To succeed in the modern competitive world, graduates and professionals must possess a broader range of skills, including 21st-century and entrepreneurship skills. Catherine Cote (HBR, Aug, 2020) states, “There’s no specific demographic or personality profile of a successful entrepreneur. No matter your age, race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or upbringing, you can be an entrepreneur if you have dedication, drive, and vital business skills.” Vineet Gupta Ashoka University Founder asserts, “Individuals need versatility, adaptability, problem-solving skills and awareness, among other things, to thrive in the competitive marketplace. Personality traits, soft skills, and hard skills are all crucial components and common with success stories of entrepreneurs and their ventures.”
Vineet Gupta further emphasizes that a few fundamental abilities are crucial in the contemporary environment. One such ability that determines whether an individual can handle complex challenges and prevail in them is grit. Along with grit, interpersonal skills, including working in teams and engaging with clients and investors, are pretty important. “It is best not to be an entrepreneur if you cannot work with people with diverse communication styles. Entrepreneurship requires a fundamental ability to connect with others and be adaptable,” he shares.
Ambiguity and the ability to deal with failure are crucial in the requisite entrepreneurial skillset. Entrepreneurs frequently have to deal with grey areas because there are no absolutes. Not taking failure personally and bouncing back demonstrates a person’s strength and will. There will be grey areas 90% of the time, and they must make choices and keep going. “Also, emotional intelligence and soft skills are critical and tough attitude traits that need time to develop. It gets built as a person grows up through social interactions with family, friends and peers.”, adds Vineet Gupta Ashoka University Founder.
Educational institutions can develop entrepreneurial skills through their curricula and programmes. Apart from Hard skills/ domain skills, effective instructors and coaches can develop students’ interpersonal and teamwork skills. Vineet Gupta further emphasizes the significance of these skills for entrepreneurship success. “I have observed several entrepreneurs who have a strong command over a language but are poor communicators. In Ashoka or Plaksha, we encourage student entrepreneurs to pitch to investors, faculty, and students, this hones up their communications ability as an entrepreneur, along with networking skills.” Colleges also help develop entrepreneurship skills through Sports, extracurricular activities, and events. These activities are essential components for developing grit, leadership and teamwork. Storytelling workshops, presentations, debates and projects are other relevant activities that allow for developing personality and interpersonal skills in the colleges.
Our Center for Entrepreneurship at Ashoka University organizes various entrepreneurship events with participation from students, industry mentors, and investors. These events allow student entrepreneurs to form teams, pitch their idea, utilize their domain and 21st-century skills, elicit support and work with industry mentors, and, in some cases, raise early investment money, highlights Vineet Gupta of Ashoka University.
