I strike a dissonant chord with blogs because one cannot experience the lessons learned by reading alone. Instead of simply reading, I want you to feel the Engler community’s experience musically. Please listen to one of my favorite songs, It Takes a Village, by Joan Szymko, before reading further. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVShZWwIrU4
There are many great individual entrepreneurs in the world. Their voices and ideas ring out proudly like the opening male vocalist in It Takes a Village. However, when a second voice – a second set of ideas – is added to the mix, the tone of the song changes. A hauntingly beautiful harmony ensues.
The same can be said of Englerpreneurs. There are many individually gifted people involved in the Engler program, but the strength of the program comes not from individual success. The Engler pillar of partnership and the collaboration of many individuals inspires greatness collectively.
Engler rallies and events like 3DS – organized by Engler’s directors and officer team – set the stage for collaboration and action. Similarly, the entire choir answers the call of the first singers, conductor, and instrumentalists. They seem to repeat the initial lyrics (lessons), then build on them with a stronger voice.
Later when the choir breaks into “hey hey hey hey-ah,” they represent the beautiful chaos of the entrepreneurial process. From idea generation to product development to the final sale, there are Englerpreneurs active in each segment of the process. The beauty of the Engler program is that we can learn from those farther along in the process and vice versa, resulting in a beautiful round. You can hear a harmonious example of this cyclical learning at the middle and end of It Takes a Village.
With so many different parts going on at once, you may ask yourself how these individuals work together so well. Fortunately, there is a simple solution in both vocal performance and the Engler program. The vocalists feel the rhythm of It Takes a Village internally and by pounding their chest in time with the music. If only one vocalist did so, the beat would not be strong enough to be heard above the chaos. It would fall apart. However, all participants work together to establish and maintain the beat throughout the song, demonstrating the power of community in achieving an objective.
Englerpreneurs are comparatively endowed with a fire in their belly – the heartbeat of an entrepreneurial song. By quickly identifying this fire in new Englerpreneurs and rallying its potential, the Engler community works as one to achieve common goals.
It takes a whole community to raise an Englerpreneur. It is all our burden to motivate and teach each other. We can all share in the joy of entrepreneurial success!