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Self-awareness and self-efficacy and critical thinking
Description

People are facing different challenges and changes, both globally and locally. To cope with this chaotic and fast-paced reality, we need to believe in ourselves and in our abilities, even the most hidden ones, without being afraid of making mistakes.


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Who is an entrepreneur?

DefinitionClick to read

The word entrepreneur originally comes from the combination of two Latin words entre, to swim out, and prendes, to grasp, understand, or capture.

In about 1800, a French economist Jean-Baptiste Say combined the two words to popularize the term, entrepreneur and he said: “The entrepreneur shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield.” In Say’s mind, the entrepreneur was something of a resource hacker, able to use scant resources to create innovative products.

According to Richard Callington, an entrepreneur is someone, who practices business judgement in the face of uncertainty of the future. Peter Drucker describes the entrepreneurs as an innovator, who is willing to take a measured risk to start a new venture chasing greater than usual profit.

In these definitions, we can clearly recognize some of the characteristics of the entrepreneur such as sense of risk, innovation, creativity, curiosity...

Let’s take a closer look!

Ten features of successful entrepreneursClick to read

Curiosity
An entrepreneur's ability to remain curious allows them to continuously seek new opportunities.

Team Building
A great entrepreneur is aware of their strengths and weaknesses. Rather than letting shortcomings hold them back, they build well-rounded teams that complement their abilities.

Structured Experimentation
An awareness of controlled experimentation is necessary for entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur must conduct tests on each new opportunity to decide whether it's worthwhile to pursue.

Risk Tolerance
Risk and entrepreneurship are frequently linked. An entrepreneur must incur risks while starting a business, but they also need to take precautions to reduce those risks. To reap the benefits of their labours, successful entrepreneurs are willing to accept a certain amount of risk; yet, their efforts to reduce risk have a strong correlation with their risk tolerance.

Adaptability
Successful company executives must be flexible and able to adjust to new events in order to keep their organisation moving forward in the face of unforeseen developments.

Comfortable with failure
Successful entrepreneurs must prepare themselves for, and be comfortable with, failure. Rather than let fear hold them back, they allow the possibility of success to propel them forward.

Decisiveness
To be successful, an entrepreneur has to make difficult decisions and stand by them.

Persistence
While many successful entrepreneurs are comfortable with the possibility of failing, it doesn’t mean they give up easily. Rather, they see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow.

Long-Term Focus
Even if a venture's success depends on its early stages, the process doesn't finish once the company is up and running.

Innovation
Some entrepreneurs are innovative, but not all of them are. Thankfully, this kind of strategic attitude can be developed. By honing your strategic thinking abilities, you can position your endeavour for success by being well-equipped to recognise novel chances.

 

We can say that entrepreneurship is an activity with an inherent and very high coefficient of risk. The assumption of risk is among the few elements that distinct entrepreneurs from managers.

Such risk is related to the overall uncertainty upon the success and profitability of the entrepreneurial initiative. The entrepreneurial challenge consists in facing such uncertainty with courage, method and critical thinking so to mitigate the risk and meet the expected outcomes.

The entrepreneurial attitude views difficulties as fantastic business opportunities just waiting to be taken advantage of. Entrepreneurs receive valuable lessons from failure that they can use to reconfigure their innovation strategy and reset their competitive edge.

That’s why we need to focus on sense of initiative and on entrepreneurial mindset.  

Sense of initiative and entrepreneurial attitudeClick to read

A sense of initiative and entrepreneurship is the ability to turn ideas into action through creativity, innovation, and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects. Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship refers to an individual's ability to turn ideas into action.

This serves as a foundation for more specialised skills and knowledge required by those establishing or contributing to social or commercial activity. It also helps people in their everyday lives at home and in society as well as in the workplace by supporting them in being aware of the context of their work and being able to seize opportunities. This should encourage good governance and raise ethical consciousness.

Initiative, proactivity, independence, and inventiveness in both personal and professional life are traits of an entrepreneurial attitude. It also involves the drive and resolve to achieve goals, whether they are ones that are shared with others or ones that are personal, like those at work.

