Being Entrepreneurial — Are you a Wizard or a Muggle?

As I sit here tentatively writing my first indepth blog post as @deltapreneur, I can assure you, dear Blogee, that I am neither wearing a pointy hat nor sporting giant sleeves. However I must confess I have watched a few Harry Potter movies, and even attempted one of the books, and it wasn’t all bad.

I have not checked whether JK Rowling has the rights to the word Muggle, but I am hoping if she does, she will appreciate I am only borrowing it to help entrepreneurs just like herself.

The question I ask is one that is for me at the core of the entrepreneurial spirit; are you a fearless creator? A dedicated and determined agent for change? Or are you a Muggle?

The Harry Potter Wiki (and yes there is one) states — “A Muggle is a person who is born into a non-magical family and is incapable of performing magic. Most Muggles are not aware that magic exists at all …” It goes on, but I won’t.

Hopefully you know what a Wizard is!!

The truth is we are all a bit of both, the question is on which side of the line do we live and how resilient are we? When we are in fear, or just plain low, we may display more Muggle type behaviour than when we are confident, striving and fearless.

The secret is to spot these behaviours in ourselves and others, and in so doing, encourage behavioural change by simply noting it, acting on it, or sometimes even calling it out.

To support my basic thesis please find a non-exhaustive list of Muggle and Wizard attributes outlined below.

Wizards

Take responsibility for their actions and the consequences.

Celebrate the achievements of others.

Embrace change.

Feel fear but do it anyway.

Look for the best in people.

Muggles

Transfer the blame for their mistakes and/or deficiencies to others

Take credit for others’ success.

Fervently resist change and block innovation.

Are stifled by fear.

Look for the worst in people.

Now you may be part of a large corporate trying to effect change and launch some new initiative, or you may be a single founder start-up, sitting at an anodyne desk in a stifling incubator, about to make your first cold call.

The principles are the same; Muggles are everywhere. They could be working for you or with you, they could be selling to you or buying from you, and they could even be your boss.

The trick is to spot them and their behaviour and to ask yourself — why have they chosen to be a Muggle? The truth is everyone has some Wizard in them. People act like Muggles mainly out of fear.

They may fear that they are going to be “found out”, that they are going to lose their job, that they are going to look bad in front of their colleagues, that they are not going to get that promotion, that they are going to fail, or that they are going to be late for lunch. Whatever it is, once you spot it and understand what’s behind it, you can help them change or change to help them.

But the real magic of success is to spot it in ourselves. Of course we want to be the very best we can be all the time, but we are not. We have our own fears; starting and growing a new venture, effecting change and taking huge risks challenges our very core. It is, by its very nature, scary. If it isn’t you are probably not pushing hard enough.

We need to be constantly vigilant and take action when we display Mugglish behaviour. This might manifest itself as closed thinking or resisting change, acting in denial, shutting others out or making them wrong, or just hiding behind someone else’s actions.

And when you spot the Muggle in you, acknowledge it, understand why it has surfaced, and then ignore it and be more Wizard.

As I sit hear rereading my first post for the umpteenth time, preparing to jump into the blogosphere, my own inner Muggle visits, raising my own fears. Will this be a disaster? Will my expectations and hopes be lacerated before me? Will I look foolish or stupid? Will this damage my future irreparably? Is my writing and/or theory just crap.

I acknowledge them, understand (in part) where they are coming from, but I know that if I don’t risk it I will never know, and then I upload…