On the corporate entrepreneurship panel, Cary Grace, Managing Director, Bank of America, used the acronym ACT to explain what she believe you need to excel as a corporate entrepreneur.

 

Alignment: She explained that you need to understand your strategic priorities and those of your company, your partners, and your customers. Many times in her role she is not only raising the bar for her company but also for the industry so she said that she needs to be clear about what she is doing and why, and understand how it affects all of the constituencies mentioned above.

 

Commitment: As with anything in life, commitment to a corporate entrepreneurial venture is a two way street. She suggested finding out who is committed to your idea in the broader company. She said that perhaps its not your boss…perhaps it's someone in your company that you would least expect. Identify your backers at a number of different levels. Build a steering a committee. Invite people to be on it that aren't 100% convinced of your initiative. They present your biggest challenges and often have the best ideas. Get your steering committee engaged, set your goals and timeline, and give them regular progress reports. They will ultimately be your biggest advocates! 

 

Talent: She insisted that you need to pull together a critical group of folks that you can count on to deliver. In a large company you will need to create a hierarchy so that people understand their roles but don't let it kill creativity. Create an environment that fosters open dialogue. Big doesn't mean you are top down…just that you need to be more thoughtful about how you communicate.

 

Lastly when Cary described herself as a corporate entrepreneur she said, 'patience is someone's virtue, its just not mine'. I thought that was great.