We suggest to check this Framework provided by European Commission:
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC109128
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC120911

Self-efficacy

What isClick to read

Originally proposed by the Psychologist Albert Bandura, the concept of self-efficacy refers to: “how well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations”.

  • It influences human behaviour in any aspect of social life (work, sentimental, relationship, etc...). by representing the overall system of beliefs, a person holds as a mean to stimulate changes in its life, the perception of someone’s own self-efficacy will most likely be the most impactful variable to affect its choices and the challenges she/he is ready to face.
  • It is highly relevant for established entrepreneurs (and especially for aspiring ones) because it nurses their capacity to be effective and impactful within their operational/business environments.
  • A healthy self-efficacy mindset brings a boost-effect to entrepreneur’s competence to act with confidence, effectiveness, and motivation.
Why it is importantClick to read

Entrepreneurial self-efficacy is used to define an individual’s confidence in his/her abilities, and has a determinant role in shaping entrepreneurial intentions. In this respect, it can be assumed that the level of entrepreneurial self-efficacy correlates with entrepreneurial intentions.

The studies in the literature indicate that there exists a strong link between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the performance of a company started by an entrepreneur. It is generally acknowledged that entrepreneurial self-efficacy, which refers to an individual’s belief in his/her capability to perform tasks and roles aimed at entrepreneurial outcomes, plays a crucial role in deterring whether individual pursue entrepreneurial careers and engage in entrepreneurial behaviour.

People with a strong self-efficacy

  • Develop a deeper interest in the activities in which they participate.
  • Form a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities
  • Recover quickly from setbacks and disappointments
  • They see challenging problems as tasks to be overcome

People with a weak self-efficacy 

  • Avoid challenging tasks
  • Believe that difficult tasks and situations are beyond their capabilities
  • Focus on personal failings and negative outcomes
  • Quickly lose confidence in personal abilities

 

Self-awareness

What isClick to read

Self-awareness seems to have become the latest management buzzword and for good reason.

Research suggests that we see our selves clearly, we are more confident and more creative. We make sounder decisions, build stronger relationship, and communicate more effectively. We are less likely to lie, cheat, and steal. We are better workers who get more promotions. And we are more-effective leaders with more-satisfied employees and more-profitable companies.

A major theory on the field states that self-awareness is a state of mind that enables people to compare and assess their current standards with their internals (and personal) expectations.

Self-aware entrepreneurs conduct themselves with reliability, leadership and emotional intelligence. They allow, for them and the others, the most ethical, sustainable and innovative working environment; leveraging on a deep understanding of their moral duties, eache one’s capabilities and intimate identities.

There are two types of Self-Awareness:

Internal self-awareness

The first is a representation of how clearly we understand our own beliefs, motivations, and objectives as well as how they fit into our surroundings and how they affect others.

Internal self-awareness is linked negatively to anxiety, tension, and depression and positively to greater job and relationship satisfaction, social control, and happiness.

External self-awareness

It entails being aware of how others perceive us in light of the same aspects as those mentioned above.

According to our research, people are better at evoking empathy and understanding other people's viewpoints when they are aware of how others perceive them.

Employees have a stronger relationship with, are more satisfied with, and perceive their leaders as being more effective in general when they view themselves as their colleagues do.

The four self-awareness archetypes

This 2x2 maps internal self-awareness (how well you know yourself) against external self-awareness (how well you understand how others see you).

Introspections
They are clear on who they are but don’t challenge their own views or search for blind spots by getting feedback from others. This can harm their relationship and limit their success

Aware
They know who they are, what they want to accomplish, and seek out and value others’ opinions. This is where leaders begin to fully realize the true benefits of self-awareness.

Seekers
They do not yet know who they are, what they stand for, or how their teams see them. As a result, they might feel stuck or frustrated with their performance and relationship.

Pleasers
They can be so focused on appearing a certain way to others that they could be overlooking what matters to them. Over time, they tend to make choices that are not in service of their own success and fulfilment.

