Many entrepreneurs and growth-oriented leaders excel during the start up phase of the organization or during a high growth phase. Growth signifies challenge, giving form to the business entity and hiring people who are equally self-motivated and self-directed to keep things moving. While these periods feel chaotic to others who don’t share the entrepreneur or growth oriented leaders hunger for excitement, they gets to do what they love, the way they want to do it, without restrictions. They can, to others, appear to be adrenaline junkies, hooked on the thrill of mastering their environment, closing the deal, and growing the business.   

1. Practical Insight
THE NEWSLETTER OF CALIBER LEADERSHIP SYSTEMS JANUARY 2014
Quick Tips
Are you thinking of undertaking a
leadership development program?
Here are some quick tips to help you
make the right decisions.
 Ensure there is an assessment
element to the program to build
self-awareness as the critical
first step.
 Ensure that the managers of
program participants are en-
gaged as well as contributing to
the learning
 Incorporate how the brain
learns and how emotions facili-
tate the learning process in your
approach
 There are many models of lead-
ership. Ensure that the one in
your program matches the stra-
tegic goals of your organization.
 For learning to become a habit,
a mechanism to support the
transfer and repetition of effec-
tive practices is needed. Con-
sider using coaches or mentors
to provide this focus.
We carefully tailor all our programs
and services to your organization &
encourage you to call us to discuss
your needs.
www.caliberleadership.com
hhilliard@caliberleadership.com
416.406.3939
The Entrepreneurial Personality
Are you in the way of the growth of your business?
Many entrepreneurs and growth-oriented leaders excel during the start up phase of the or-
ganization or during a high growth phase. Growth signifies challenge, giving form to the
business entity and hiring people who are equally self-motivated and self-directed to keep
things moving. While these periods feel chaotic to others who don’t share the entrepreneur
or growth oriented leaders hunger for excitement, they gets to do what they love, the way
they want to do it, without restrictions. They can, to others, appear to be adrenaline junkies,
hooked on the thrill of mastering their environment, closing the deal, and growing the busi-
ness.
Alas, no business stays the same for long and these people can become deflated once the
company is established or the growth spurt has peaked. The work habits that made the com-
pany get to where it is no longer work but have become the cultural norm. The growth ori-
ented leader or entrepreneur keeps doing what they love to do rather than taking a step back
and seeing what the business and employees need or what the business might need to get it
to the next stage. By nature, the entrepreneurial personality that doesn’t like the limitations
put on them by professional business practices has to put them in their own company or run
the risk of stopping their own growth and that of the business. This keeps things chaotic and
static for longer than they should.
The way the entrepreneur leads can be overwhelming to employees who don’t share the en-
trepreneur’s hunger for excitement and growth. The main characteristics of the entrepreneu-
rial personality that build successful enterprises can ultimately create dysfunctional busi-
nesses. Inadvertently, their tendencies often lead to power struggles and duplication of efforts
across their organization, and, ultimately, a negative impact on bottom line results.
Usually entrepreneurs and growth oriented leaders don’t realize that they are getting in the
way of the growth of their business. They continue to work their own agenda, satisfying their
own needs at the expense of their employees. They acquire another business without the ap-
propriate infrastructure or take on a large account without adequately staffing up. When
employees complain or leave, the put the blame on others, or throw Band-Aid solutions at
systemic problems and demotivate their employees by not dealing with the real issues.
Here are some things that you can do, as an entrepreneurial or change-oriented leader,
to keep your business growing.
RECOGNIZE THE NEEDS OF THE BUSINESS ARE DIFFERENT AT DIFFERENT
STAGES OF GROWTH
A business is a dynamic growing entity that has different needs at different times. Leading
during the first stage is different that the professional type of leadership required as the busi-
ness grows and stabilizes. Become aware of the stage your business is at and lead based on
what the business needs. If you don’t want to lead, get clear on that and hire in someone to
take over the people leadership role.
