While the inspiring entrepreneur helps to define the mission for which resources are created and consumed, the participating entrepreneur insures that all members of the closely-held enterprise have a say regarding this mission. She ensures that the personal aspirations of members of the closely-held enterprise are taken into account when this mission is defined. Like the inspiring entrepreneur, the participating entrepreneur strongly emphasizes community and commitment. Like the thoughtful entrepreneur, the participating entrepreneur also strongly emphasizes the importance of information as a vehicle for empowerment.
Like her assertive compatriot, the participating entrepreneur believes that people often feel good about working with one another when they are set free to begin work on an actual project and when they can learn by doing and making mistakes rather than by just planning or dreaming. While the assertive entrepreneur tends to encourage change and the thoughtful entrepreneur tends to slow down change, the participating entrepreneur often guides the change that naturally takes place. Ideally, she works closely with the inspiring entrepreneur by helping people deal with the fear and resistance that inevitably accompany any major change effort.
The assertive entrepreneur will shift either the organization’s definition of its current condition or its commitment to a specific desired state—if the gap is too great between the real and ideal. By contrast, the participating entrepreneur will encourage members of the organization to live in the gap, retaining both the realism of the thoughtful entrepreneur and the idealism of the inspiring entrepreneur. Living in the gap means acknowledging the hard work that has yet to be done in realizing at least part of the dream. The participating entrepreneur is likely to struggle alongside other members of the closely-held enterprise in reducing the size of the gap between where the closely-held enterprise is and where it wants to be.
