What Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Innovation

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Welcome to Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass. Jon is the founder and CEO of image group international, an award-winning image consulting and personal branding pioneer established in 1989. This podcast will bring you old-school wisdom, inspiring ideas, strategies and hacks for the new tech world. Here you will learn everything about personal branding: the system, the techniques and the right mindset to have a successful personal brand, image and reputation.

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Hi, everybody, and welcome back to my show. Before we start our chat today are commonly asked you to connect with me on social media. My Twitter is John underlined, Michael, my LinkedIn is John Michael, and you can find me as image Group International on Facebook. So let's get started. So let me ask you something. Have you noticed that now more than ever, entrepreneurs are the driving force that propels innovation beyond the known boundaries? In are some people might say, Well, John, it's always been that way. And you know what you might be right. However, we all know this. Entrepreneurs embody the spirit of pushing limits, and rewriting the rules. And it's this audacious brilliance that fuels economic growth, generates new opportunities and enriches our lives, make no mistakes. It all comes from a spirit of entrepreneurship. And entrepreneurship, by the way, could also mean medical entrepreneurship. It could mean education, entrepreneurship. But the key here is entrepreneurship. So today, we're going to explore how entrepreneurs can teach us about innovation. And you know, it's a subject that obviously, that's very dear to my heart. And something we've had a lot of experience in our own business, myself, also, you know, running my own operations for the last 34 years, but also specifically working with our clients. So I'm going to share some of the important things entrepreneurs that have, by nature, a guy and see how they also fit in potentially, with yourself. And there's quite a few, but I'll grab them and just give you a little bit of a focus once I've noted some of them for you. Definitely they are risk takers. But there's a myth out there that they take risks on anything. Well, that's not true. That's the people that play the casino, like calculated risk takers, you know, they calculate the risk. And this is very important. Because if you're undo that, obviously, you potentially can go broke very quickly. There are also a problem solvers, entrepreneurs a densified, real world problems and then work out how they're gonna solve them. And it's not always easy to do that. Number three, is they're adaptable, they have to be adaptable, they have to be open to change, they have to pivot, the experience of the last few years, especially with the lock downs, shows you an example of how entrepreneurs virtually through their resilience, and stresses, and what they had to put up with, basically pivoted into new concepts, because that's what they had to do. 

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And among all of them, of course, the very resourceful, why, because they haven't got unlimited funds, you know, and they might have also had to raise money from potential investors, and they have that responsibility that they have to have a return on that investment. Otherwise down the track, it's potentially they're not gonna have any more opportunities to those resources, and of course, damaged their reputations. So that's like, among many others, you know, of course, the customer centric, they definitely believe in their customers that go out there and create products just to rip the clients off. And this is very important, because, you know, we know that entrepreneurs that will try to do that, of course, will have serious problems long term. So they also open my experience to continuous learning. You know, they're willing to look at things and say, basically, I don't know, in my experience, some of them not all of them are coachable. And that means basically, if they're not coachable, then it's obviously you become coachable when you're looking for opportunities and new advice. They're also great networkers. They go out there in many cases and build partnerships, build collaborative connections, that's going to open up opportunities, especially if they are very quite International in thinking. Failure is part of the way of being they use it as a learning opportunity. disruption. Yes, they love disruption because it challenges the status quo. And finally, at an old those that have mentioned, they also have a passion and a persistence. They generally do not give up that I don't know what that means. So with all of that, let's take a moment to explore some of the Key lessons, that entrepreneur can teach us above some of the things that I've just mentioned, especially around the concept of innovation. First, they teach us the value of identifying opportunities. So there's many opportunities out there right now in a challenging world. from a business point of view, of course, you're looking at the problems he has, you're saying, How are we going to solve some of these problems? The problem, it could be, for instance, in this case, and I'll bring it to a practical level right now, you could be having personal corporate brand issues, specifically around your positioning in the marketplace, you could be you know, regardless a little bit all hack, and also, potentially, you might not be getting the leads, or also the sales that you would get in in the past. So this is a gap.