CREATE A COMPELLING, CLEAR VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Having a picture of where the business is going and what it will look like when you get there
is critical to your success. Make sure your vision is communicated and understood by every-
one in the business so that employee efforts and behaviors are aligned. Do something about it

2. when they aren’t. Don’t tolerate anything but
what you know will meet the needs of the
business and the achievement of your vision.
HAVE UPDATED STRATEGIC & TAC-
TICAL PLANS
Leadership and planning in start-up busi-
nesses tend to be casual and reactive. This
needs to change once the business grows to
the next stage. You need to spell out how you
are going to achieve your vision. Defining the
strategy helps but doesn’t ensure that your
employees know exactly what they need to do
to make sure their performance is aligned.
Once you have created your plans, you have
to pay attention to them. Discipline and con-
sistency are critical to achieving your desired
outcomes. Too often entrepreneurs and
growth-oriented leaders just keep moving and
forget to keep planning and staying account-
able to the plan.
INVEST IN YOUR BUSINESS
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs
make is not thinking about what the business
needs to take it to the next level. They fail to
include the development of the business infra-
structure because they don’t want to become
hierarchical or “traditional” in their approach.
This can leave the business floundering at the
same level instead of putting in the organiza-
tional scaffolding required for growth. You
can’t do everything the same and grow at the
same time. Even modest success can over-
whelm you unless you build the necessary
systems, structures, and business disciplines
to support your business’ growth. It takes
more than raw talent to take your business to
the next level.
INVEST IN YOURSELF
Entrepreneurs can forget about their own
need for growth, instead focusing all of their
attention on what the business and employees
need. To go from entrepreneur to a business
leader, you need to become aware of your
behavior, build self-awareness and give up the
often chaotic, seat-of-the-pants behaviors that
worked for the start-up phase of the business.
This helps you to know when you are the
obstacle that is getting in the way of the
growth of your business. Understanding your
fears and working to break through personal
barriers by challenging self-limiting beliefs
and behaviours will help you achieve both
personal and business success.
INVEST IN YOUR EMPLOYEES
Motivating, coaching and managing your staff
is probably one of your toughest challenges.
Without your patience, persistence and
“people skills”, your problems can multiply
quickly. Morale, productivity, and employee
confidence can easily be destroyed causing
employees to leave and eroding the founda-
tion of the business.
Let us help you move your business to
the next level. Contact us to find out
more about our services that are
uniquely for entrepreneurs and growth-
oriented leaders.
Caliber Services
Our services come under familiar head-
ings; however, it is our unique approach
to these services that create powerful or-
ganizations.
 Leadership Development and Change
- How will your company create last-
ing change? By focusing on the
unique position of leaders and their
ability to impact culture and perform-
ance, you can ensure your organiza-
tion is set up for success.
 Performance Alignment and Rewards
- Are your employees aligned with
your company's vision? By aligning
performance to the company vision,
you create a more powerful organiza-
tion. Caliber will help you build a sys-
tem that sustains a performance cul-
ture.
 Culture Assessment and Develop-
ment - How will your company re-
main competitive in the long-term?
What internal processes are helping or
hindering your company's success? By
assessing and developing individuals,
teams and your company culture to
support your company's goals, you
will create a more powerful
organization.
 Strategic Talent and Succession Man-
agement - How will your company
realize its vision? Will you have the
benchstrength required to lead your
company in the future? Caliber has
years of experience building simple
and effective strategic talent and suc-
cession management processes.
The Caliber Team
Caliber is a collection of globally experi-
enced business people with a reputation
for creating powerful organizations. We
have created a uniquely effective consult-
ing approach by building a highly collabo-
rative team with complementary skills.
When you engage Caliber you are not re-
lying on the insight of one key individual -
you are accessing the combined knowl-
edge, experience and application of our
entire team.
Contact us to find out how you can develop to
your full leadership potential and exercise your
authentic power.
416.406.3939
www.caliberleadership.com
CALIBER LEADERSHIP SYSTEMS JANUARY 2014 Page 2
Leadership & Team Development | Strategy Facilitation | Cultural Transitions
Entrepreneurial Potential | Leadership Systems | Behavioural Change
Strategic Talent Management | Performance & Rewards | Succession & Selection