Venture cup 2010

 Entrepreneurship is very important for Norway and trough Venture Cup (in norwegian: venturecup.wordpress.com/) the participants get the opportunity to develop their business plans. Free advice and guidance of experienced entrepreneurs, business leaders, profesionell investors and consultants contribute to network, innovation and new ventures.

 

Venture Cup is being held by Start Norway for the tenth consecutive year. The competition started in Norway in 1999 and has since had several successful business plans that have created many new jobs.

 

There is a large potential market of entrepreneurs within academia and research institutions. Venture Cup Norway has a strong academic foundation in educational institutions and research units in the different regions it is held.

 

Venture Cup is much more than a competition, and the value for the participants is not only the potential rewards, but just as much the learning, the network of contacts and the experience that participants receive.

 

It is based on four main elements:

1. Education: It will be implemented practically oriented lectures by educational institutions, and students at some institutions may take Venture Cup as a separate subject. The lectures will cover the most important factors in establishing their own business.

 

2. Supervision: A network of advisers associated with Venture Cup. These guides participants in the process if desired. The advisers network will be able to give advice on specific issues related to patents, for example, tax, accounting, etc.

 

3. Inspiration: The kick-off and the two prize awards you will be able to come and be motivated and inspired by the lectures of experienced entrepreneurs and presentations of newly established businesses. The events are also good opportunities for mingling and networking.

 

4. Competition: The fourth element is the competition. The best business plans will be rewarded with cash prizes, and honorable mention.

 

This years prices are about EUR 36 000,- (nok 300 000,-) AND one year with a mentor for the CEO from The Norwegian Mentor Program, www.mentorprogrammet.no/english-info/

 

Speaking in Rotary

The aim for the evening was to talk about mentoring. I was given 50 minutes, and tried to use it wisely.

My topic was:

1. What is mentoring

2. What is a mentor program

3. Tools to use

4. What´s in it for me (mentee, mentor and company)

We used some time to get to know the terms and the meening of mentoring, mentee and mentor.

The responce was great and a lot of questions about how we can use mentoring f.ex. in schools. Bec

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se in Norway we have a lot of students dropping out at the age 16-18 years old. And they seems to think that mentoring could solve some of that problem.

I think it´s a great idea. A lot of the schools in Europe us mentoring for their students. And I don´t know why the different schools would like to try that.

My hope for the future is that they use the professors more as a mentor. And maybe then the students will stay in school.

Mentoring entrepreneurs

I just come a mentoring session today with 4 entrepreneurs within education. They are 4 girls and one guy (the last girl couldn´t make it today). I´m going to be their mentor, but in a formal mentoring program.

The business idea is to make training for small kids and sell it to schools and kindergardens. It is a lot fun to meet them because they are so enthusiastic and willing to do almost everything you suggest. So today we had a two hours session about their businessplan and a presentation they are going to have on the 22. of september.

I am really looking forward to meet them again and work more with this brilliant idea.

Go Phi, Wenche, Hanne and Erlend.

Rotary

 "Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to know how to feel, how to respond, and how to let life in so that it can touch you." —Jim Rohn

 

That is my key words when I am going to have a workshop at the Norwegian Rotary Organisation the 27. of september. And I will use mentoring as the great tool it is.

 

Read here for more information about AKersborg Rotary: www.akersborg.rotary.no/

 

If you happens to be in Norway and Oslo and wants to come, please join us at Grand Hotel, at the Limelight Bar. www.grand.no/no/Restauranter–Barer/Limelight-Bar/

 

Hope to see many people there at six o´clock, just after work.

The Myth of What We Manage

Perhaps it is merely semantics, but an underlying problem I find that people have, as it relates to the success in their life, lies in a proper understanding of what exactly it is they manage. Think about it. We have time management (in fact, I present a seminar on this very topic, some of which is excerpted below), and financial management, and relational management, weight management, career management, and many, many more.

The fact is, though, we don’t manage any of those things. What we do manage is ourselves and how we relate to those things. We don’t manage time. Time clicks by, second by second, whether we do anything or not. What we do manage is ourselves, and our activities, as the time passes. We make choices as to what we will do and be involved in. The problem as well as the solution lies not with time, but with us.

So as we live our lives and pursue success, one of the keys to grab onto is the idea that the most important thing we can manage isn’t a thing at all—it is ourselves!

