrepreneurial efforts moving toward completion. Resourcefulness is about figuring out how to make something work--locating what's needed, improvising when constraints arise, and translating innovation into offerings that perform well in the marketplace.
- Finds unique ways to go around barriers to success.
- Finds resources necessary to complete tasks.
- Optimizes time and resources for entrepreneurial initiatives until they reach completion.
- Translates innovation into offerings that achieve strong market performance.
- Finds creative solutions to problems.
- Identifies the resources, partnerships, and capabilities needed to turn opportunities into profitable outcomes.
- Provides productive avenues for managers to make their contributions to the organization.
- Finds new applications for existing capabilities.
Interpersonal RelationshipsInterpersonal Relationships focuses on how people work with others to move entrepreneurial efforts forward. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it emphasizes building trust, rapport, and collaboration so that colleagues and stakeholders feel comfortable supporting new or untested ideas. This competency is about creating the relational conditions that make innovation possible--overcoming organizational barriers through cooperation, inviting diverse perspectives, keeping stakeholders informed, and fostering an environment where people feel safe raising concerns or offering input. The core idea is that strong relationships accelerate entrepreneurial progress because people are aligned, connected, and willing to contribute.
- Works effectively with colleagues from different departments to move entrepreneurial projects forward.
- Excellent at managing relationships with stakeholders.
- Builds cooperative relationships that help overcome organizational barriers.
- Establishes credibility and rapport so others feel comfortable supporting new or untested ideas.
- Listens to the advice of others.
- Builds confidence by being honest about uncertainties while maintaining a constructive tone.
- Invites input from people with different backgrounds, expertise, or viewpoints.
- Creates an environment where people feel safe raising concerns or offering input.
- Keeps stakeholders informed about progress, challenges, and changes in direction.
- Willingly accepts feedback from others.
- Shares success with others.
InitiativeInitiative focuses on taking action--stepping forward early, driving momentum, and proactively advancing ideas before being asked. It emphasizes effort, ownership, and forward motion: identifying emerging opportunities, moving concepts into early testing, anticipating obstacles, and initiating solutions before issues slow progress. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, Initiative is about being the person who starts things, pushes them forward, and takes charge of difficult or ambiguous assignments. The core idea is self-driven action that propels entrepreneurial work from possibility into motion.
- Takes the initiative to complete tasks.
- Devotes time and effort to developing new business opportunities.
- Takes early action to move promising ideas from concept into initial testing or prototyping.
- Steps forward to lead new initiatives when others hesitate or are unsure how to begin.
- Takes charge and creates opportunities.
- Anticipates obstacles and initiates solutions before issues escalate or slow progress.
- Undertakes difficult and challenging assignments.
- Proactively identifies emerging opportunities before being asked.
- Improves efficiency or reduces costs through innovative solutions.
- Seeks out challenging opportunities that stretch the organization's capabilities and opens new avenues for growth.
Business AcumenBusiness Acumen is about thinking strategically and making sound business decisions. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it emphasizes understanding markets, customer needs, financial viability, and long-term sustainability. Someone strong in Business Acumen uses data and business insights to guide initiatives, evaluates ideas through a strategic lens, and makes choices that strengthen the organization's competitive position. The core idea is smart, informed decision-making that aligns innovation with business realities.
- Uses data, metrics, and business insights to guide entrepreneurial initiatives and measure their impact.
- Makes decisions that balance innovation with financial viability and long-term sustainability.
- Able to adapt the department to changing business demands and climate.
- Evaluates new ideas through a clear understanding of market trends, customer needs, and competitive dynamics.
- Builds actionable business solutions from early-stage ideas.
- Understands the processes and various stages of business development.
- Establishes policies that encourage sustained growth.
- Sets business policies and procedures.
- Promotes department services throughout the organization.
ConfidenceConfidence is about belief, steadiness, and motivational impact. It reflects self-assurance, clarity of purpose, and the ability to keep teams motivated--especially when pursuing untested ideas or navigating transitions. Someone strong in Confidence reassures others, highlights small wins, and models conviction in their actions and vision. The core idea is projecting belief--in oneself, in the direction being taken, and in the team's ability to succeed.
