The literature on entrepreneurship has moved from early analysis of the characteristics of the entrepreneur to a wider understanding of the interactions of the individual with their environment. That is, success depends not only on the personality and skills of the entrepreneur themselves, but also on the social network they find themselves in (or intentionally develop). A new enterprise flourishes or fails depending on a complex milieu of factors. As educators at a faith-based school, we have found a pedagogical approach to be helpful that links individual and community characteristics in a natural way to which students can relate: through virtues. This approach can attract students to entrepreneurship who want to make a difference in the world, where they might not seek out the topic for the more typical reasons, such as the chance to create something new or the chance to get rich. First, we begin with an overview of the relationship between the individual and the community, including a review of the literature, focusing on the transition from personal characteristics of entrepreneurs to the broader understanding of the entrepreneur in situ. Second, we propose a new way to think of the innovation cycle, based on the virtues of creativity, diligence, and wisdom, which are informed by other virtues, such as compassion, justice, and stewardship. Finally, we consider practical pedagogy and case studies (including experiences of our student author) to teach entrepreneurship using the virtues, which may help faculty to move beyond simple teaching of skills towards a positive influence to increase student entrepreneurial behavior.
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