I was reading a great article this weekend by Beth Jenkins in the Stanford Social Innovation Review on the subject of Social Intrapreneurship, which looked at how increasingly big companies are tapping into the entrepreneurial talents of their employees to make big social impact change happen. You may be asking, what exactly is a social intrapreneur? According to Beth, it’s an entrepreneurial employee who develops a profitable new product, service or business model that creates value for society and for the company they work for. It’s a fascinating subject and its good to see more examples of big business in Africa getting into this way of thinking. In fact, at Lionesses of Africa we partnered with the Liberty Group in South Africa last year to roll-out a series of Lioness Lean In sessions for intrapreneurs, to inspire and encourage their women employees to turn their innovative ideas into viable businesses and change solutions. It was good to see! Big business often underestimates the sheer depth of untapped entrepreneurial and innovative thinking amongst its employees. It would be good to see other big companies proactively championing their budding social intrapreneurs and partnering with them to make big change happen.
Have yourself an inspired entrepreneurial day! - Melanie