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So obviously, for you, as an entrepreneur, you're going to be thinking, Okay, how I'm gonna solve this particular problem, because if that's an issue for me, it's only going to become a bigger issue, if it's unmet. So part of that is looking at things to get your act back to track. And of course, what that also means is then, you know, uncover any innovation along that. So from a point of view of, you know, on a simple level, attracting leads, and sales, and you got to look at all digital marketing, this is essential today, especially if that's what you're depending on in bringing clients, or you know, of course, you want to have the best referral system on the planet, but that's not going to be enough, you need to have an omni present approach, if you're gonna start attracting, you know, some of the bigger number of clients that you might be looking for now, you might be a real niche. And of course, the strategy might be different around that. But the point here is, you got to be always constantly looking at new approaches. Number two, entrepreneurs can also teach us the concept of risk taking, that I mentioned earlier, while they can teach us because remember, when they get up every morning, they are thinking about how to solve this problem, obviously, make the clients happy, and at the same time getting a return on that. So the risk taking is calculated. You know, it's, as I mentioned, at the outset, it's not like the claim in a casino. And what that means is, if you're in a comfy job, and you've been in there for 20 years, 30 years, for instance, like a lot of people are and then they want to become entrepreneurs. You know, the big warning to you is it's not as easy as it sounds, okay, you're gonna need definitely, what I would call is support to get to that particularly new position, because entrepreneurship is a different way of thinking than going to a job for 30 years where you've got a guaranteed income. So of course, what that means is if you're sort of dependent on that approach of having a position or a job, that's going to give you an income, with that the risk taking, well, maybe entrepreneurship is not the you. The other thing that they talk about a lot is failure. Now, most entrepreneurs, by the way, have failed the least once, twice, three times, some of them have actually gone bankrupt. Us a failure is a stepping stone for entrepreneurs, they understand it's about you, as a learning experience. Of course, nobody wants to fail. But what you want to do is embrace any past failures as the greatest learning lessons for you. And of course, for everybody around you. And Mike, that part of your story. It's interesting, when I share with clients, some of my failures in my life, it's really what resonates with them. And I can say, Yeah, I can relate with that, because it actually, it's something that I sort of went through, or certainly somebody that I know that went through that family member, et cetera. So it's important to, to share some of this as a learning experience, and also the importance of mentioning failure as part of your adaptability, and resilience. 

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And of course, in a world where adaptability and resilience is becoming rarer and rarer. This is going to be one step for you that you're going to be a step obviously, ahead of your, your competition and everybody else out there that you're competing with. Okay? They also have flexibility, they will adjust their strategies, all the tactics, on that strategy based on feedback. They do listen, especially if they're asking as opposed to you just presenting them information, they haven't asked for it, well, then that's not going to probably go so well. We saw that now. It's crucial for successful innovation. So they asked for feedback. They are researching in different ways. And specifically, they're looking for, you know, what's next, what's next, what's next. They also know that if you avoid feedback, they will be putting their futures in peril. And the perfect example of that is if you're not following trends and new possibilities out there that are emerging, then potentially going to get left behind. And that's also a good example of that is pre Garwood. A lot of businesses did not even have a marketing, digital strategy. And what happened was, of course, COVID came, the whole game changed. And then potentially they were working behind the Blackboard trying to work it all out. And that's, of course, what I would say is bad business, you know. So today is your opportunity to get that all together, because change is going to be a constant. The only difference with change today is it's exhilarating. And if you don't believe me all, you have to look at the mental health and other type of health and well being issues for a while in the community today. So in summary, in entrepreneurs serve as valuable role models for innovation, that demonstrate the importance of risk taking, problem solving, adaptability, and a customer centric mindset. And what that means is they're not cuantas, you know, that basically sold tickets on airlines that did not exist. Because if you did that, normally, as an entrepreneur, especially without a big brand, like a quantas, you're not going to survive for long. So it's important that you think of the customer all along. And that's interesting, because if you don't think of the customer, obviously, you're going to be in trouble long term, I promise you that one. So being very customer centric ourselves, we know the power of that. 

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And what that means is truly looking after the customer. And I'm not talking about here with bots, and automation, I'm talking about it with a human centric mindset that you actually believe in the people. And you also believe that people communicate well with other people. That's one of the best ways to build relationships. So they show us also that innovation is dynamic, and continuous process, met, you know, requires a willingness to learn to adapt and pursue ideas with passion and persistence, that sort of enrols people into your concept. So innovation is not just a buzzword. It's the lifeblood of progress. And behind every revolutionary leap forward, there's always an entrepreneur who dared to dream big. And if you ever look at some of the biggest entrepreneurs on the planet today, I'm sure you agree with that. And right across the board, the entrepreneurial spirit is its direct fuel that basically becomes the architect to change and challenge conventions, you know, and also transform the way we live, work and interact. So an entrepreneurs mindset is constantly evolution, and the courage to challenge the status quo. And this is a key, because by challenging the status quo, that means potentially something might need improving. And of course, the status quo does not like change. So it teaches us an invaluable insight about embracing change, okay. And change, of course, can only happen if there is coachability. It drives innovation, and ultimately shapes a brighter future. Certainly the worst thing that could happen if you did all of that, right, is, even if nothing happened, the worst thing nothing happened. It certainly will not be worse, you know. So that's why the brighter future can only be if you're in that sort of spirit of creating the positivity out there to create the innovation that of course our communities are looking for. So that's it for today, folks, hopefully, you've enjoyed listening to me if you're an entrepreneur looking to amplify your impact. You're welcome to reach out you can find my contact details in the episodes description. I want to thank you again and until next time, go out there and create. Cheers!

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Jon Michail’s Personal Branding Masterclass Podcast is sponsored by Image Group International, a global team of practical, digitally savvy personal brand and image strategists based in Australia, committed to maximizing your impact, influence and authority in the business world. To learn more and apply for your personal coaching, seminars and group workshops, please visit imagegroup.com.au or call 1800 631 311.