How entrepreneurial are you?

The term entrepreneurship is thrown around quite a bit in the media today, but have you ever wondered how entrepreneurial YOU are?

To answer that question, we must first define what it means to be entrepreneurial. According to academic research in this area (see Lumkin & Dess, 1996), being entrepreneurial consists of the following attributes:

• Autonomy
• Innovativeness
• Risk-taking
• Proactiveness
• Competitive Aggressiveness

Thus, to assess how entrepreneurial you are, you need to determine how autonomous, innovative, risk-taking, proactive and competitive you are. 

(On a side note, when you are more entrepreneurial, research also suggests that you are likely to perform better.)

Last year, I attended a speaker event by Michael Morris of Syracuse University. One of the points he was trying to get across is that there are many ways to be entrepreneurial. In addition to starting your own business, you can be entrepreneurial in the corporate environment, as a student, in the government (yes, really!), as a parent, in your church, non-profits, etc. Let's take the example of a student. In order to be entrepreneurial as a student, this could mean being more proactive in figuring out what you want to do, being more aggressive in trying to get scholarships, being innovative in designing a major or selecting double major combinations, being autonomous in your college decision, and perhaps risk-taking in trying out something new.

So, in what areas of your life are you most entrepreneurial?