We believe that most enterprises fail (primarily and permanently) because the people that grow them lack Entrepreneurial Resilience.

People usually attribute their failures to everything else. From lack of market traction, to inconsistent revenue. From unsound strategy to irreconcilable team differences. After years of coaching, strategizing and observing Radical Entrepreneurs and their patterns, we have concluded that permanent failure in these areas is a symptom of something more fundamental, more root: the lack of Entrepreneurial Resilience.

Our approach is “radical” (which means root) because it addresses this root concern.

Entrepreneurial Resilience is: the ability to be consistently present enough to identify our challenges, recognize what needs to shift, and respond effectively to any situation -- time and again.

Without Entrepreneurial Resilience, neither the entrepreneur nor the enterprise can mature appropriately. And entrepreneurial wisdom is never truly gained.

Well, developing Entrepreneurial Resilience is not a sexy or flattering process. It’s quite challenging. It requires a constant commitment to healing, learning and growing.

Most programs do not address the impact of stress, trauma and systemic oppression on our ability to be effective entrepreneurs. They do not consider how these areas affect our ability to dream big, to read the world around us, to respond strategically, to make sustainable decisions, to set attainable goals and meet those goals. Entrepreneurs generally lack the basic relational, emotional and social skills they need to mature and succeed as entrepreneurs.

We use the journey of becoming a Radical Entrepreneur as yet another gateway to healing (ourselves first and foremost). We embrace the journey of becoming an entrepreneur as a path of healing and self-discovery. In our experience, this approach is key to our ultimate successes.

We address both internal factors (through Inner Strategy) and external factors (through Outer Strategy) simultaneously to grow Entrepreneurial Resilience from the inside-out and the outside-in. Experimentation (what we commonly refer to as “failing”) becomes our friend. Mystery becomes exciting. Risk becomes fun, measured and affordable (especially for at-risk marginalized folks).

As we become more resilient, we develop the strategic instinct we need to make decisions and work with (rather than against) the unknown, the mystery of creation. This makes us creative, agile, adventurous and powerful. With Entrepreneurial Resilience, we are able to effectively respond to anything that emerges and successfully navigate the most challenging circumstances. We are able to mature and wisen-up and, by extension, allow our enterprises to mature accordingly.

That is the true power of Turtle. That is what we teach at Turtle Tank.