 
Why it is importantClick to read

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of wisdom” Aristotele

Some benefits of self-awareness…

Builds empathy

One thing that might truly assist you in developing greater empathy for other people is self-awareness. You can comprehend the viewpoint of the other individual better. Additionally, it will improve the quality of your connections. You can better comprehend others and yourself when you are conscious of your surroundings and of yourself.

Builds Critical thinking

When developing self-awareness, you frequently analyse, reflect on, and assess. Instead of relying solely on your emotions, this helps you think more critically about situations. As a result, self-awareness can aid in the development of critical thinking abilities. In addition to oneself, there are other areas where critical thinking can be utilised.

Improves decision making

Being self-aware helps you get a deeper understanding of yourself. You can differentiate between what’s good for and what’s bad. This awareness helps you analyse situations in a systematic way. You weigh the merits and demerits easily. And this helps in improving your decision making skills.

Boosts creativity

Your life will be better in more than one area if you have a creative viewpoint. You will be able to solve a problem fast and creatively if you are self-aware. You become perceptive enough to think creatively when you are self-aware.

Builds leadership qualities

It is obvious that if you are self-aware, your mental health will be in good shape. Self-awareness equips you with the leadership skills you need.

 

Summing up

Summing upClick to read

Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship

Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship refers to an individual's ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives.

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviours necessary to produce specific performance attainments

Motivation

‘Motivation’ is the process of inspiring people in order to intensify their desire and willingness for executing their duties effectively and for co-operating to achieve the common objectives of an enterprise. In other words, it means to induce, instigate, incite or prompt someone to a particular course of action for getting the results expected from him.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness is your ability to perceive and understand the things that make you who you are as an individual, including your personality, actions, values, beliefs, emotions, and thoughts. Essentially, it is a psychological state in which the self becomes the focus of attention.

 

Quests! Learn more.

Try to be your mental coach

Personal SWOT Analysis


Test Yourself!




Related Glossary:
  • Entrepreneurship:
    entrepreneurship is an activity with an inherent and very high coefficient of risk. The assumption of risk is among the few elements that distinct entrepreneurs from managers.
  • Motivation:
    'Motivation' is the process of inspiring people in order to intensify their desire and willingness for executing their duties effectively and for co-operating to achieve the common objectives of an enterprise. In other words, it means to induce, instigate, incite or prompt someone to a particular course of action for getting the results expected from him.
  • Self-awareness:
    Self-awareness is your ability to perceive and understand the things that make you who you are as an individual, including your personality, actions, values, beliefs, emotions, and thoughts. Essentially, it is a psychological state in which the self becomes the focus of attention.
  • Self-efficacy:
    Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviours necessary to produce specific performance attainments.
  • Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship:
    Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship refers to an individual's ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives.
  • See all terms

Educator Tips:

In this training, before identifying and understanding the characteristics of an entrepreneur, they will have to try to challenge themselves in their daily activities and relationships through both the conceptual teaching provided here, and through this little advice.

Therefore, it is necessary for them to acquire a good level of knowledge of everything around them, asking themselves questions, stopping to think and reflect without being too afraid of making mistakes, but trying to take a proactive and dynamic stance in all areas of life

Quest 1: In this activity, the student will try to learn from his or her experiences. He/she will be asked to report an unpleasant episode in his/her life that he/she could have dealt with better and analysed it with more awareness thanks to the concepts learnt in this course.

Quest 2: Personal SWOT Analysis

 

Additional resources

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/education-research/evaluation/what-can-i-evaluate/self-efficacy/

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263162945_Effects_of_Self-Efficacy_on_Students%27_Academic_Performance

https://trainingindustry.com/articles/leadership/the-importance-of-self-awareness-in-leadership/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1ojZKWfShQ


Keywords

Entrepreneurship, sense of risk and of initiative, self-efficacy, self-awareness, motivation


Bibliography

YouTube, Increase your self-awareness with one simple fix, Tasha Eurich, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGdsOXZpyWE



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