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Where did this pervasive sense of entitlement in our business culture come from? I’ve written about this before, but I was surprised again recently at a conference for startups when a couple of entrepreneurs started berating investors for their low rate of funding for early-stage startups. It sounded to investors like me that they expected a funding entitlement for their startup idea.
As a society, we seem to think we’ve evolved to the point where we can fashion a large portion of existence according to how we wish it to be. We notice what we like and what we dislike, so we work to make society match our dreams. Somehow, these dreams and wishes have morphed in many people’s mind to an entitlement.
In later-stage businesses, entitlement is evident when employees treat customers with indifference, or feel they are entitled to their job by merely “showing up for work.” Here are some examples of people rationalizing their entitlements, especially when the fantasy serves to owe them money or power:
Entitlement beliefs that are left unchecked lead to selfish, even more entitled expectations. Most psychologists believe that entitlement comes from a deep inner belief that the world is not fair. In some age group, this feeling can be rationalized as perhaps derived from an early life where parents gave them everything, and they now expect the world of business to do the same.
We’ve got to remind everyone, employees, entrepreneurs, and company executives, that true success and leadership is built on a foundation of personal responsibility and self-discipline. Companies which feel entitled about their position in the marketplace will lose, and entitled employees will kill a company.
Few things frustrate me more than dealing with people who feel they are entitled. Everyone shares the challenge of changing our business culture of entitlement into a culture of merit. I do believe everyone is entitled to pursue success. No one is entitled to be entitled.
Marty Zwilling
Martin Zwilling is the Founder and CEO of Startup Professionals, a company that provides services to startup founders around the world. See more details at www.startupprofessionals.com
2013-04-13 06:32:23
Source: http://blog.startupprofessionals.com/2013/04/an-entitlement-culture-in-business-is.html