You don’t need to be an entrepreneur navigating the risky waters of pitches and funding in Hawai‘i’s Startup Paradise to be a self-starter. In government agencies and corporate office environments, intrapreneurs look for opportunity within their places of business to improve efficiencies with a positive impact.

No, it’s not a typo. You read it right. Intrapreneurship is all the rage in today’s most creative corporate cultures. An intrapreneur is a person within a business who has the freedom to develop ideas, take risks, initiate projects and spearhead business ventures. While the term was coined back in 1982 in The Economist and has been used throughout the technology sector at companies like Xerox, HP, Intel and Microsoft to promote innovation, intrapreneurship is trickling down to the small business ecosystem. No matter the field, industry or role, intrapreneurs take initiative, find creative solutions and create impact for their employers.

 

Do you have what it takes to be an intrapreneur? Check out these words of wisdom from American Savings Bank CEO Richard Wacker, United States Navy Commander Richard Lebron and Hawaiian Telcom Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel John Komeji.

Intrapreneurship can also be called continuous improvement. The hard stuff that cuts across multiple groups or teams is what really makes a difference. —Richard Wacker

Connect with others in the company who want to accomplish the same goals. It will happen if the ideas are viable and people are connecting across the organization. Build a self-supporting group that will make a change. —Richard Wacker

Create a culture of creativity and employees become creators, not implementers. Create small teams to figure out problems. Use design thinking to become more empathetic toward each other and different silos, to understand how everything fits together and for people to be more innovative. —John Komeji