Team members as entrepreneurs

We're in an era where every team member has far more potential to be an entrepreneur within their organisation. With AI tools readily available, building web sites and apps, and creating and testing them no longer requires a whole IT department or a massive budget.

All you need is a good idea and the willingness to experiment. In fact, all you need is the ability to talk about your idea and the machines will do the rest. Vibe coding was named as the word of 2025 this week. This democratisation of technology should be exciting. In my previous roles, managing teams of marketers and fundraisers, I can only imagine the fun we would have had with these tools.

But, I can also imagine the internal resistance. In fact, remembering back to the 2000s and the advent of social media brings back memories of brilliant ideas being squashed before they even got off the ground.

"That's not in the plan." "My manager's too busy to discuss it." "We don't have budget for that."

These phrases kill innovation. Those ways of working treat ideas as disruptions rather than opportunities. When staff bring forward solutions, they're met with bureaucracy rather than curiosity. We wonder why people become disengaged. We wonder why good people leave.

There's a concern I have, though. How to encourage this entrepreneurial spirit without it becoming exploitative? How to ensure that asking people to innovate doesn't simply mean asking them to do more unpaid work on top of their existing roles? How to reward people effectively and fairly for their ideas?

I'm not sure I have the answers but I do remember that what helped 15 or so years ago when we were all figuring out Facebook and Twitter and any staff member was able to be an external spokesperson. The answer then, as now, lies in clarity about what is expected of people in their day jobs, and what space exists for innovation. And crucially, ensuring people have time and support to develop ideas, not just permission to work evenings and weekends on them.

This is where leadership becomes critical. Someone needs to help the team function well together, to spot connections between different projects, to lead a business planning cycle where excellent service delivery takes place while also creating space for creativity. This is about ensuring that when someone has a brilliant idea, there's a path to make it real and that their innovation connects to the organisation's mission and doesn't duplicate or interrupt effort elsewhere.

What does this mean for you?

If you lead a team, are you creating the conditions for entrepreneurial thinking? Are your people clear about their roles and empowered to innovate within them? Do you have someone holding the integration role, making sure the team functions well together?

What are your thoughts on building entrepreneurial teams? I'd love to hear from you.

In October, I started my Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching course at Henley Business School. My plan is to focus my work increasingly on delivering one-to-one support, which I've always done as part of my consultancy, but I was keen to bolster the practice with the theory. Many of the techniques are familiar to me from previous work-based training I've done and it's been good to refresh my memory and invest in my learning. I'm also keen to be able to back up my client offer with accreditation from a professional coaching body.

As part of the training and to gain the accreditation, I need to do a number of coaching hours which I am offering either pro bono or at very accessible rates.

I'm offering this to you, Team Newsletter, first!

If this is something that you or a colleague might be interested in, drop me a line.

Useful links 🔗

Leveraging AI for non profits This online event might be useful.

Day of the Week 📆

It has been Trustees Week and I had fun speaking at the Festival of Trusteeship this week on a panel about building your confidence as a trustee. I first became a trustee over 20 years ago and have been a trustee and vice chair and NED of several organisations over the years. In preparation for the event I did some thinking about what I'd tell my younger self and it's that "You know more than you think and don't be afraid to ask a question because someone else probably wants to ask it too."

I'm joining a new board of trustees in 2026 - exciting!

What am I reading? 📚

We're just back from a bucket list trip to Amritsar where we visited the Partition Museum, the Vice Regal Lodge in Shimla where many of the meetings leading to India's independence took place, and Chandigarh, the new capital of Indian Punjab, commissioned by Nehru, designed by Le Corbusier, since Lahore, Punjab's pre-partition capital, is now in Pakistan.

I've got a long reading list to understand this harrowing history better and I'm currently reading Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire.

What am I watching? 👀

I do enjoy Traitors. And the Celebrity version's final was this week.

What am I listening to?👂

Building on the points about innovation above, I thought this was an interesting listen on flash teams, teams coming together bringing a set of skills necessary to complete a defined, time-bound task, facilitated by remote working.

The future of work as things become more fragmented and what that means for society does worry me though.

Joy-giving things 😍

Sri Harmindir Sahib, or Golden Temple, is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, open to all. Even though it has 150,000 visitors a day it is also one of the most peaceful and spiritual places I've ever visited, plus it has the world's largest community kitchen, serving meals to anyone who wants one, cooked by volunteers.

An incredible and wonderful place and I feel blessed to have been able to visit.

Wishing you an excellent weekend

Lucy

If it’s your first time reading this newsletter, find out more about me here.

I write this newsletter because I believe in sharing ideas that help us work towards a truly equal world, particularly in the workplace.

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ChangeOut is created by Lucy Caldicott. You can find more about my work at ChangeOut.org. If you’re looking to have a chat about culture, leadership, purpose, equity, or a facilitated team discussion about any of those things, get in touch. You can also find me on Bluesky, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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