While attending the Kuala Lumpur Global Networking Conference for BNI in Malaysia last week, I heard a presentation that really resonated with me. The presentation was given by Penny Power, founder of Ecademy.com. Penny is not only an extremely knowledgeable and successful entrepreneur but also a good friend of mine.
Penny’s presentation focused on the concept of entrepreneurs “staying in their flame.” She explained that an entrepreneur’s “flame” is where he or she is the most passionate and excited about his or her business and where he or she truly enjoys what he or she is doing. When an entrepreneur is in his or her flame, work doesn’t really seem like work and the entrepreneur perceives his or her tasks as effortless. If entrepreneurs are able to focus on the aspects of business which keep them within their flame, it allows them to achieve their best.
On the flip side, Penny explained that entrepreneurs can get caught up in aspects of business that don’t come naturally to them and that they aren’t good at. Working their way through such tasks takes away their energy and leaves them exhausted and devoid of passion. Entrepreneurs stuck in this situation are “working in their wax,” and they are not nurturing their full potential or doing what will allow them to thrive.
The solution to this problem is that “your wax is someone else’s flame.” In other words, your weakness is someone else’s strength, someone else’s passion. As your business grows, the key to staying in your flame is to delegate the things you don’t like or aren’t good at to employees who actually enjoy doing those tasks and are great at them. Learn to recognize what kind of work keeps you in your flame and what kind of work keeps your employees in their flame because, as Penny says, “flamework” is infectious!
This entry was posted on Monday, June 9th, 2008 at 6:00 am and is filed under Networking, BNI, Ivan Misner, Self Development, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.8 Responses to “Entrepreneurs, Stay in Your Flame”
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June 9th, 2008 at 8:09 am
This is an awesome article. I have to agree about choosing and staying in your flame. Some entrepreneurs that I know go after an idea just for the money but don’t enjoy doing it…and then when the going gets tough they are off to another idea that they think will make them millions. The key is to find and follow your passion.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Just a quick note to say…isn’t this obvious?
June 9th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
What makes this point most important is that passion is contagious. Otherwise, you can not expect your employees to get excited or motivated, or to put in long hours when it’s crucial. There’s also a good blurb by Gucci President/CEO Dominic DeSole about this point:
http://gotvmail.com/newsletter/01-2008/
June 9th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Regarding Chris’ point above - if it were “obvious,” everyone would do it.
Just a thought.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:33 am
Yes!
Penny Power has done a brilliant job in keeping entrepreneurs in their flame through Ecademy!
People spend countless hours online in the platform feeding their flame and helping each other every minute of the day!
BNI Members keep their flame alive by giving referrals to their fellow members, helping every minute of their days!
Well done to Business Networking, where we create friends for life using structured systems to keep our flames strong and light!
Thank you Dr. Ivan Misner for teaching us on how to network!
Kindest Regards,
Hélder
June 10th, 2008 at 5:54 am
Sometimes what is obvious is exactly what we miss. This is a good article and I will remind my clients of their flame.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Dr. Dr Misner,
Thanks for publishing this article. Since my involvement with Ecademy, I have developed a respect for the depth of Penny’s understanding of business networking. She is a visionary like you and it was your recommendation that sent me to Ecademy at the first.
In life, sometimes the obvious is not always visible. When we get ourselves stuck in a rut and just keep plowing forward with our heads down; we can easily loose sight of the obvious.
I love Penny’s metaphor. For the record, to date I have personallly found more value in Ecademy than LinkedIn.
Would it be possible to have Penny as a guest on one of your Podcasts?
All the BEST,
Tom Doiron
Atlanta
June 10th, 2008 at 11:06 am
I think it is marvelous what Penny has done. I can remember at the Ecademy meets at the Media Club where Penny just took you entrance fee, hung your coat up and gave you a cloakroom ticket and now just a few years later she is lecturing to entrepreneurs. Marvelous stuff.