How, then, can we manage ourselves? Here are some thoughts.

Make sure that the above is firmly ingrained in your thinking: I only manage myself. I can choose how I will act and react in every situation. Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “The history of free men is not written by chance, but by choice, their choice.”

Know your priorities. Do you know from top to bottom what your priorities are? Have you decided what the top 10 things are that you want to spend your time on? How about with your money? Only after you know these things can you properly manage yourself into choosing to live in line with your priorities.

Learn to say no with a smile on your face. Here is where most of us fail. We do not choose to say no to those things that are not a matter of priority (the reason why is another article, and probably a few counseling sessions at that). Someone calls us up and asks us to do something for them (usually because they haven’t managed themselves and would like our help picking up the pieces), and we say, “Uh, I guess so.” Then what? We usually kick ourselves for the rest of the day. “Why did I ever say yes?” Instead, practice this: “Gee, I am really sorry, but I am not going to be able to be involved this time. I am sure you will be able to find somebody, though.” Go ahead and try it right now. Weird, isn’t it? That is because we don’t say it very often.

Schedule your priorities into your schedule, budget or whatever structure governs that particular area of your life. For example, do you have a financial budget that you yourself set? Then do you first and foremost allocate your money in that way, say, at the beginning of the month? If you do, you will eliminate even the opportunity to blow your money on impulse decisions and expenses because your money has already been committed to the priorities of your own choosing. The same principles apply to your management of time.

Remember, one of the greatest gifts God gave us is the ability to choose. And we can choose to manage ourselves appropriately according to our priorities. As we do, we will find ourselves feeling less and less of the personal pain and frustration we sometimes feel when we are out of control and not managing ourselves based on our priorities.

by Chris Widener

On a bad day

The global banking crisis, big business bankruptcies and the share market plummeting, has hit some people hard. It can be easy to succumb to the doom and gloom of the media or become overwhelmed by events. This is when a mentor may step in with words of wisdom, a reality check or a huge challenge.

Having taken a multi million-dollar hit to his business, one CEO thought his business might not survive the latest impact of the global crisis. Telling his mentor what a terrible day it was and suffering the pain of possible failure, he expected sympathy. Instead, his mentor pushed a shift in thinking with a series of sharp questions: How many days have you been in business? How many terrible days have you survived? You have survived the loss of a loved one and rebuilt your life. Was that without pain? After that knee reconstruction, was getting back into sport without pain? Take another look at this situation, how might it just be the best thing that ever happened? There is always an opportunity for the astute during a downturn.

The mentor’s comments were not just spin, hype or motivation. There is truth in the saying: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Who in life cannot look back on an event that was terrible at the time yet shaped a better future? We are inspired by the para-olympians, stories of ordinary people who have done extraordinary things after suffering adversity and everyday heroes who act in the moment of catastrophe. In times of crisis a mentor will remind us of these simple truths.

On a bad day, a mentor will provide empathy rather than sympathy. A mentor will listen and allow you to ventilate your natural emotional response to events. They are non-judgemental and will understand how you feel about your circumstances but a mentor won’t play the pity party game.

A mentoring conversation is not about glossing over, dismissing or ignoring events, pain or emotion. On the contrary, the mentoring conversation allows you to confront issues, process disempowering thoughts and feelings and choose a new response.

The mentoring conversation focuses on stimulating reflection and action. Using questions that stimulate thinking your mentor will challenge your thinking to overcome blame, shame and negativity. They will help you put things in perspective, consider a different point of view and ultimately choose a way to move forward.

Ironically, the current economic situation provides a metaphor. The direct cause and effect of the financial misadventure in sub-prime mortgages is only part of the picture. It is the crisis of confidence in the financial market that may cause a ripple effect to grow into a tsunami. It is how people feel, what they think and what they do in response to any event that produces the real outcome. Panic or despair will exacerbate any crisis.

Likewise in life, it is not what happens to us but our reaction to what happens that produces results. Mentoring enables you to process thoughts and feelings and choose a response. A mentor’s cool head and a warm heart, skilful listening and powerful questions are the reasons why mentoring works.

Fortsett å lese «On a bad day»

Want to become a leader?

This weekend I am in Gothenburg doing a leadership workout for JCI Gothenburg together with my partner Kai Roer (www.bebetter.no and www.kairoer.com) and Karolina  Luna.

