Business is Personal, It’s an Art
While creativity and innovation are in the hype, successful entrepreneurs are the new celebrities in the media.
If you pause for a moment and look a little bit closer, some questions may arise:
How many years did it take these founders to become successful overnight?
What kind of journey did they have to build and to grow their companies?
Was it luck, talent, persistence, or what was their secret?
Did they enjoy the ride partially, totally, or not at all?
It seems to me that entrepreneurship is way more than following techniques or frameworks. Business is personal...could it be that business is an art?
Trying to make the point on this matter, I have launched my podcast “business is art” on Spotify, and in Apple Podcasts.
What is “business is art” about?
“business is art” is a show about successful entrepreneurship.
Unlike other shows about successful entrepreneurship, only we dig into the founder’s and leaders’ journey from purpose, mindset, strategies, and tactics to making an impact and achieving exponential growth.
This show looks like David Neagle’s The Successful Mind Podcast meets Worklife with Adam Grant meets The World According to Jeff Goldblum. The first two are fantastic podcasts, and the third one is a show in Disney Plus that I really enjoy.
Because business as usual sucks
A few months ago, I had lunch with a friend whose startup is valued at more than $1 billion. In relative terms, we could say that he is a successful entrepreneur, right?
But he told me that he was not passionate about his work; he wanted out and knew many entrepreneurs, and none felt happy working at their ventures anymore.
This statement was shocking to me! How can it be that working 60+ hours a week in your dream is not fulfilling enough? Then I remembered my own experience.
I have been an entrepreneur seven times….Only six times, because I started companies once while I was an intrapreneur so I was getting a fat salary.
My entrepreneur friend’s comment reminded me of how difficult it is to build something concrete out of thin air and the time and energy it required.
It’s no joke! According to the US Small Business Administration (SBA) the failure rate of new companies is 50% after five years.
I believe that one of the problems is that entrepreneurs lose track of the purpose of why they are building this dream and how it’s connected to them. They no longer consider their work as personal, as art.
The vision and their intention fades away, so they feel nothing at all.
They feel that the creativity muse dries up in the desert of daily tasks and chores.
They are mostly following the techniques, and managing.
I can vouch that this has happened to many of the entrepreneurs that I know of and to me.
Is there a better way?
I envision more successful entrepreneurs from a holistic point of view.
Not only valued in monetary terms but in personal fulfillment, by the happiness and well-being of their employees, by making environmentally friendly products, taking care of all stakeholders, and being present with their families.
But it all starts with an energized entrepreneurial mindset.
By getting rid of the busyness of being busy, the stillness for an open space that allows seeing the big picture and the awareness of where they are and where they want to go with their organization—reconnecting with how their dream makes them feel and finding the proper strategies and tactics to make it work.
Join us on the podcast business is art on weekly episodes where we explore and learn from those great creators and business innovators who managed to stay in course with their vision to make a positive impact in the world while being exemplary leaders in their companies, their communities, and their families.
If you want to support us on this quest, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter as well.
Godspeed!
