Leadership in a start-up: thought leadership, leading people and propagating entrepreneurial mindsets

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Abstract

This article presents an in-depth qualitative research study of nine entrepreneurs. It explores their approaches to leadership as they develop their start-ups. With reference to the processes involved in envisioning and pioneering with new products and services in new markets, entrepreneurship is found to involve thought leadership. In addition, entrepreneurship requires leading people in a way that encourages entrepreneurial mindsets throughout the new firm so as to harness talent and skills that will shape and inform the offering and the overall vision for the firm. The paper includes the development of a theoretical model that exhibits the components involved in entrepreneurial leadership in the start-up context. It also outlines implications for practice that suggest that both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards for recruits to a start-up are important. The key contributions of the research are that distribution of entrepreneurial mindsets throughout start-ups rather than traditional top-down approaches to leading, can facilitate meaningful and value-adding contributions in new entrepreneurial firms.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Review of Entrepreneurship
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 18 Jan 2023

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