Works of Love Newsletter
Stephen G. Post

The Entrepreneurial Mindset Advantage

Dear Friends:

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Love, creativity and freedom are closely associated. The great Silver Age Russian Orthodox philosopher Berdyaev made this interface the center of all of his books. One of our Institute associates, Gary G. Schoeniger, has devoted many years to writing a book about this. Gary and Clifton Taulbert published a renowned book together in 2010 entitled Who Owns the Ice House? Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur. This earlier book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and received the Doubleday New Author of the Year Award as well as the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters award for non-fiction. The book is filled with timeless examples of entrepreneurship and the opportunities it can provide.

Gary is a recognized thought leader in the field of entrepreneurial mindset education in classrooms, organizations, and communities worldwide. Gary is actively teaching and speaking, and pointing out that we need a rebirth of the entrepreneurial mindset, which is the theme of his Cleveland-based Entrepreneurial Leaning Initiative, for which he serves as President.

I invited Gary to write a piece for our Institute newsletter, and I hope you will visit their website at elimindset.com.

The Hidden Dimensions of Human Potential

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As one of eleven children raised by a single mother, Ted Moore got a rough start in life. From a very early age, he felt obligated to contribute, finding odd jobs polishing apples and sweeping floors before and after school as a way to help his mother make ends meet. School was also a struggle for Ted and, by the age of fifteen, he dropped out.

Yet, despite his circumstances, he was determined to avoid the temptations of the street. "I lived on the block where there were drug addicts and gangbanging," he told me. "I just didn't want that way of life for myself." With little more than a few hundred dollars and a used fax machine he found in the trash, Ted managed to start a small cleaning business that grew to not only employ dozens of people but also to bring meaning and prosperity to his life.

In every community there are everyday entrepreneurs like Ted Moore; those who start with little or nothing yet somehow manage to succeed. The question is, what is it that sets them apart? How do they recognize opportunities that others overlook? And how do they mobilize the resources and marshal the resilience that enables them to succeed?

To the casual observer, entrepreneurs are often seen as mysterious figures who seem to have been born with "scientifically unfathomable" traits. Some attribute their success purely to luck. To others they appear to be driven by greed. Yet when we look beneath the surface, a very different understanding begins to emerge.

I've spent more than twenty years interviewing everyday entrepreneurs and exploring the research to better understand the mindset and the methods that enable ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. What I discovered is that their advantage lies not in their good fortune or their dispositional traits but in a predictable pattern of underlying values and taken-for-granted assumptions of which they themselves are largely unaware. In other words, it is their mindset that sets them apart.

The observation and analysis of everyday entrepreneurs sheds important light on our understanding of the underlying causes of entrepreneurial behavior. It reveals a hidden dimension of untapped human potential that lies dormant in people and places that have been overlooked or ignored. It reveals a way of thinking that anyone can embrace, regardless where they start. It also reveals a way of thinking that has become essential for individuals, organizations, and communities to adapt and thrive in today's rapidly changing world.

Yet the study of everyday entrepreneurs also reveals something much more profound: It shows us that entrepreneurial behavior is not just a business skill but an expression of our shared humanity. It shows us that by creating value for others, we can empower ourselves while also making a greater contribution to the organizations and communities in which we work and live. This connection between individual empowerment and collective well-being embodies the essence of human flourishing. Ultimately, the observations of everyday entrepreneurs reflects a love for humanity, the belief in everyone's value, and the vision of a world where all can thrive.

 
Gary Schoeniger is an internationally recognized leader in entrepreneurial mindset education and professional development. His new book, The Entrepreneurial Mindset Advantage; The Hidden Logic That Reveals Human Potential (Penguin Random House) is now available wherever books are sold.

 
Thanks,

Stephen G. Post, PhD, Founder and President (2001-current)
The Institute for Research on Unlimited Love
unlimitedloveinstitute.org
stephengpost.com

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