Kevin Watson shares his advice on nurturing a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity in the workplace – despite an economic climate that seems focused on stifling this
Are we, as leaders, doing enough to instil an entrepreneurial spirit into young people today or is it time to change our approach?
The truth is, young emerging management and graduates will never experience what the leaders of yesteryear did. A few decades ago, young people climbed quickly up the career ladder often reaching director level in their mid 20’s by learning ‘on the job’. But times have changed, corporate governance, tighter margins and increased commercial pressure on today’s leaders, have all eroded the ability to take genuine, more entrepreneurial risks in business.
The corporate world of today is much more cautious and often knee-deep in restriction and process, but many young people today wouldn’t survive in the fast-paced, chaotic and highly accountable cultures of those companies from days gone by, not because they don’t have the ability but because they wouldn’t get the same opportunity; the workplace today is not that clear cut.
In a country faced with growing economic uncertainty, people don’t want to take off-the-wall chances and risk their jobs in the process, all in the name of demonstrating some entrepreneurial flair. But taking risks within a ‘sink or swim’ environment actually builds strong characters and in turn, great business people. Consequently the onus is on today’s leaders to encourage but also protect their people.
Losing the ‘risk profile’
If people fear risk and failure there is good reason for that. Leadership needs to start looking beyond mistakes and view these as an investment rather than a cost to the business. As is often the case with larger businesses, when you get to a certain size you lose that freedom or ‘risk profile’ and any sign of entrepreneurialism is knocked out of you. With volume and size comes great responsibility so things change because nobody wants to negatively impact the bottom line profit or upset shareholders. Those smaller, start-up businesses (often experiencing growth rates of 200-300% at any time) are more in control of their own destiny, they have entrepreneurialism in abundance and are naturally more likely to take risks and gamble with their profits.
Yet we find ourselves in a quandary when it comes to building robust cultures and driving innovation and we have to redress the balance. If people make mistakes in pursuit of striving for something better, we have to deal with it in the right way or we run the risk of stifling growth. If you take everything at face value you’ll never prosper as a business. Organisations need brave people that are willing to interpret and bend the rules, those who will ask for forgiveness rather than permission. But those people need protecting and nurturing because they are critical to future business success.
A true leader takes ultimate responsibility and only apportions a certain level of responsibility within the team. That leader would never throw someone under the bus when things go wrong or deal with mistakes with complete transparency amongst the wider team. It’s not hard to see how you would very quickly damage team morale by highlighting individuals’ mistakes and instilling a blame culture. Importantly, building an entrepreneurial spirited team is also about building autonomy.
Catching people when they fall
If we are to truly encourage more innovation from within our teams, as leaders we have to become a trusted safety net, as well as a coach and a mentor to our people. That means having the ability to look further down the road for potential obstacles and barriers and to build in the time to catch people if they fall. It’s all about reacting in the right way. When a mistake happens, everyone knows about it, but the key is to get everyone back on track again. Most businesses can talk a good talk about the importance of empowerment but if you don’t react correctly at the point of failure your team won’t respect or trust you moving forward.
Creating an ambassador in the team who supports new ideas can help. Adopting an open coaching culture also allows people to find their own answers at their own pace which in turn breeds resilience and confidence. The old-school director approach of dictating to others does very little to support learning and future development, neither does it inspire confidence and self-belief.
Regardless of role, as a leader you need to provide the scope, brief and capacity for people to make decisions and mistakes. Walking around on eggshells in fear of putting a foot wrong won’t lead to ground breaking innovation. We still need to motivate and encourage learning and development in our people. Hospitality is actually one of the better sectors for encouraging an entrepreneurial spirit because the business is really all about people. It is so direct, personal and immediate, while being totally dependent upon actions and ‘in the moment’ service, so there is nowhere to hide.
Diversity enriches potential
Diversity of talent really changes the potential for more entrepreneurial workforces too. When it comes to recruiting talent, looking beyond the stereotype and stigma can do wonders for team dynamics whether that means appointing older team members with the benefit of experience and knowledge under their belt or young graduates fresh out of university who may lack experience but will question what you are doing and why you are doing it a certain way.
Everyone has a slightly different mindset but everyone has a voice worth hearing. By bringing together all ages, genders, experiences, backgrounds and academic abilities you can really enrich the working environment and overall team potential.
Here are my top three tips for embracing entrepreneurial spirit in the workplace:
- Consider building into your culture strategy, the ability to deal with mistakes and failure efficiently and in a positive way that nurtures team confidence. Time and day-to-day commitments are always the biggest hurdles to overcome for leaders in this case, but setting out a process from the outset will help.
- Protect your team. Nobody is going to take risks or go the extra mile for the business if they don’t feel supported by their leaders. If you expect people to go out on a limb you have to demonstrate first and foremost that you’ve got their back.
- When things go wrong, and they will, acknowledge it diplomatically, address it effectively and then move on. Avoid a ‘witch hunt’ at all costs because it helps nobody. No looking in the rear view mirror and dwelling on what might have been, just keep focused on the road ahead.
As Managing Director at Amadeus, Kevin Watson has led an ambitious growth strategy since taking on the directorship in 2012. Since then, he has succeeded in doubling the turnover and tripling profits for the award-winning venue and event caterer.
Amadeus delivers catering solutions to venues and event organisers who want to provide visitors with a unique and memorable food experience. Its varied portfolio includes Cadbury World, Belfast Zoo, Belfast Castle, Compton Verney, Library of Birmingham and the newly contracted Stratford Racecourse among others. Amadeus also operates the Starbucks brand at three franchise outlets in addition to managing outlets for retail partners JD Wetherspoon, Subway, Cornish Bakery, and FCB Artisan Espresso Bars.
The customer portfolio includes delivering catering solutions to around four million visitors per year at the NEC Group venues (the NEC, ICC, Genting Arena, Arena Birmingham and Vox Conference Centre). In addition, it caters for approximately 150 corporate or private events per year, including six major international sporting championships and at over 20 external venues.
With more than 1,000 staff, the Amadeus team has won more than 650 awards for quality and innovation in catering.
