Unleashing the Intrapreneuer
Changing the Face of Corporate America One Millennial at a Time
This book is a valuable manual for any millennial interested in career improvement and advancement.
Unleashing the Intrapreneur by Debbie Wooldridge is a smart, concise, action-oriented guide designed to help millennials succeed in the workplace.
Through her firm’s research, corporate trainer Wooldridge learned a surprising fact: “an overwhelming majority” (seventy percent) of workers between the ages of twenty and thirty-four are employed by companies, while only six percent are working as entrepreneurs.
This led her to slant her book toward teaching millennials how to be effective “intrapreneurs”—company employees who can act with the same mindset as entrepreneurs. The concept makes sense, not only because it encourages expansive thinking on the part of millennials, but also because employers benefit from gaining motivated, enthusiastic employees who can work autonomously.
Wooldridge’s goal is to lay the groundwork for becoming an intrapreneur, which she skillfully accomplishes using her own workplace experience as a basis. The first part of the book covers two standard components of achieving success on the job as well as in life: establishing a vision and setting goals. The second part focuses squarely on working environments, addressing such issues as how to communicate, how to work effectively as part of a team, how to grow into a leader, and how to learn from failure. The third part discusses the intersection of work and life, with sections on volunteering, work-life balance, and making an impact on one’s own life and the world.
What is most impressive about Unleashing the Intrapreneur is not necessarily its content, but the manner in which it is delivered. It is written in a very appealing voice, capturing the informality and abbreviated style of millennials without sacrificing the quality of the message.
Short chapters include photos of millennials with lists of key points, which are a nice way to visually reinforce the content; anecdotes clearly written about millennials; inspirational quotes; and relevant activities with instructions for how to complete them. Activities such as “Engaged Listening” show how to process and help solve a coworker’s problem, while “Leading a Team” involves a self-assessment questionnaire to determine leadership readiness. These activities should prove especially useful to those with limited intrapeneurial experience.
Wooldridge takes a positive approach without being preachy. Her list of “characteristics of game changers,” for instance, includes such key qualities as “passionately believe in your vision,” “be bold,” and “take charge.” There is a great deal of strength in the simplicity of her message.
Similarly, tips for “going from reactive to proactive,” such as “assume best intentions,” “be empathetic,” and “listen reflectively” seem obvious, but go a long way toward shaping good corporate behavior. Her stories are meaningful as well. In a story about marketing specialists Mike and Melanie, for example, Wooldridge starkly contrasts actions taken by the proactive, intrapreneurial Mike with those taken by Melanie, who “waits for others to make changes and then tackles the work created by the change.”
Unleashing the Intrapreneur is well targeted to millennials and is informative yet entertaining. This book is a valuable manual for any millennial interested in career improvement and advancement.
Reviewed by
Barry Silverstein
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
