On July 30, professor of Entrepreneurship Andreas Widmer was a guest speaker on the Working Man podcast. Interviewer David Michael Phelps and Professor Widmer discussed Widmer's founding of the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship and the "gentle teachings" he received from Saint Pope John Paul II.
Person-Centered Entrepreneurship
Widmer explained how the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship was founded on the idea of person-centered entrepreneurship. Andreas defines entrepreneurship as “doing more with less" and that creating something from nothing makes us more like Christ: we imitate Christ when we create ideas. The foremost virtue of principled entrepreneurship states that the economy is for man and man is not for the economy. Professor Widmer notes that this idea should raise the question, “why do we do business in the first place?”
Widmer's Words of Wisdom
During the course of the podcast, Phelps asked the professor for some words of advice for students who are looking to pursue principled entrepreneurship in their careers: How can students maintain the concept that work can leads us to holiness? Widmer encouraged young entrepreneurs to explore their talents and build a team of people who can complement them well. By investing in one’s own strengths and creating a community of people who have different talents than oneself, an entrepreneur can live in humility and approach reality as it occurs. By getting to know each person, no matter their level on the totem pole, a person builds humility because they see each person as human. Growing in this humility early can help an entrepreneur greatly as they become more successful. It fosters their relationship with Christ and keeps them from being blinded by wealth.
To wrap up the podcast, Professor Widmer told listeners that his favorite question is “how may I help you?” He says it is the most Christian question a person can ask and that putting the person in the center of business is the holiest way to pursue entrepreneurship. "Holiness is not tomorrow. Holiness is not yesterday. Holiness is now."
Listen to the whole podcast episode here.