- Provides confidence and reassurance during periods of transition.
- Helps teams stay confident and motivated when pursuing untested ideas.
- Is confident in themselves and what they can do.
- Highlights small successes to build confidence for a new direction.
- Believes in themself.
- Shows confidence in their actions.
- Believes in their vision for the department/organization.
- Has clarity of purpose in their actions.
- Exhibits a high sense of self-belief.
- Is motivated by challenging situations.
- Helps the team stay oriented even when plans must shift.
InfluenceInfluence focuses on how a leader moves people--shaping mindsets, building enthusiasm, and generating momentum around entrepreneurial ideas. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it emphasizes the ability to inspire others, gain buy-in, and mobilize teams toward ambitious goals. Someone strong in Influence helps people see the potential in emerging or ambiguous ideas, reframes challenges as possibilities, and persuades others to adjust behaviors or expectations that hinder innovation. The core idea is energizing and aligning people so they willingly support and advance new initiatives.
- Is a charismatic leader and innovator within the company.
- Helps people see the potential in ideas that are still emerging or ambiguous.
- Builds enthusiasm and momentum around innovative concepts.
- Persuades others to adjust procedures or expectations that hinder innovation.
- Mobilizes the team to achieve departmental targets.
- Models a positive, forward-leaning attitude that encourages others.
- Energizes efforts that push the department toward its goals.
- Gains buy-in from peers, leaders, and partners for innovative initiatives.
- Reframes challenges as possibilities, shifting mindsets toward innovation.
- Demonstrates visible passion for new ideas, encouraging others to get involved.
- Leads efforts to ensure departmental goals are met.
Risk TakingRisk Taking focuses on how a leader moves initiatives forward when outcomes are uncertain. It emphasizes the willingness to act decisively without complete information, experiment with unconventional approaches, and pursue opportunities with high strategic or commercial impact. Someone strong in Risk Taking encourages others to stretch beyond comfort zones, creates an environment where trying new approaches feels safe, and personally invests time, effort, and reputation to advance bold ideas. The core idea is embracing uncertainty and making courageous choices that open new pathways for innovation.
- Encourages risk taking for developing potential business opportunities.
- Takes decisive action in situations where information is incomplete, using sound judgment to move initiatives forward.
- Balances risks and rewards when making decisions.
- Is willing to take risks as needed to advance the department/organization/project.
- Creates an environment where people feel safe trying new approaches.
- Risks his/her time, effort, and reputation toward the completion of goals.
- Willing to cross-lines that others would not cross.
- Pursues opportunities that have the potential for high strategic or commercial impact.
- Experiments with unconventional approaches when traditional methods limit progress or innovation.
- Inspires teams to stretch beyond comfort zones in pursuit of opportunity.
- Helps the organization avoid risks by highlighting strategic implications early.
Entrepreneurial ThinkingEntrepreneurial Thinking is about the mindset and environment an employee creates -- one that encourages creativity, customer focus, optimism, and a continual search for new ways to generate value. It emphasizes fostering an enterprising culture, stimulating idea generation, reframing challenges as opportunities, and aligning innovation with the organization's mission and long-term goals. This dimension is less about personal boldness and more about shaping how the team approaches problems, possibilities, and growth. Entrepreneurial Thinking is about cultivating the conditions for innovation, not just taking risks within it.
- Stimulates entrepreneurial thinking among team members.
- Encourages dynamic growth opportunities.
- Provides a creative environment for staff to develop their ideas.
- Turns creative concepts into commercially successful ventures.
- Ensures entrepreneurial efforts support the organization's mission, priorities, and long-term goals.
- Creates an enterprising environment within the department to promote innovation and achievement.
- Maintains an optimistic environment in the department.
- Transforms promising ideas into viable, revenue-generating offerings.
- Creates a responsive customer-oriented environment.
- Sets a tone of optimism and possibility that energizes the team.
