Shaping

Entrepreneurial
Mindsets
Presented by: Dr Noor Azuddin Yakob
What is Mindset?
A mindset is a cognitive belief system consisting of interrelated beliefs, assumptions and
knowledge that we use to process information, inform our decisions, and guide our behavior.

It influences how we think, feel, and behave in any given situation.

Our mindset is the underlying mechanism that can expose opportunities and ignite our
ambition, engaging our resources in ways that enable us to flourish and thrive.

Yet, our mindset can also blind us to opportunities and hinder our ability to learn and grow,
keeping us tethered to familiar, yet unproductive patterns of thought and action.
 • An entrepreneurial
What is an mindset is a specific set of
Entrepreneurial beliefs, knowledge, and
Mindset? thought processes that
drives entrepreneurial
behavior.
What is Entrepreneurial Behavior?
A specific list of behaviors that might support an individual’s performance in a
work environment, which significantly drives the performance of the entirety of
the organization.

It involves identifying opportunities and putting valuable ideas into practice.

It requires creativity, drive and a willingness to take risks.

 • believe in their ability to succeed and influence their own
outcomes, empowering them to take ownership of their lives;
• have compelling goals that keep them future-focused and
intrinsically motivated, driving them to be self-directed, action-
oriented, and highly engaged;
• have an optimistic interpretation of adverse events and see
problems as potential opportunities, becoming highly resilient,
Those with an resourceful, and solution-oriented even within highly uncertain,
resource constrained environments;
entrepreneurial • be lifelong knowledge seekers with a focus on micro-experiments
mindset tend to: as learning opportunities to test ideas, cultivating curiosity,
creativity, and critical thinking;
• display a high-level of reliability, understanding that following
through on simple solutions can lead to unforeseen opportunity;
• have a humanistic outlook, being other-focused and
understanding that one creates value by looking to solve
problems for others; and
• surround themselves with an intentional community of positive
influence and critical guidance
 It is important to note that successful entrepreneurs are
often touted as exceptional individuals; a rare breed who
seem to have been born with unique hereditary traits.

The But, the entrepreneurial mindset is most often acquired

implicitly without conscious effort or awareness, which may
Myths explain why it often appears to be a dispositional trait, even
though it is not.
An entrepreneurial mindset can be developed and enhanced
through entrepreneurial experiences.

To cultivate the entrepreneurial mindset, we must create

entrepreneurial learning experiences within our classrooms,
organizations, and communities.
 A Positive Mental Attitude

A Creative Mindset
5
Characteristics
to Cultivate Persuasive Communication Ability

Entrepreneurial
Mindset Intrinsic Motivation and Drive

Tenacity and an Ability to Learn from Failure

WHY IS A POSITIVE ATTITUDE IMPORTANT FOR
ENTREPRENEURS?
A positive attitude and outlook is a must for successful entrepreneurs as negative thoughts can
undermine forward motion and the progress of an enterprise.

Cultivating a positive attitude is about learning how to mentally reframe the responses in adverse
situations; positivity is what gives entrepreneurs the fortitude to weather the business downturns.

One way to change your outlook is to look a negative pain point and ask “How can I actively correct
this?”

By exploring your reaction and response to a perceived problem, you’ll soon learn to cultivate a
positive approach to change.

Positive people look to challenges as a way to improve and learn, so you should try to focus on this
skill.
WHY IS A CREATIVE MINDSET IMPORTANT FOR
ENTREPRENEURS?
• The adage “Creativity is the mother of invention” has never been truer than in the world
of entrepreneurship.
• Ground-breaking inventions would not have come to fruition were it not for healthy
doses of creative gumption - Steve Jobs and the iPhone; Edison and the light bulb; the
Wright Brothers and the airplane.
• The mind of an entrepreneur is always looking for novel ideas and innovations.
• The basic life cycle of any entrepreneurial product stems from the conception of an idea
followed by turning that idea into a viable product or service.
• Most entrepreneurs are inherently creative thinkers; otherwise, they would not be
inspired to take the innovative leap to create their own business.
• We can all learn to be more creative and to tap into our inherent talents.
WHY IS PERSUASIVENESS IMPORTANT FOR
ENTREPRENEURS?

• The best entrepreneurs are persuasive individuals as the power of

persuasion can help them negotiate, close a sale, or score a lower price on
the inventory.
• Persuasive people tend to be inspiring leaders, therefore they tend to be
stellar bosses.
• Persuasive communication skills can be learned and practiced and learning
to communicate and present your ideas will make you a better
entrepreneur.
 • Intrinsic motivation means you are self-motivated as opposed
to looking to others to push you to do things or hold you
accountable.
• Broadly speaking, those who own their own businesses are
incredibly motivated to succeed since they have poured
WHY IS INTRINSIC blood, sweat, and tears into their company, and may have
literally mortgaged their future to first open their businesses’
MOTIVATION doors.
IMPORTANT FOR • Having a lot at stake personally fuels the motivational drive
ENTREPRENEURS? and successful entrepreneurs know that staying motivated is
the key to running a successful company.
• One way to stay motivated in the long-term is to keep the
focus on the endgame, the big picture and experts say that
formulating long-range goals and plans keeps the motivational
fires burning.
 • Everyone is human, therefore, imperfect and
failure is inevitable.
• While success is wonderful, failure is where growth
and change happen.
WHY IS LEARNING • The key to learning from failure is to actually learn
and embrace your mistakes so they make your
FROM MISTAKES better, not break you.
IMPORTANT FOR • Your reaction to failure is what you make of it.
ENTREPRENEURS? • Do your best to remove the emotion from mistakes
you make as an entrepreneur so you can logically
explore how to better yourself.
• Failure can be your best chance to learn how to do
something right.
The Two Mindsets – Carol S. Dweck
Fixed Mindset
• People believe their qualities are
fixed traits and therefore cannot
change.
• These people document their
intelligence and talents rather than
working to develop and improve
them.
• They also believe that talent alone
leads to success, and effort is not
required.
Growth Mindset
• People have an underlying belief
that their learning and intelligence
can grow with time and
experience.
• When people believe they can
become smarter, they realize that
their effort has an effect on their
success, so they put in extra time,
leading to higher achievement.
How to shift from a fixed mindset to a growth
mindset
 6 Tips for Shifting from a Fixed Mindset to a Growth Mindset

