The 4th Dimension of the Entrepreneurial Personality: The Leader

The last dimension according to Michael Gerber in his book, Awakening the Entrepreneur within, is: The Leader

By far, leadership is the most important. You can have a great vision or dream, think strategically about that dream, and even tell the story of the dream effectively, but if you don’t have the ability to lead people into the new reality, you’re sunk. Here are a few of my personal thoughts from my experiences with start up leaders:

1. Think Growth. Leaders grow people. Plain and Simple. In order to realize your dream, you’ve got to be committed to the personal growth of the people that are around you. A leader who only focuses on growth the vision and not the people of the vision has missed the whole point.

2. Think Effectiveness. In every dream there are a multitude of smaller dreams that can sidetrack an organization. Jim Collins would call it “Good, the enemy of Great.” Michael Gerber would call them, “nusances.” Others might call them “chasing rabbits.” The best leaders know how to keep their people focused on the right priorities long-term.

3. Think Systems. The greatest leaders, as Michael Gerber has so effectively claimed in all of his E-Myth books, know how to use systems to accomplish a goal. The best leaders move the focus away from their personality and toward systems all of the time. If it can’t be systematized then it shouldn’t be done.

? What level of leader are you, 1 to 10? ? What can you begin to do to grow yourself and the leaders around you to become better leaders? ? How system driven is your thinking?

The Greatest Entrepreneurs are the ones who leverage each of the 4 Dimensions of their Personality to accomplish the Dream God has placed in their heart.

The Dreamer, The Thinker, The Storyteller, & The Leader. 4 Essentials to every great start up organization.

Matt

Dimension #3: The Storyteller

This week, we’re looking into what Michael Gerber calls the 4 Dimensions of the Entrepreneurial Personality. The 3rd Dimension could be my favorite because it is: The Storyteller.

No vision will ever come to reality unless an Entrepreneur becomes great at telling the story. People cannot and will not connect with a vision without a story. It’s just that simple. Here are a few thoughts on telling your story:

1. A leader in a start up has to work hard at telling the story in a compelling and concise way. As my friend, Mike Ash, likes to say, “No one likes to hear your story like you do.” And it’s true. The danger in telling the story of the vision of your start up is that you will go into too much detail because you think everyone likes to hear it.

2. Don’t share too few details. The other side of the pendulum is to leave out too much detail and consequently not move the emotions of the listener. Every great leader knows how to incorporate just the right amount of emotion and detail in telling the story.

3. Practice telling the story. Tell everyone. Tell the 3 minute version, the 30 second version and the 30 minute version. the only way to get good at telling the story of your vision is to practice, practice practice… and…

4. Critique yourself. The greatest leaders of start ups are watching how listeners respond while they are telling the story of their start up. Make a mental note when an audience looks uninterested or glazed over. Note when they are completely engaged or moved emotionally and then critique yourself afterward. It’s the only way to get better.

? How well do you tell the story of your start up? ? Is it compelling or dry? ? What response do you get from your hearers?

Tomorrow we will look at the final dimension of the Entrepreneurial Personality. It’s probably the most important… by a long shot!

Matt

Dimension #2: The Thinker

The 2nd Dimension of the Entrepreneurial Personality as described in Michael Gerber’s book, Awakening the Entrepreneur Within is: The Thinker.

Michael says that the Thinker is the “HOW” behind the “WHAT” of the Dreamer. In my experience, it really is true that every Entrepreneur must have some Thinker in them as well as a healthy dose of Dreamer.

At some point in the vision of your start up, a leader has to cross a line in their mind to “Getting Stuff Done.” I have met many leaders who have been so in love with the vision of their new organization that they have completely forgotten about the work that needs to be done.

There is a delicate balance in this b/c to the true Dreamer, actually thinking and working kind of stinks. So permission has to be granted in the Entrepreneur to float back and forth between Dreaming and Thinking about your Vision.

In addition to being a Dreamer, I am a Strategic Thinker as well. I enjoy the discipline of drilling down and finding how all the puzzle pieces will fit together. But I must admit that too much Strategic thinking and not enough Dreaming wears me out.

No dream ever becomes a reality without a lot of time spent by the Entrepreneur in the Thinking Dimension.

? How comfortable are you transitioning from the Dreamer mindset to the Thinker Mindset of your vision? ? How willing are you to get your hands dirty in the Thinker Dimension of your Vision?

Tomorrow is the 3rd Dimension. This is one of my favorites…

Matt

Dimension #1: The Dreamer

The first of the four dimensions of the Entrepreneurial Personality as described in Michael Gerber’s new book, “Awakening the Entrepreneur Within” is The Dreamer.

Every great church, organization or business begins as a Dream. And in the Dream State, they are amazingly fragile. A Dream can be crushed, shattered or broken with just the slightest bit of pessimism or dissent. Here are a few of my own thoughts on The Dream that we Dreamers often dream:

1. Protect your dream. In the early stages of a start up dream, you’ve got to be very careful who you share your dream with. Inadvertently, most people will crush a dream without even intending to. The reason is, “People like the status quo.” And any real dream always threatens or challenges the status quo. This is precisely why most people are not dreamers.

2. Surround yourself with Dream Expanders, not Dream Killers in the early stages. Chances are you have a couple of people in your life that are Dream Expanders. In the early stages of your dream, find those people and paint clear expectations for them. Stay up late “Dreaming” together and expanding the dream. I can remember no small amount of Smarties and Mountain Dew that was consumed in the early stages of many of my dreams.