Continual ImprovementContinual Improvement is about steady, ongoing refinement--constantly looking for ways to improve oneself, processes, systems, and outcomes. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, it reflects a disciplined commitment to incremental progress: iterating on concepts that don't work the first time, using feedback to strengthen ideas, seeking mentors, developing new skills, and treating failures as opportunities to grow. The emphasis is on continuous enhancement over time, building better performance and better solutions through deliberate, repeated improvement.
- Always looking to make improvements to self, systems, and processes.
- Iterates on concepts that don't work the first time, using feedback to improve them.
- Continuously seeks to improve self-performance.
- Sees failures as opportunities to learn and grow.
- Seeks to grow their own skills.
- Identifies ways to improve processes, products, or customer experiences.
- Seeks and utilizes mentors to help guide professional development.
- Is constantly monitoring sources and dynamics of change.
Learning AgilityLearning Agility is about rapid adaptation--absorbing new information quickly, reframing assumptions, and adjusting strategies in real time as conditions change. It reflects a dynamic, fast-cycle learning mindset: seeking out unfamiliar situations, experimenting with multiple approaches simultaneously, scaling what works, and integrating lessons from successes and failures immediately. In the Entrepreneurship dimension, Learning Agility is about speed, flexibility, and responsiveness--learning fast, pivoting fast, and evolving understanding as new evidence emerges.
- Rapidly absorbs new information and adjusts strategies in response to changing conditions.
- Learns from the successes and failures of others and incorporates those lessons into current initiatives.
- Rapidly learns, adapts, and reframes understanding as new information emerges.
- Applies lessons learned immediately to improve future decisions.
- Integrates new information quickly, and shifts strategies based on what is learned in real time.
- Quickly reframes assumptions when new evidence emerges.
- Actively seeks out unfamiliar situations or stretch assignments as opportunities to accelerate learning.
- Experiments with multiple approaches simultaneously and rapidly scales the ones that show early promise.
- Experiments with new approaches, extracting lessons from successes and failures.
- Able to keep up with learning as the environment changes.
- Adapts communication, strategy, or approach based on real-time feedback from customers, stakeholders, or team members.
ExecutionExecution is about turning ideas into action and delivering on commitments. It focuses on breaking down strategic concepts into practical steps, delegating effectively, maintaining energy and focus, and driving work to completion. This dimension reflects operational discipline: taking charge, moving initiatives forward, and ensuring that goals are achieved rather than remaining conceptual. Execution is about making things happen -- converting plans into results through consistent, purposeful action.
- Is motivated to work toward the realization of goals.
- Takes action to accomplish important goals.
- Shows commitment to execution, not just ideation.
- Takes charge to drive the achievement of departmental goals.
- Drives product development from concept to successful market introduction.
- Works hard toward the realization of goals.
- Maintains a high level of energy to respond to demands of the job.
- Delegates tasks to others.
- Breaks down high-level strategic concepts into practical steps that guide experimentation and execution.
Delivers ResultsDelivers Results is about driving work to completion and producing meaningful outcomes for the organization. It focuses on accountability, follow-through, prioritization, and the discipline to convert ideas into market-ready solutions that achieve measurable impact. This dimension reflects determination, resource allocation, and the ability to stay invested in initiatives until they deliver real value. Delivers Results is about ensuring that entrepreneurial efforts don't just generate learning or momentum--they ultimately create tangible, high-impact results.
- Drives progress to achieve key departmental outcomes.
- Exhibits determination and passion in completion of goals.
- Follows through on commitments and ensures that entrepreneurial projects reach completion.
- Converts concepts into market-ready products that deliver measurable results.
- Stays invested in an initiative until it delivers meaningful impact.
- Prioritizes high-impact activities and allocates resources to ensure innovative initiatives succeed.
- Create solutions that differentiate the organization in the marketplace.
- Assumes responsibility for achieving results and makes his/her own independent decisions.
- Translates strategic opportunities into action plans that drive measurable progress.
- Tracks performance indicators and adjusts tactics to ensure initiatives achieve the intended business results.