Knowledge is the key to wealth in knowledge based communities. Therefore, professionals should constantly learn and develop to stay ahead of the pack. When the spirit of entrepreneurship is married with the learner personality, a new kind of professional is developed.
Typically, entrepreneurs are people that manage and facilitate a business, or multiple businesses and adopting risks that are greater than normal. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Pierre Omidya of eBay, Peter Thiel of PayPal, Niklas Zennstrom of Skype, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Michael Dell of Dell Computers, and Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines are among some of the most well-known entrepreneurs.
Adult learning is most often thought of as a formal or informal self-directed, on-the-job process which is created to enhance adaptive potential. Learning can result from a variety of interactions. Coaching, mentoring, e-learning, blended learning, job rotation, experiential learning, and job shadowing can bring a wealth of educational experiences.
Then when combing the entrepreneur and learning professional, a new kind of educator is created. This is a creator of learning and development opportunities. Entrepreneurial learning professionals typically demonstrate the following characteristics: a defined curiosity, passionate about learning, a high motivation to design and create own learning, identifying opportunities to learn, adaptive learners, experiential learners, able to learn, relearn, and unlearn; engages in fun and play in peer relationships, viewed as an energizing partner, demonstrated experience with technology, and thrives in knowledge and creatively bases workspaces.
Does this sound like you? Learning and development in organization can easily migrate to opportunities to craft and create learning and development. While entrepreneurship may not be on your radar screen, if you exhibit several of the aforementioned qualities there may be a great opportunity resting at your fingertips. Challenge yourself to create more than just learning opportunities, and anticipate great things happening.
