“I am a dreamer.”
Now, this is not the sort of answer one would normally expect from someone enrolled in a graduate management program. When people think of students in a management degree program, they tend to expect very cerebral and focused answers. “I am a finance professional or I am an engineer.” But this, you see, was not an MBA student. This was one of the students in the Master in Entrepreneurship (ME) program of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).
Unlike many entrepreneurship programs both locally and globally, the AIM ME is not about teaching wannabe entrepreneurs. It is about taking those who are already entrepreneurs and leading them on a journey of discovery, development and next level growth for their businesses.
While the concern of many MBA students center on gaining the skills to land the next job on their career ladder, entrepreneurs are on a far different journey, one they began many years ago. Unlike the decision to take a job, which often can be a matter of careful and rational decision-making, the first step in any entrepreneur’s journey is always a leap of faith. There is no fixed salary nor carefully planned talent development program. There are no guarantees.
What every entrepreneur starts with is vision and courage.
Courage
Because entrepreneurship is widely seen as the engine of economic growth, they have been the object of many studies.
From the 26th of September to the 13th of October this year, class 2018 of the AIM ME has been on campus four days each week. It is not easy for them to take this much time away from their business and they are raring to go back to work to start applying what they learned.
As they wrap up the last few hours of their journey, we have had time to reflect with them. Coincidentally, I had just finished rereading an article I had found on the web. It was a list prepared by Jenny Ta, founder and CEO of Sqeegee.com, a social commerce platform that helps individuals and businesses monetize their profiles. After having studied the subject of what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur for years, she outlined a list of six traits. They were traits that I found familiar and generally agreed with so I decided to share them with the class.
The first three traits were easy and generally greeted with murmurs of agreement and a few smiles—confidence, self-motivation and tenacity. The journey of the entrepreneur is almost never easy and there are always naysayers. In fact, in their foundation course, the class had been graced by the presence of Dee Ledonio, ME 2002, who is the owner and general manager of Dee’s gourmet popcorn, and the very first thing item on her slide on lessons for entrepreneurs: “There will be pain.”
The fourth and sixth traits were also greeted with general agreement: an understanding of your limitations and a willingness to fail. That entrepreneurs are willing to fail is clear from the beginning. Entrepreneurship, of course, is about taking risks. However, successful entrepreneurs, take risks intelligently. This means not taking unnecessary risks. Not acknowledging one’s own weaknesses would be taking an unnecessary risk.
It was, however, the fifth trait on the list that elicited the loudest assents and also the most chuckles—a healthy disrespect for rules. Entrepreneurs, of course, often create value through disruption.
Redemptor
One of the most important phrases in the AIM mission is this: leaders-managers. At AIM, we always say we don’t just develop managers, we develop leaders. Contributing to the sustainable development of Asian societies is at the heart of the AIM mission, and that requires fresh approaches. That is the critical difference between managers and leaders. Leaders blaze new trails, create new paths.
Of the many managers who walk through our doors, it is probably our entrepreneurs who are constantly focused on blazing new trails. On my facebook wall is a picture of AIM ME 2018 with Dee Ledonio and the caption begins with these sentences: “We create. We take risks. We live our passion. We are Entrepreneurs.”
This batch of ME entrepreneurs is graduating in 2018, the year AIM turns 50. Because of this, they have adopted the word Bulawan, the Filipino word for gold as part of their class name. Henri, the lone European contributed the Latin word for entrepreneur: Redemptor.
They are a varied group, these Bulawan Redemptors: millennials, Xers, boomers, managers, engineers, chefs, bakers, creatives, a doctor, a lawyer, a pastor.
As they begin their first break, they made a commitment to each other, to support each other through this journey. They know it isn’t easy but they will do it anyway. Having shared the last three weeks of their journey with them, I know there is one trait missing from Ta’s list: passion. Entrepreneurs can blaze new trails because there is passion blazing in their hearts. They have a vision and they believe passionately in that vision.
And yes, Paolo Bediones, class president, probably speaks for all of them when he gave me that answer: “I am a dreamer.”
Welcome to AIM, ME 2018 Bulawan Redemptors!
Readers can email Maya at [email protected] Or visit her site at http://integrations.tumblr.com.