Individual Reflective Report on Entrepreneurial and Leadership Skills

This reflective report analyses personal entrepreneurial and leadership skills and traits by presenting business examples of to showcase the effectiveness of traits and leadership skills in achieving practical business success. The report discusses the importance of motivation, autonomy, creativity, calculative risk taking and control of own actions in becoming a successful entrepreneur and leader. Self-assessment tools such as GET test can be used to determine level of entrepreneurial and leadership skills so that further action for development can be taken.

Individual
Reflective
Report
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
APPENDIX......................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurship requires the usage of specific skills and leadership attributes to handle
entrepreneurial challenges and achieve long-term success. Creating and maintain success of an
enterprise is a complicated task which involves development of successful entrepreneurial skills
(Farooq, 2018). Personal entrepreneurial skills can be evaluated with the help of self-assessment
tools and exercises. The usage of these exercises help individuals understand the gaps and
strengths of the personality traits and abilities in relation to the traits and abilities of a successful
entrepreneur. This reflective report analyses personal entrepreneurial and leadership skills and
traits by presenting business examples of to showcase the effectiveness of traits and leadership
skills in achieving practical business success.
MAIN BODY
Reflection is defined as the process of observing and analysing personal behaviour,
cognition and mental processes during various activities to gain profound insight about own
personality. The application of reflection can support me in evaluating my entrepreneurial traits
and leadership qualities so that I am able to determine my key weaknesses and strengths in
context of entrepreneurial personality. I have utilized the GET test for determining the level of
different entrepreneurial abilities. This self-assessment exercise helps individuals identify and
their enterprising potential. This refers to the ability to take up and manage projects effectively
and achieve entrepreneurial success. The enterprising potential which is determined with the help
of this test includes various activities such as starting up own enterprise, managing daily
challenges or working as an entrepreneur. High motivation is required for succeeding as an
entrepreneur.
The primary skills which support high level of motivation in an individual are relentlessness,
high energy, orientation towards the future, task-oriented and being results oriented person
(Badawi and et. al., 2019). I am relentless in my pursuit towards achieving results and take
detailed effort to deliver best results in a timely manner. The advantage of these traits is that they
will help me maintain my motivation even in time of crisis and achieve entrepreneurial goals
with dedication. The disadvantage of high level of these traits is that it can also reduce my ability
to take criticism effectively to make improvement and work towards the future.
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A business example which showcases the importance of relentlessness, task oriented
focus towards the future and results is the success of British appliance manufacturing company
Dyson. The company was founded in the year 1991 and the first product of Dyson the cyclonic
vacuum cleaner was a huge success. The story behind success of Dyson showcases the presence
of relentlessness and task oriented drive to achieve best possible results. Dyson started working
on the vacuum cleaner after receiving dissatisfaction from the current products in the category. It
took 5,126 prototypes to finally create the end product which is one of the biggest hits of Dyson
and fuelled the success of the company (How James Dyson's Thousands of Failures Can Help
You Tell a Captivating Founder Origin Story, 2022).
This was achieved while facing rejection from current employer and getting kicked out of
the job for proposing to build a better vacuum cleaner. Dyson was able to follow the path of
success by focusing in the future instead of present failure and having a strong drive to gain only
the highest quality results without any compromise. This showcases that successful enterprise are
built on relentless believe in idea and focusing on future success rather than dwelling on failures.
In addition to this another requirement for becoming a successful entrepreneur and a leader
is to have need for autonomy. This involves the ability to become an independent leader,
effective self-management and having control over own behaviour and behaviour of others in a
team setting. The level of my need for autonomy is medium and there is scope of improvement
in this entrepreneurial trait. The need for autonomy and ability to work effectively in
autonomous environments create successful leaders who are able to recover their enterprise or
project from crises and survive challenging time without external guidance.
The advantage of having better autonomy is that I will be able to handle challenging
activities on my own and guide others during tough times to survive in the corporate world for a
long-time period. The disadvantage of having high autonomy is that it can make collaborations
with other businesses as an entrepreneur difficult which are also needed for long-term survival
and global expansion. I need to improve my level of autonomy to become a more effective leader
and survive cut-throat competition is an entrepreneur without unlearning the importance of
collaboration with others to achieve complicated objectives.
Creativity and having deep imagination are also needed to become a successful
entrepreneur and effective leader (Tolfo and et. al., 2018). Creativity supports leaders because
they are able to find unique solutions to challenges and come up with out of the box ways of
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recovering from a crisis. This makes them effective in handling team challenges and ensuring
success of their team. Entrepreneurs require high level of creativity because creativity facilitates
innovation which is essential for adapting to external environment changes.
I have high level of creativity which means that I am able to come up with innovative
solutions and use my imagination for synthesising unique ideas (GET 2 TEST RESULTS). I am
also easily able to adapt to new situations and use the resources at hand to come with viable
solutions which are original and practical. The advantage of creative tendency is that it enables
individuals to develop innovative services and products as an entrepreneur to stand out from the
competition. The disadvantage of creativity is that having imaginative mind can also lead to
distraction from the task at hand. This can lower time management ability and cause barriers in
delivering results before deadlines.
The disadvantage of creativity can affect success as a leader and entrepreneur and it is
important that individuals are able to balance creativity with practicality and time management is
that it does not affect their projects and entrepreneurial endeavours negatively. An example of
business which was able to survive as successful member of its sector with the help of creativity
and innovation is UK based multinational oil company Shell. The company has invested in
various creative and innovative entrepreneurial venture which helped in successfully expanding
its brand portfolio and creating a foundation for future survival and success.
