The 5 Pillars of LIL
Our Leadership and Innovation Lab, or LIL, has one goal: to help students execute, elevate and expand their bright ideas.
Any successful business or organization requires visionary leadership, creativity, project management skills and a dedicated work ethic. If we’re going to enrich our students with opportunities to develop these skills, we first need a solid foundation.
LIL is built upon a 5-step process that guides our scholars through their entrepreneurship journey, from idea inception to business sustainability. We implement the 5 pillars of LIL to ensure each of the scholars in our entrepreneurship program receives the disciplined structure needed to see a venture through successfully.
To Learn
Young minds with million-dollar ideas are always eager to get started with drafting business plans and seeking funding. However, before we can act, we have to learn. Our mentors curate in-depth lectures that allow students to explore:
Types of leadership
Collaborating with partners and colleagues
Navigating shared ownership
For-profit vs nonprofit ventures
Bias in business
Team recruitment and management
Navigating negotiations
Marketing and sales
Various business formations
By making sure our scholars understand the basic components of entrepreneurship first and foremost, we can better prepare them for the responsibility of leadership.
To Lead
Certain aspects of leadership are universal. The ability to communicate effectively, the willingness to consider and implement others’ ideas and the humility to take accountability and learn new things.
These are all qualities of a respected and impactful leader. We’re all different people, however, with different personalities and strengths. Which means each of us has a different leadership style.
After learning entrepreneurship essentials, our students can start to understand their traits and discover their unique leadership styles. For some entrepreneurs, executing a creative vision is the best use of their skills. And for others, it’s best to delegate creative direction while they structure and implement business initiatives.
Either way, it’s our job to help students discover which role in a venture suits them best so they can know the best way to lead the charge toward building their new business.
To Build
At this stage, scholars start establishing an initial game plan to breathe life into their idea. With the help of our seasoned mentors, students will:
Draft and review a project/business plan
Work closely with mentors and receive step-by-step guidance through the initial stages
Consult with industry experts for real-world insight
While LIL students are taking the first tangible steps toward being entrepreneurs, we work closely with them to strategize pathways to the best desired outcomes for their ventures. By the end of the building stage, scholars should have the tools they need to grow beyond their initial ideas and create something real.
To Grow
Let’s consider this 4th pillar of LIL the home stretch. By the time our scholars make it to this step in the process, they should not only understand what it takes to be a leader and the essentials of entrepreneurship. They should also have a clear vision of what they want and a basic roadmap of how to get there.
Once we start this step, we can work on growing a real venture through workshops, networking and applying for project funding.
We start by brainstorming and fine-tuning longer-term ideas. In our group programs, students will network with each other and explore the potential for future partnerships.
We’ll also work on honing scholars’ ability to create or discern opportunities for their ventures to grow. Once these LIL projects have been planned, roadmapped, and nurtured into a full-fledged, tangible project or business, we can introduce students to the idea of sustainability.
To Sustain
The final stage of LIL is sustainability. Students will develop long-term plans to ensure their business or organization’s survival and success in the future.
We make sure each LIL venture is equipped with steady, documented operations and guide scholars through legacy building and planning. Our LIL mentors strive to set students up for success so they continue to thrive long after their time with us has come to an end.
These 5 interdependent pillars of our Leadership and Innovation Lab give meaningful structure to the complicated process of starting a business. By staying true to this process in each of our group and one-on-one programs, we can confidently offer LIL students a world-class education in successful entrepreneurship.