3. Recognize the difference between Daydreams and Real Dreams. Not every dream we dreamers dream is a dream worth chasing. One of the most mature things a leader can do is learn to recognize the difference between a Daydream and a Real Dream.

4. Real Dreams consume us. When you find a Real Dream, you’ll know it, because over an extended period of time, the dream will eventually consume you. It will become the only thing you can think about. It will keep you up at night, and it will spread. Suddenly others around you will start asking you when you’re going to do something about your dream. In that moment, you’ll know you’re probably on to something big.

? Are you a Dreamer? ? Do you have a dream that is consuming you? ? Who are the 2 people you can share your dream with that you trust to expand it and not crush it?

* Share your dream with those people in the next 48 hours.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the 2nd Dimension of the Entrepreneurial Personality,

Talk to you then,

Matt

4 Dimensions of an Entrepreneurial Personality

I have the privilege of working with a lot or church planters and leaders who have a vision to “Start something from scratch!” And as someone who has spent the last dozen years of my life starting stuff, I have become a student of entrepreneurial thought and processes.

I am currently reading a book called, “Awakening the Entrepreneur Within,” by Michael Gerber. Michael has written several books on his 1st concept called, “The E-Myth.” I believe that his book, “The E-Myth Revisited” is an absolute Must Read for an church planter, or leader who is thinking about venturing out into the unknown world of a start up. Seriously, Michael is one of the foremost thought leaders on what it means to truly start a business, organization or church successfully today.

In his “Awakening the Entrepreneur Within” book, he describes Four Dimensions to the Entrepreneurial Personality and as I read them, I couldn’t help but think how True they are. This week’s blogs are dedicated to his 4 Dimensions. (Not Dimensia, by the way, although at times it may feel that way in a new organization!)

If you are someone who is intrigued by the thought of a start up or find yourself in a start up reality in any capacity, then stay tuned this week to MattKellerOnline.com because these 4 Dimensions are for you.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Tainted Love Series Begins in 2 Days!

Hey everyone,

I wanted to personally invite all of you who follow me in the blogosphere to be at Next Level Church this weekend at 9 am and 10:45 am on Sunday morning for the launch of our Brand new series, Tainted Love. We’re talking about relationships and if ever there’s a time that we need to zoom in on our relationships and be challenged to face reality and go deeper, it’s now.

I’m sure that each and everyone of us can think of multiple people who we know are struggling in the relational zones of their lives right now and that’s what this series is all about.

For those of you who are outside of the region of Southwest Florida, I hope you’ll podcast all of the messages from the series and pass them on to friends who need to hear what we’re talking about.

One additional note to all the Next Levelites out there, this is the same week that we’re debuting our brand new sound system and live video on the screens! it’s going to be a whole new experience in our Sunday mornings!!!

See you Sunday at South Fort Myers High School,

For all the details or to see the Tainted Love Promo Video, click here,

Matt

Christ for India – Jameson Titus

In November I am leading a team of 8 Next Levelers to India for 12 days. I’m so excited about all that we’re going to experience. It’s going to be life-changing I just know it.

This past weekend, I got to spend a few days with Jameson Titus who is the stateside director for the Missions Organization that we are partners with: Christ for India.

I am asking all of you who follow me in the blogosphere as well as in Facebook or Twitter world to check out their website and consider supporting them. They are an incredible ministry that does 10 x’s as much as we do in a year with a 1/3 of the budget! They literally feed thousands of meals a day, house hundreds of kids, have 160 pastors in training in their seminary and provide medical relief through their hospital and medical teams to an entire region of the nation of India. It’s incredible!

Do me a favor and spend 5 minutes checking out their website, and then spend 5 minutes praying for their ministry. It’s some of the best ministry investment dollars you can spend!

Keller

I’m on Twitter Now!

So the 2nd way you can keep up with me is on Twitter.

I’ll be honest and confess that I didn’t fully understand Twitter for about the first month I had heard about it, but then through much coercing and multiple people (all of whom I admire greatly) telling me that “I gotta twitter…” I have finally seen the genius in it.

So, sign up for Twitter and you can begin “following me” on there.

I promise that I will try and make my twitters as funny as possible.

www.Twitter.com

P.S. Twitter is like an insta-blog in real time. It’s pretty cool.

Keller

2 New Ways to Follow Me!

Hey everyone,

I couldn’t wait to tell you that there are now 2 new ways to keep up with yours truly… The first is on Facebook.

Next Level Church officially has a Facebook page, & if you’re not on there, you totally have to connect. It’s a great place to keep up with what’s up around the NLC world and the world of MWK! (which is me by the way!)

It’s easy, it’s fun, it’s really sweet!

Keller on Facebook via NLC… nice.

Rays win! Rays Win! Rays Win!

I just can’t help but brag a little bit!  Call me a bandwagon jumper, I don’t care!!!  For the last 173 games I have been a Tampa Bay Rays fan!  No, strike that, it actually dates back to July of 2007, when we did our Take me Out to the Ballgame series and I said in an intro video we did that I was “secretly a Rays Fan!”

Well, it’s official now!!!  I LOVE THE RAYS!!!  We’re the American League Champions and the favorites to win the World Series!  After 33 years of Chicago Cubs Loyalty, I am officially an American Leaguer and my blood runs Rays blue, not Cubby blue!

Go Rays!!!  I’m so excited!  And so are my 2 boys!

Wednesday, the World Series Fun begins!

Keller… out… celebrating!

www.TampaBayRays.com