Investing in deep water and renewable energy projects is example of creativity and
innovative environment at Shell which has helped the company stay a leading member of the
global oil market. Shell has constructed deep water wells for extracting oil across the world with
the help of engineers and geologist and is able to extract energy in a low risk way. Shell is
considered an innovator in the oil industry as it developed the Cognac pipeline in 1975 after
discovering the Cognac well in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Cognac pipeline is considered a landmark project in offshore pipeline industry as it
was world’s deepest platform and world’s tallest and heaviest structure in the 1970”s (Cognac
pipeline stretched the boundary of deepwater, 2020) The innovation and creativity utilized by
Shell corporation in context of the Cognac project helped the company tackle the oil crisis in the
70’s and establish itself as a pioneer in the oil industry. This type of creativity is driving force
behind involvement of Shell in renewable energy projects such as electric vehicle charging
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points, bio-fuels, solar energy and more. In this way creativity and innovation is essential for
helping a company become industry leader and recovering from global crises.
Entrepreneurs and leaders need to be calculated risk takers because it helps them adapt to
changing external environment and take bold steps in pursuit of profit, results and innovation.
Calculative risk taking is defined as the ability to evaluate the information available to make
informed decisions regarding possible risks associated with new venture or action. Calculative
risk taking leaders are able to guide their team into venturing into unknown territories in a viable
manner which does not have negative impact on the end goal of the team.
Entrepreneurs need to be good risk takers because it helps them take effective decisions with
changing external environment, invest in opportunities, facilitate innovation and promote
differentiation to distinguish the company from competition (Gieure del Mar Benavides-
Espinosa and Roig-Dobón, 2019). I have effective calculative risk taking skills and qualities. I
have high level of information management and analytical skills because I am able to identify
and use relevant data to quantify various types of risks. This supports better decision making and
helps me in setting challenging and attainable goals. I am also able to reflect on my behaviour
due to high level of self-awareness. This trait helps me analyse risks in an impartial manner
which leads to improved decision making.
The multinational conglomerate Virgin group is an example of risk taking enterprise
which was able to achieve continuous growth and global expansion by exploiting risks in a
feasible manner. Richard Branson, who is the founder of Virgin group instilled risk taking skills
in the company which are preserved to this day and support the company in achieving global
success across different industries. The company sold Virgin records to gain finances for
managing Virgin Atlantic which was considered a domed decision as Virgin Atlantic was a
struggling enterprise and revenue of Virgin Atlantic has increased over the years (Space or bust:
Richard Branson’s Virgin dilemma, 2020). This showcases that calculative risk takings supports
growth and expansion of a business.
Finally another important trait for becoming a successful leader and entrepreneur is to
have high level of locus on control. This means that the individuals needs to be in control of their
action to exploit upcoming opportunities and promote accountability and self-responsibility. The
main traits associated with this entrepreneurial requirement are self-belief, strong will to change
future and self-confidence.
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I have high level of control on my actions and I am confident that my hardworking nature
and will to succeed will provide positive results in the future. The advantage of this skill is that it
helps move forward with people and opportunities and provide capability to achieve goals. The
disadvantage of having high locus of control is that it can lead to conflicts while working in team
settings.
This type of attitude towards taking control of own destiny is found in successful
entrepreneurs. This is because entrepreneurs are able to remain motivated even in crisis
situations and present their ideas with confidence to others. Leaders need to build the skills and
qualities which provide them control of their own future because it inspires others and help them
persuade their team members into following their vision.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is determined that the key areas which support an individual in
becoming a better leader and entrepreneur are motivation, autonomy, creativity, calculative risk
taking and control of own actions. These skills need to be developed in order to achieve success
as an entrepreneur and leader while also ensuring that downsides of these skills does not affect
achievement of goals. There are various examples of real life organizations which support that
creativity, resilience and risk taking skills are essential in achieving long-term success with an
entrepreneurial enterprise. Self-assessment tools such as GET test can be used to determine level
of entrepreneurial and leadership skills so that further action for development can be taken.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Farooq, M. S., 2018. Modelling the significance of social support and entrepreneurial skills for
determining entrepreneurial behaviour of individuals: A structural equation modelling
approach. World Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development.
Badawi and et. al., 2019. Business education and entrepreneurial skills: Evidence from Arab
universities. Journal of Education for Business, 94(5). pp.314-323.
Tolfo and et. al., 2018. Agile practices and the promotion of entrepreneurial skills in software
development. Journal of Software: Evolution and Process, 30(9). p.e1945.
Gieure, C., del Mar Benavides-Espinosa, M. and Roig-Dobón, S., 2019. Entrepreneurial
intentions in an international university environment. International journal of Entrepreneurial
Behavior & research.
Online
Cognac pipeline stretched the boundary of deepwater, 2020. [Online] Available through
https://www.offshore-mag.com/pipelines/article/14075106/cognac-pipeline-stretched-the-
boundary-of-deepwater
Space or bust: Richard Branson’s Virgin dilemma, 2020. [Online] Available through
https://www.ft.com/content/d6ecbf8a-4b20-4303-aa16-890218fa9c41
How James Dyson's Thousands of Failures Can Help You Tell a Captivating Founder Origin
Story, 2022. [Online] Available through https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/how-james-dysons-
thousands-of-failures-can-help-you-tell-a-captivating-founder-origin-story.html
GET 2 TEST RESULTS. [Online] Available through http://www.get2test.net/get2result.html
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APPENDIX
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