Personality and skills play a key role in how you will lead an organization. The first step in the process of becoming an entrepreneur is understanding the value your skills will bring to a business. Self-awareness is key. Below you will find some resources to help you determine who you are and how you can develop into a successful entrepreneur.
Identifying Your Personality Type and Skills
My interest in personality types started in my master's program during a course about student development. Later as a manager, I used certain tests and books to identify my team's skills and personality to help them develop within their role in the organization. There are two tests I prefer. For personality assessment, Myers-Briggs is the gold standard. You can take it for free at https://www.16personalities.com/. The results on this site will give you an impressive in-depth analysis of your personality.
There is another test from Gallop called StrengthsFinder that helps you discover your strengths and innate skills. I highly recommend this for your initial self-assessment as well as team building once you have bought your business. Understanding the strengths of the team you inherit is invaluable in organizing the company to be most efficient and successful.
Which Personality Types Become Entrepreneurs?
Certain personality types tend to become entrepreneurs more than others. However, a recent study by the Myers-Briggs Company found that any personality type can be successful as an entrepreneur. The important factor was self-awareness and self-knowledge of your own skills and how they can help you succeed. A big factor in a person's desire to be an entrepreneur was directly related to their orientation towards creativity, autonomy, impulsivity (to a lesser degree), and risk-taking. I highly recommend reading the study after you determine your personality type. Starting on page 50, each personality type is broken down to show likely strengths as an entrepreneur and things that may present a challenge.
Leveraging the Skills of Others in Entrepreneurship
One way to increase your ability to be successful as an entrepreneur is to partner with someone who has personality traits and skills that complement your own. In my case, I am an INTJ, the mastermind. I excel at analysis, problem solving, and strategic thinking. However, I am an introvert, highly independent, and prefer to work alone. My ideal companion is an ENTP or ENFP. My husband just happens to be an ENTP, which made us a perfect match as business partners. He worked with the clients and did our sales, while I did human resources, payroll, and more back office tasks.
Look around at the people in your life you trust. Maybe you have a friend, spouse, or family member that would complement your personality. This website provides a great chart to find your ideal match.
One advantage of going into business with your partner in life is it can mitigate some risk. In our situation, my husband left his job to handle the transition period for our business. We made sure it was profitable and could support our lifestyle before I left my job to join the company. I was doing some behind the scenes work like payroll, but it was manageable with my full-time job at the time. About six months into our venture, it was clear the company could easily replace both our salaries.
Another reason to think about a partnership is to have someone on your side. Entrepreneurship is extremely rewarding, but it can be lonely at the top. Every decision is now on you. You are responsible for the success of an organization. Your employees are depending on you. The quality of the products and services your business provides to clients is on your shoulders even though you may not do the actual work or production side. It can be helpful to have someone else there who understands what you are going through on a daily basis and is in it with you.
In addition to helping you find a good partnership, these personality assessments will be invaluable for leveraging the strengths of employees within the business to create success. Finding the strengths of your team will help you organize the business in a way that is most effective. It's possible a current employee already has the strengths needed to develop into your star salesperson. A highly detail-oriented person could start handling invoicing or Quickbooks for you. Finding ways to better use your team will lead to a better run organization and more flexibility for you as the owner. These will be key in building a business you can grow and sell for a profit in the future.
Comments