by Matthew Ujah-Peter
A man named Walter once invited his friend Arthur to go for a ride
through some undeveloped land in Southern California. They drove through some
groves of trees and passed some ramshackle buildings before they arrived at
what looked to Arthur like a barren wasteland. Walter began telling his friend
about the exciting plans he had for his uninviting parcel of land. Walter’s
express purpose of the drive was to give Arthur the opportunity to become an
investor in his dream. Arthur was not impressed, and declined the opportunity.
And so Art Linkletter turned down the opportunity to buy up all the land that
now surrounds Disneyland, the dream-turned-reality of his friend Walt Disney. (As
told by David Jeremiah, MasterWork, Fall 2012).
Opportunities rarely appear in labels. What you’re not
looking for, you may not be able to make sense of or connect with when it is
even tugging at your shirt. When you’re passionate about anything, you see it
everywhere. Your passion is a light to your path to opportunities. What
inconveniences other people may be exciting to you. A leader is a business oriented person with a
strong sense of foresight, vision...and yes, passion! Passion is the highest
form of human desire. It is a desire rooted in the heart and soul. Passion is
an undying fervour and enthusiasm. Much had being said about the word enthusiasm. It originated, we are told,
from two Greek words: en and theos. En means in, while theos
means God. The actual greak meaning is God
inside or to be entered into by God
or God’s power. So, enthusiasm which is a synonym of the word passion is an
energy that a person has from within him which is, in reality, a divine force.
As said elsewhere [see Passion and Purpose], passion is the
product of, or an indication of your life’s calling. Passion is not just any
desire [see 5 levels of Desire]. Passion, though a desire, is not a cheap
desire. It is, in my observations and opinion, the highest form of desire. Passion
is the level of desire that helps you recognize and connect with your life’s
duty post with unmistakably accuracy. With passion, a person makes connection
with a problem that he and his gifts, skills and experiences are meant to solve.
It is passion that gets you going in the face of hunger, lacks, pains and
ridicules. But we are not going to linger too much on passion and purpose
today. For more on that, please, see Passion
and Purpose, and 5 Levels of Desire.
The
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Being a businessman or an entrepreneur is not like
holding a job. Holding a job in an organisation means that you are given a post
with responsibilities or job descriptions attached. Everyday’s task in the line
of your duty is delineated by your boss. You do your duties and wait for
salaries or wages at month end. But an entrepreneur is the visionary, idea
generator, structure designer, fund raiser, chief marketing officer, etc. At
the beginning, he could be the cleaner, messenger, office clerk, etc at the
same time. What carries him through all
these is the energy within – enthusiasm. But enthusiasm needs an organized environment
and atmosphere to thrive and excel. Models, structures and systems must be
designed to serve as machinery that can work without him being everywhere for
the business. He will surely need intellectual, administrative and financial
muscles to accomplish this. While I must not spare words in encouraging you, I
must tell you that where those things are lacking, enterprise suffers.
The only genuine source of strength in doing business is
passion – red hot passion – that is behind your motive for the enterprise.
Genuine and lasting motivation that can weather storms that often comes against
business ventures comes from passion. The hotter the passion, the stronger the
motivation. I have always believed that motivation is motive for action, while
passion is power for action. It is very common and easy to give up in business.
There are different types or levels of desires that takes people into business.
Passion is a drive and a driver that supplies daily energy for the venture you
are undertaking. In the case of Walt
Disney’s example (and stories of Disney’s passion about his
dream-turned-reality Disneyland abounds), he saw things that made his family
and friends thought he was hallucinating. Eventually, even after he’s gone his
dream is still alive and thriving. A leader must re-evaluate his quest and the
drive behind it.
As Rev. Tope Popoola puts it in his book, Living Intentionally, ‘’You are either
driving something or something is driving you’’. So, what is that thing that is driving you as a leader? Certain level of motivation will wane
in the face of challenges that surface in business ventures (or any venture for
that matter). The quality and / or quantity of passion driving the enterprise
must be, at least up to the challenge coming against it. What keeps your
motivations going is the energy called passion.
