Seeing the Unseen

I love entrepreneurs. They think differently and I love them for that. They are not always conventional creatures. I think one of the defining characteristics of an entrepreneur is someone who can see into the future. It’s almost as if they can look into a puddle of mud and they see a sea of opportunity.

Entrepreneurs are innovative creatures who see into the future and work to make that future a reality. I admire that. I am a firm believer that entrepreneurs are not only people who create businesses. I have seen some in the nonprofit world who have the entrepreneurial DNA. They are able to innovate and as a result of that innovation they create meaningful results in their ventures.

It has been my assessment that entrepreneurs are dreamers and innovators first. They can cast vision and with that vision begin to create something beautiful. I have found that some of the most successful entrepreneurs are able to adapt. Those who can adapt create systems to take their venture to the next level and they are able to build solid teams.

I’ve known many entrepreneurs who have failed. It doesn’t make them any less of an entrepreneur. I actually think failure is an asset. Failure teaches us lessons. What is horrible is when people fail and choose not to rebound and learn from the failure.

I don’t think there’s any secret ingredient to building wealth, creating a strong economy, or succeeding in the marketplace. If there was, I am sure every entrepreneur would have taken advantage of that secret by now. I do, however, firmly believe that to be an entrepreneur it takes extraordinary amount of faith. I believe faith is being able to see what others can’t or choose not to see.

The entrepreneur must have a belief in something bigger in order to take the amount of risk that they have to to bring their vision to reality. Without such a faith the entrepreneur is doomed. Entrepreneurs must take extraordinary risks and who would take such risks without having an extraordinarily amount of faith. This doesn’t mean they will always succeed but it does mean that they are people of enormous conviction and who have extraordinary faith in what they see.

Faith is huge for an entrepreneur. I would argue though that without resilience the entrepreneur is truly doomed. Resilience is the ability to recover from challenges, obstacles, or mistreatment and push forward. Entrepreneurs are able to use their faith in the unseen future to power through the obstacles they face.