Entrepreneur or Solopreneur

Are solopreneurs entrepreneurs? Or, is organization building an element of being an entrepreneur?

I am a pretty big fan of Seth Godin, and I know he says he is a proud freelancer. Having built three different companies Godin says he is better off being a solopreneur, because he says he takes being a boss too seriously, and suffers when people’s livelihoods are dependent upon him.

I don’t know about you but I find Godin’s honesty refreshing.

So while I am a fan of Godin, unlike him I rather quite enjoy building organizations. And regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur or solopreneur, you are well advised to be a lifelong learner and to consume wisdom wherever it is being dispensed.

Regular readers of his blog already know Peter Drucker is on my personal Mount Rushmore. If you wish to better understand organizations, I can think of no one better to study than Drucker.

That said, I recently stumbled upon an interesting person named Fabiana Lacerca-Allen. Ms. Lacerca-Allen grew up in Argentina during the so-called Dirty War, or Guerra Sucia, a time of rampant corruption and strife.

But as the old cliche says, pressure makes diamonds. And today, Ms. Lacerca-Allen lives in the USA and works with large organizations on compliance and risk management, and she recently published a book titled Crisis Capable.

In a brief eighteen seconds, below you hear Ms. Lacerca-Allen give a nice little summary of what to look for in a team member.

The Business of America is Business (or not)

Happy New Year! A time of renewal and optimism. And to that end, today many people are well along the path of their New Year’s resolutions. I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind if our plans are a little flexible. And as it turns out, today is an interesting and relevant birthday.

It was exactly 100 years ago, in January 1925, when President Calvin Coolidge famously said “The business of America is business.” A lot of people know the statement, but is it true? The reason I ask is because Coolidge said other pertinent things during that same speech. Things which usually get overlooked.

Coolidge also said “Americans make no concealment of the fact that we want wealth, but there are many other things we want much more. We want peace and honor, and charity which is so strong an element of all civilization. The chief ideal of the American people is idealism. I cannot repeat too often that America is a nation of idealists. That is the only motive to which they ever give any strong and lasting reaction.”

What do you think? How do you make sense of this apparent contradiction? And, perhaps more importantly, do you see value in grappling with contradictions? What are you resolved to do this year?