The quality of passion that motivates you will determine how long and
how well you stick with the venture. People venture into businesses because
they are propelled by one or more of the following: Desire to make ends meet, Desire
for Security, Desire for social relevance, Desire for monetary or financial
rewards and Desire to make a difference. These are the energies that carry an
entrepreneur through storms and trials that arise in businesses. These 5 drives
correspond with 5 levels of needs in the popular Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of
needs.
1. Desire to Make
Ends Meet: This drive is engendered
by the basic physiological needs of man such as food, clothes, air and sleep. At
the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, are the physiological needs which are the
needs or desires to meet life’s basic needs. If there is no alternative means
of employment, people go into business just to make a living and most
businesses started this way. When this needs are met, usually most people
begins to look forwards to addressing other needs that naturally exist but
hidden from the surface by the immediate physiological needs. When the desire
to meet basic need is met, some may choose to be satisfied with this subsistence
level of operation in business due to a number of factors such as fear of
losing the business if expansion( that is a natural result of business growth)
is introduced.
2. Desire for
Security: human needs are in layers like an onion. Pill the first layer and
the next surfaces. When the needs for air, food, cloth, shelter and sleep are
met, the next usually is for security. Security is a big deal for man. He want
to be secure from natural and man-made dangers and as well be sure that what he
acquired from level one (food, cloths, shelter, etc) are not lost. Drives to make end meets and for security
hardly expand beyond its founder. Out of the desire or a need to create
security around the business, the owner may leave it and maintain it at a
subsistence, small or at most, medium scale. Business of such nature usually
remains in small scale so that the owner can have control over it.
3. Desire for social acceptance: in
Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs, the next need on the pyramid is the need for
social relevance, love and belonging.
We are all social being and want to belong in the society. Sometimes what may
drive an enterprise could be this need to be socially relevant and loved. But a
business that continues on these bases may not grow as a business ought to. The
selfish tendencies of man could hijack the impact of such business. Since it is
built around the owner, structures and systems that should give others the
platform and opportunity for growth will surely be lacking. Everything is done
to feed the yearnings and ego of the owner. Workers in such an organisation, if
any at all, rather than being seen as partners and given power and freedom to
operate and excel, will be seen as threats or competitors to the owner.
4. Motive for power and monetary rewards:
Next is power, or according to Maslow, self-esteem
and respect. They want to be appreciated, rewarded or
awarded for their achievements. Many want to gain higher positions; hence they
need more power, more money and resources to advance that ambition. Many businesses
are born or built to make the owner a dominant force in his terrain. A common
feature of such business, if this desire is not checked, is a tendency to be
manipulative, fraudulent, and greedy for gains; deceptive in dealings and
ruthless. It is not uncommon to see such business pushing fake and substandard
products into the market.
5. Desire to make a difference: Finally,
this is usually the yearning of the human soul. Everyone has a secret but
sacred longing for self actualisation. Self
actualisation, according to Maslow, is the peak of human drive that most
humans, though eager for and desire to, never get to achieve. But a few
individuals, if not many, have being able to. Many go into philanthropy or
‘’social responsibility’’ (community service) while at the esteem needs level, to achieve this, but by and large the quest for
self actualisation eludes most. But setting up business models around making a
difference from the beginning is a key to attaining this noble quest. In
reality this level of desire or need is what is really qualified to be called passion.
With the foregoing in mind, every one going into business
must determine from the start why he /she is going into business. The
foundational structure of the business will be designed and built for the
purpose. Of course, the last purpose for business above, which is the pinnacle
of human needs, usually at the end takes care of the first four purposes, needs
or desires. It need be emphasised that while this last drive is more or less a spiritual
passion, the first four are mostly physiological and psychological or emotional
needs. The lines from the Scriptures credited to Christ, sum it all up:
Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and its righteousness and all other things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33.
MAXIMUM
RESPECT!
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