News

Leslie Hielema President Orlando, Inc.

Throughout 2010, chief executives across the Central Florida Region share their views on a variety of issues and topics in the monthly business news magazine, FirstMonday.  Republished here for our Every Monday readers, we invite you to take a look at their thoughts.

In the July issue of FirstMonday, Leslie Hielema, President of Orlando, Inc., shares her thoughts on the Power of Synergy.  Orlando, Inc., (Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce) is a line of business of the Central Florida Partnership.

Growing up, my father was a real estate entrepreneur.  When my brother was just a few months old, my dad posed him for a picture with “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill across his lap. This was a life changing book for my dad and stimulus for growing a successful company. My mother was working on her degree in psychology and took me to participate in her class on transcendental meditation which was intended to enable one to contact their field of creative intelligence, permitting one to realize the full potential of their lives.

This was heady information at a young age, so between Napolean Hill and Transcendental Meditation, I had the basis for believing in the power of being your own boss and that your thoughts strongly influenced your life. 

In “Think and Grow Rich,” I was attracted to the idea of forming a Mastermind group that served as a group of trusted advisors.  Hill stated that the human mind is a form of energy and when the minds of two people are coordinated in the spirit of harmony, the spiritual units of energy of each mind form an affinity.  Hill talked about great entrepreneurs such as Andrew Carnegie and Andy Grove of Intel who had Mastermind groups. 

Hill believed that when a group of individual minds are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through the alliance becomes available to every individual in the group. This became a definition of synergy which I first experienced at AT&T Bell Labs. I was energized by the power of brainstorming together, the lack of attachment to one’s own idea, and being part of creating something bigger. Great thinking came out of the world renowned institution because of the synergy.

Throughout my career, I was always seeking this type of collaborative environment.  I found it again when I arrived in Orlando, a place of connectedness, of coordination, of collaboration.  It seems that this is a place that embraces “creating a bigger pie, rather than taking a bigger slice.”  

It is apparent that entrepreneurs all over Central Florida want to help one another succeed. I see this with the Board of Directors of Orlando, Inc., with other successful entrepreneurs, and with the entrepreneurial support organizations that exist to help others grow their business. 

This commitment to our community was present at the Orlando, Inc. event, The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, where we discussed resources available to entrepreneurs such as the UCF Business Incubation Program, GrowFL, Rollins Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship, Florida Virtual Entrepreneur Center, Black Business Initiative Fund and the Disney Entrepreneur Center.

I saw this desire to connect and collaborate at our Cool Tech Showcase where tech entrepreneurs helped businesses understand how to leverage technology for business advantage. We discussed social media success strategies, use of mobile marketing and iphone apps, cloud computing, and websites for the international marketplace,  to name a few.  So at this sold out event, I donned my dork glasses, the horn rimmed ones with the tape in the middle, in celebration of geeks everywhere.  Growing up, I did not have tape to hold my glasses together, but a very large safety pin on the side.

The B.I.G.* Summit on November 18th, celebrating Business Innovation and Growth, is another example of entrepreneurial connectedness. The Summit focuses on learning from other entrepreneurs, people who have been there and done that. Last year, we had the opportunity to hear from Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com. His company was purchased by Amazon last year and valued at over a $1B. We all listened intently as he told us how he built his company, selling shoes on the internet, based on the philosophy of “Delivering Happiness.”  I know that everyone walked away with valuable nuggets that they were able to use in their business.

This year, we have many great entrepreneurs scheduled to speak at The B.I.G. Summit and our keynote speaker is Bert Jacobs, Chief Executive Optimist, of Life is Good.  Bert and his brother have built a multi-million dollar international business based on a philosophy of “Spreading the Power of Optimism.”

I know that as a community, we are on the right path. We are cultivating the synergy needed to generate new ideas and foster innovation.  We have leaders that believe we can only achieve greatness by putting our minds together.  To have success, according to Kauffman Foundation, the world’s largest foundation devoted to Entrepreneurship, we need to have in place:

1. Pro-entrepreneurial policies, taxes and legal infrastructure

2. A culture that is open to new ideas

3. Entrepreneurial training, mentoring, and networks

4. Strong educational and research systems

5. Great amenities

6. Infrastructure and transportation

With strong universities and colleges, committed entrepreneurial support organizations and specialists, sunshine and beaches, sport and art centers, SunRail and high speed rail and, of course, a “Five Star” Chamber of Commerce, we are positioned to become a B.I.G.* entrepreneurial hot spot.

* Business Innovation and Growth

Stay tuned for future insights and opinions from these key community leaders who are helping to make Central Florida strong.

Central Florida Partnership - Ideas to Results
Improving Central Florida’s economic vitality and quality of life by focusing on transportation, public policy advocacy, regional leadership, entrepreneurial growth and regional planning.  

Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce
Shaping our community’s future by focusing on what matters to the millions of people who call Central Florida home.     Your business.  Your community.  Your future.  Your chamber.  

For additional information, visit:
www.centralfloridapartnership.com
www.orlando.org