A Story . . .

I was hearing about an instructor who was teaching about the entrepreneur personality needed to be successful.

He described an entrepreneur as being what some would call a “Type A” personality: outgoing, talkative, fearless, bold, etc.  What he told the class was that they needed to be a “Type A” personality or they wouldn’t be successful.  In fact, he told the class that, if they didn’t align their personality to be outgoing, they were going to fail for sure.

That analysis couldn’t be further from the truth.

The Entrepreneur Personality May Be Different Than You Think

Many excellent entrepreneurs could be categorized as being quiet, introverted, and even cautious. To say that they are not capable of being successful because they aren’t a “Type A” personality is just silly.  I know one highly successful entrepreneur who flatly refuses to speak in front of groups.  To avoid having to be in front of people, he requires his general manager to be good at public speaking as well as leading an organization.  Frankly, the arrangement works great.  The entrepreneur does what he does well – strategy and analysis – and the general manager mobilizes and leads the staff with his extroverted personality.

So if an entrepreneur doesn’t need to be an extroverted personality, then what traits are commonly found in a successful entrepreneur?  It may be worth considering these 10 characteristics which describe entrepreneurs as described by the Gallup organization:

The Qualities:

– Risk
– Independence
– Profitability
– Knowledge
– Determination
– Selling
– Delegator
– Relationship
– Disruptor
– Confidence

Do you have some of these qualities? Most people do.

If you’re trying to figure out if you or someone you know has the qualities of an entrepreneur personality, take a look at the Gallup StrengthsFinder personality assessment tool. It identifies dominant characteristics in a person from the list provided above and puts them in order.

This all sounds good, right? But why is an entrepreneur personality so important?

Know Your Personality

If you’re thinking that you might want to start a business or an organization, it’s beneficial to know the best entrepreneur personality for you. More importantly, though, is for you to know how you think and feel and how it relates to your business personality. It will drive your success if it used in the right ways.

In addition, you need to identify what areas are not your strengths. There is no one who is strong in everything, although some professionals are good in a number of areas. For those areas which are not as strong, consider the concept that you can either develop strength in those areas through education, training or other improvement resources. Additionally, you can look at finding outside resources who are better than you in those areas. That may be an advisor or an employee. Best yet, combine the two and accelerate the benefits of improving yourself.

Knowing who you are and what you can do are very important to your success. As an entrepreneur, it’s even more important to know yourself. Take the time to study about yourself and take an assessment like the Gallup StrengthsFinder. You will find that you will start recognizing opportunities for success, based on your strengths.