EVERYBODY'S AN ENTREPRENUER (REALLY?)

Yes, really. I honestly believe that each of us has the ability to be an entrepreneur. After all, an entrepreneur makes the decisions that drive a business. And who doesn't enjoy being in the driver's seat?

Actually, many of Shamrock's best and brightest thrive on being entrepreneurs. It's our corporate culture; it's in our DNA. Our way of life is based on the entrepreneurial drive to succeed for the growth of the company, but even more so, for the growth of every one of us who works at Shamrock.

Entrepreneurial individualism makes our work experience that much better, but it makes the experience for our customers outstanding. Because there's no one like an entrepreneur to provide the best possible experience for his or her customer, giving more than 100 percent -- which, in turn, actively enhances the bottom line.

I learned all about being an entrepreneur as a child, from my parents and grandparents. If I wasn't happy with the task my elders handed out, they encouraged me to come up with a job better suited to my skills. To prove my worth, I showed them how well I could perform the task I thought was best for me. And I was given praise and an allowance for my effort!

Lynn Blodgett, the president and CEO of ACS, an IT services subsidiary of Xerox is also a firm believer in making everyone at his company an entrepreneur. According to Blodgett, "...a really important management principle is that if you get the incentives aligned, people will motivate themselves far better than you'll ever motivate them.

"It's not only financial. It's being able to feel like they have a level of control over their destiny, that they are valued in what they do, that they're being successful, that they're contributing... (and) I think the more direct the accountability, the greater the performance."

Like Blodgett, I believe that we drive our company's success down to the people who are actually doing the work, and if a company gives its people the tools and the power to succeed, they will be accountable -- for themselves, for company profits, revenue and customer satisfaction.

FINAL THOUGHT...

One of my goals at Shamrock is to have everyone who wants to work like a sole proprietor do so, because it's  this power each of us have over our own destiny that will guarantee success for the company -- and for ourselves. Really.