“Wow!  Great title … but I am neither entrepreneur nor manager.”  The title actually makes two important points.

1. We are all managers.  Whether your organization has bestowed that title on you or not, you are a manager.  You manage yourself, your time, your work, and many other things.  Management is the art and science of making good decisions about limited resources.  If you have unlimited resources (time, talent, or treasures), you don’t need management skills (you don’t need a job either).  But if you’re like most of us, your resources are limited, and you need to carefully manage what you have.
2. We can all be entrepreneurs.  It’s not just about starting businesses.  A true entrepreneur is anyone who sees problems, creates solutions, and attracts customers by solving their problems.  Solve a problem for a customer today, and you will have a great achievement.  Establish a consistent pattern of solving problems for customers over time, and you will have had a great career.

Steve Marr, the author of Business Proverbs, puts this into easy perspective.  He says business leaders get bogged down putting out fires and fixing their own problems.  It comes at the expense of pursuing new opportunities.   According to Marr, opportunities come and go.  If you miss them, it will limit your growth.

Marr goes on to point out what I believe is the real key to workforce success in America today.  He says:

” …problems direct our attention to the past, whereas opportunities direct our attention to the future.” 

Are you an entrepreneurial manager?  If not, today could truly be the first day of the rest of your life. 

1. In your life or business, deal primarily with those problems that rob you of opportunities.
2. Forget about fixing everything else that is broken.  It will never happen. 
3. Focus the real core of your talents and energy on seeing the opportunity to help others.

Try this, and watch your business and career move forward.  You’ll be glad you did!