Dr Jeff Cornwall

Tag Archives: Inc.

Patience

Monroe Carell, former CEO of Central Parking,
talked to our students this morning about his journey of taking the
eight parking lots his father owned and turning it into the largest
parking company in the world.

It was interesting to hear him talk to our students about the
importance of patience, especially given the impatience of GenY that I
talked about in my recent interview with Inc magazine. He
believes that patience is probably the most important trait of
successful entrepreneurs. I agree. This will probably be the biggest
lesson that the entrepreneurial Generation Y will need to learn if they
hope to be success over the long-run.

The Virtue of Impatience

Thanks to Donna Fenn for the nice comments about our program here at Belmont in her article published in Inc about the entrepreneurial –and impatient — nature of GenY:

Now, says Jeff Cornwall, who runs the program at Belmont,
“it’s a whole new world.” Fully 40% of undergrads come to Belmont with
businesses already started — an astounding number. “So we try to make
learning so relevant to their businesses that they don’t want to
leave,” he says. “A lot of what drives them is impatience. They want
fulfillment and success and they’re not willing to wait 10-15 years.
They want it today.” It’s a trait that may make GenY difficult to
employ, but that could bode well for their future entrepreneurial
success. What do you think? Is impatience an entrepreneurial virtue?