This is the main goal for the training is:

The exercise of leadership is characterized by who you are as a person, the experience and the self-perception one has, one’s desires and ambitions – and how one will emerge as a leader. Developing a self-understanding and regulate itself is therefore a key learning area for managers.

You will get help finding out what is the basis for your personal leadership, for it is through the work of your own leader-platform that you are your own leader developer.

Being a leader is about influencing other people, which requires that you understand how you influence on other people – what effect your behavior has. By understanding how others react to you and what you do, you can adjust your behavior so that you are more able to achieve what you want. Through workshops, courses and lectures, you will end up with a clear perception of you as a leader.

«Even a born leader, must go through a birth» Frode Dale

For Kai Roer and my self writing a leadership book this is very good. 23 young leaders in Gothenburg is attending and I expect to learn a lot from them too.

Our book is not a theoretical book, but more as a workbook. We have pointed out some theme which is important for a leader, and put up some empty pages for your own reflection, good tip and to be creative.

This is our themes for the weekend:

Juhari window

Different leaders from Gothenburg comes and speak

A lot of workshops and group tasks

Personality and DISC analyses within a team and how to deal with the difference

Want to join us? If you are in Gothenburg come in to us.

The Value Of Mentoring

Helping business start-ups is a rewarding activity for many retired entrepreneurs and (since selling his own company) it has even become the principal activity for Derek Barr, a business angel with a keen interest in early-stage ventures. Having grown his own specialist engineering concern into an international business, with turnover of £25 million, he sold out to international engineering group GEA in 1996.

Barr has vast experience in training and developing successful executives and his involvement with the London Business School Entrepreneurship Summer School goes right back to the beginning. He has seen the Summer School change in form and scope to what it is today. For him, however, one key part of the programme has not changed – namely the role of mentors.

JCI Gothenburg

Going to Gothenburg in the end of march for training. It’s a training in leadership, personal leadership. What kind of tools do I got and how to use them.

I will post program soon and some pictures to from the two days training.

— Post From My iPhone

5 Benefits of Working with a Coach or Mentor

Being a leader can be a really lonely existence.  Expectations are high and it can often be a real struggle to stay on top of your game and continually deliver great results.
Continuing to develop as a leader has never been so vital not least because of the major challenges facing many organisations right now.

For those at a more senior level working with a coach or mentor is often a great way of continuing to develop.  So what are the benefits?

Benefit 1: Thinking time

The pace at which leaders operate in organisations is often relentless and means that there is little or no time to stand back and take stock.  Being able to stand back from issues and challenges allows you to clearly think through the choices, look at challenges in different ways and ultimately to take better decisions.  And if you are taking better decisions it means better results for you personally and the organisation.

Benefit 2: Ongoing support

Training is great and I have been to many great training courses over the years.  Trouble is most training courses are a one shot opportunity.  What I mean by that is that you go along to the course, leave enthusiastic and an few months later find you are back where you started.  If you are a leader looking to be more effective over the long term you know that it is going to take time.  Having that ongoing support can help you make that sustained change in performance.

Benefit 3: Personal attention

In my experience of working with clients there are often some very specific areas of focus that leaders and managers want to work on.  Sometimes it might be about strategies and tactics that they can apply and other times it might be tackling areas of self doubt or misconceptions.  I also notice that they rarely need to work on all aspects of a particular topic but more on one or two areas.   The nature of the relationship means that it is much easier to tailor the programme to meet specific needs.

Benefit 4: Highly time efficient

I know that when I was in leadership and management roles, creating the time to attend a 2 or 3 day course was often a real challenge.  By comparison finding a couple of hours a month to work with a coach was much more time efficient and effective.

Benefit 5: Return on Investment

Ultimately if you are investing time, money and energy into something the return on what you have invested will be important.  Research into the benefits of coaching indicates that the return on investment is in the region of 500-700%.  Now these numbers might well look huge but let’s take a look at an example.  Imagine you are a senior manager who aspires to be a Director.  Ask yourself what’s the difference in salary and benefits?  In a field like accountancy, the differential between a number one and number two can easily be in the £30-50,000 per annum range.  If you are in the number one job for say 10 years, that could mean an extra £300-£500,000 to your earnings.  So look at your investment in terms of the lifetime value.

Bottom Line – Continuing to develop as a leader is no longer an optional extra.  If you are serious about realising your professional and personal potential, working with a coach or mentor might just be the catalyst.