1 2 3 4 5 6
Acknowledge Prioritize Know how you Focus on the Accept Never stop
your learning over learn best. process. constructive learning.
weaknesses. everything else. criticism.
Acknowledge your weaknesses

• No one’s perfect, which means everyone has weaknesses.

• A person with a fixed mindset doesn’t want to think about
what their shortcomings may be.
• However, to shift to a growth mindset, it’s important to
recognize and accept things that could be perceived as
weaknesses.
• The main reason for this is because you can’t change if you
don’t acknowledge that there is a problem.
• For example, if you’re a chronic procrastinator, it’s important
to recognize this tendency, so you can develop ways to avoid
this pitfall, such as breaking tasks into smaller projects or
establishing external rewards.
Prioritize learning over
everything else
• Perhaps not everything, but placing learning as a
necessity in your life is important.
• Instead of worrying about how others perceive you
and your intelligence, shift your focus from external
motivators to internal motivators.
• Place bettering yourself in the category of things you
do for self-care.
• This means devoting time to learning every day,
whether it’s five minutes in the morning or digging
into new self-help book right before bed.
 • There are many different learning styles, and it’s
important to know your own.
• It can take some time to understand the nuances
of your own, unique learning style, but once you
figure it out, learning will be easier and more
enjoyable.
Know how • Sometimes a fixed mindset or a defeatist attitude

you learn best has come from not fully understanding the best
way for you to take in information, meaning if
you’re not a person who enjoys sitting at a desk
all day, then taking classes where you’re required
to sit at a desk all day isn’t going to serve you.
• There are a plethora of quizzes and books on
learning styles, and if you do not have an inkling
of how you learn best, investing in one of these
books is an investment in your future successes.
Focus on the process
• Learning isn’t all about the outcome, it’s actually more about the process.
• For those with a fixed mindset, the goal tends to be the end product, or whatever is
to be achieved, be it passing grades or a raise.
• Those with a growth mindset live for the process, not the finish line.
• Shifting your focus from the destination to the journey leads to a more in-depth
understanding of the material.
• It can also lead to fun mental discoveries along the way.
• By the time you reach the end product, you will have learned tons more than if you
had focused solely on getting it done.
Accept constructive criticism

• A lot of people can’t handle criticism, and it’s a problem.

• Criticism is essential to growth, be it personal or in business.
• Of course, not all criticism will be helpful or done in good faith, so it’s
important to know how to weed out unhelpful remarks.
• Think of constructive criticism as a necessary tool for learning.
• Sometimes when you have an area of weakness, it needs to be pointed
out to you, so you can focus on it and improve.
• In some ways, you can think of constructive criticism as a gift.
Never stop learning

• Maintain a childlike curiosity about the world.

• With so much to discover in this world, you will never be
completely finished learning.
• Even if you finish one class, one book, or one project, it doesn’t
mean you’ve learned everything you can on a subject.
• Growth-minded people create new goals and new projects to
immerse themselves in topics that interest them, and they never
feel like they know it all.
Why Entrepreneurs Must Develop A Growth
Mindset For Their Businesses?

• With a little guidance and the right attitude, entrepreneurs can transform their
businesses into a profitable firm using a growth mindset, a skill critical for
every entrepreneur.
• A growth mindset is a belief that one’s efforts and those of other people will
lead to success in business.
• It does not matter if this path is an "uphill battle" or a" downhill sprint."
• A growth mindset encourages entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles and view
setbacks as opportunities.
Changing your mindset
To develop an
entrepreneurial mindset, Start by identifying which
Then come up with a plan
you’ll probably need to parts of your current
to make those changes.
change some of your mindset need to improve.
current thought processes.

This may involve changing By creating a vision and

your habits or developing acting upon it, you’re
the self-awareness to catch already one step closer to
yourself when you fall back thinking like an
into your old mindset. entrepreneur.
How Students Can Benefit From An
Entrepreneurial Mindset?
Initiative & Self- Flexibility & Communication &
Reliance Adaptability Collaboration

Creativity & Critical Thinking &

Future Orientation
Innovation Problem Solving

These are the life-long skills

needed by today’s students if
Opportunity they are to thrive and become
Comfort with Risk
Recognition the leaders and change agents
of the future.
Your future is
in your hands

Good luck in your

future endeavors
End of Lecture
Thank You