An EICAA partner's point of view

Entrepreneurial Motivation: What keeps you motivated? – TecnoCampus

I remember a professor at the University who said that everyone should come to the class attentive and motivated. He said that professors do not have the mission of motivating students, although they should not try to discourage anyone either. I think I fully empathise with that meaning. And I will explain why.

First, I understand that motivation is a predisposition of each one to behave in a certain way. And thus, the mission of the “motivator” should be to create the circumstances that cause the action rather than pursuing the effects. Indeed, motivation, from the Latin “movius”, is the cause, or the force, of movement, but not the movement itself. Each of us gets motivated in a different way and motivation gives strength to our will. Naturally, people act in accordance with their beliefs in what to do and the external stimuli that we obtain from our actions.
Therefore, the motivation finally lies in the substratum of our core values, our environment and culture, and in the end, in the incentive system that sets the “rules of the game”.

In entrepreneurship, motivation is a crucial factor to explain entrepreneurial performance. Entrepreneurship is action. Action requires will, attitude, conviction. Competences such as resilience or perseverance rely on motivation. The entrepreneurs may build their motivation in external factors, such as their independence, economic well-being, the power to decide by themselves, or the external recognition that they get from others. But the motivation also comes from internal factors, such as the aim of improving the community and making the world a better place. The entrepreneurial intention is built from a unique combination of these factors and predisposes the would-be entrepreneurs to really start up or not start up new ventures.

Corollary. If we want to foster our students to become entrepreneurs, we should think of how they can get motivated to start new ventures. Thus, we could think of generating an enriching entrepreneurial culture and good training opportunities so that they feel competent and get the adequate rewards. However, while external incentives might be difficult to control, the internal motivation to make the world a better place is always on their hands. Because, in the end, the best motivation is self-motivation.

Author: Jaume Teodoro (Professor School of Engineering and Technology TecnoCampus- Universitat Pompeu Fabra – Barcelona), TecnoCampus

Further blog posts by TecnoCampus:
Entrepreneurial Mindset: How do you get inspired?