The Power of Entrepreneurial Programs….the “Little Things”…
I am not going to talk about the knowledge, the new friendships, the empowerment of entrepreneurial programs.
What I am about to tell you is about something much subtler….and perhaps more powerful. Currently I am on day 15 of the month long Young Leaders of the Americas entrepreneurship program. A month can be a LONG time but I am going to tell you what I gained in just the last 5 hours.
At Day 15, colleagues are still discovering each other and they begin to relate the little things that impacts them….the little things…the little things you did not and would not have thought about. The little things that could make all the difference!
So the two “Little Things” I just added to my entrepreneurial skill set are:
Little Thing №1
I loved magic tricks growing up! I would practice and perform throughout my time at college and university. However the world of work did not leave much room for that and soon my magic tricks all but disappeared. It would be very rare that I would perform a trick. And even rarer when I started my business. I thought a pack of cards would be useful on a month long program so I brought them along. On Day 13 it came out the bag for a quick magic trick and a game of cheat. On Day 15 after a good chat with my Chilean colleague he confided, “you have such great tools for networking with your pictures and magic tricks. You give the person a moment. They may forget your name but they will never forget that moment”
WoW!!! He was absolutely correct! I had never thought of using my magic tricks as a networking tool! And just like that….one of my long lost passions found a new powerful purpose!
Little Thing №2
Number two is one of those things you may have heard about, forgot about or never learnt the importance of unless someone showed you how it worked, can work and how they used it. And that is exactly what my Bolivian friend did after we worked on preparing his pitch. The conversation naturally pivoted to where I could access global data to help influence business decisions. Google Trends! Here I come!!!
Rome was not built in day but block by block. If you were looking on at Rome from afar, the change day to day would have been imperceptible but undeniably effective. It is these “Little Things” that make a difference to young entrepreneurs. The little things influence our purpose and possibilities and it’s the little things like these that make the YLAI program so invaluable. Lengthy entrepreneurial programs like YLAI allow for these natural team building moments to exist and allow for the bonds and skills shared to be truly effective!
Now let’s see what tomorrow has in store!