Starting and growing your own business
requires many skills to be successful. Take a look at the
business personality types and
find out what you need to succeed. Are you Bill Gates, a Visionary, or an
Improver like Body Shop founder,
Anita Roddick?
Your business personality type are
the traits and characteristics of your personality that blend with the
needs of the business. If you
better understand your business personality, then you can give your company
the best part of you. Find others
to help your business in areas you aren't prepared to fulfill.
There are 9 key types of
personality and understanding
each will help you enjoy your
business more and provide
your company with what it needs to
grow. This
entrepreneur personality profile
is based on the 9-point circle of the Enneagram.
Begin identifying your dominant
personality theme and understand how you operate in your business.
The 9 Personality Types of
Entrepreneurs
1. The Improver: If you operate
your business predominately in the improver mode, you are focused on
using your company as a means to
improve the world. Your overarching motto is: morally correct
companies will be rewarded working
on a noble cause. Improvers have an unwavering ability to run their
business with high integrity and
ethics.
Personality Alert: Be aware of
your tendency to be a perfectionist and over-critical of employees and
customers.
Entrepreneur example: Anita
Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop.
2. The Advisor: This business
personality type will provide an extremely high level of assistance and advice
to customers. The advisor's motto
is: the customer is right and we must do everything to please them.
Companies built by advisors become
customer focused.
Personality Alert: Advisors can
become totally focused on the needs of their business and customers that
they may ignore their own needs
and ultimately burn out.
Entrepreneur example: John W.
Nordstrom, Founder Nordstrom.
3. The Superstar: Here the business
is centered around the charisma and high energy of the Superstar
CEO. This personality often will
cause you to build your business around your own personal brand.
Personality Alert: Can be too
competitive and workaholics.
Entrepreneur example: Donald Trump,
CEO of Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.
4. The Artist: This business
personality is the reserved but highly creative type. Often found in businesses
demanding creativity such as web
design and ad agencies. As an artist type you’ll tend to build your
business around the unique talents
and creativities you have.
Personality Alert: You may be
overly sensitive to your customer’s
responses even if the feedback is
constructive. Let go the negative
self-image.
5. The Visionary: A business built
by a Visionary will often be based on the future vision and thoughts of
the founder. You will have a high
degree of curiosity to understand the world around you and will set-up
plans to avoid the landmines.
Personality Alert: Visionaries can
be too focused on the dream with little focus on reality. Action must
proceed vision.
Entrepreneurial example: Bill
Gates, Founder of MicroSoft
Inc.
6. The Analyst: If you run a
business as an Analyst, your company is focus on fixing problems in a
systematic way. Often the basis
for science, engineering or computer firms, Analyst companies excel at
problem solving.
Personality Alert: Be aware of
analysis paralysis. Work on trusting others.
Entrepreneurial example: Intel
Founder, Gordon Moore.
7. The Fireball: A business owned
and operated by a Fireball is full of life, energy and optimism. Your
company is life-energizing and
makes customers feel the company has a get it done attitude in a fun
playful manner.
Personality Alert: You may over
commit your teams and act to impulsively. Balance your impulsiveness
with business planning.
Entrepreneurial example: Malcolm
Forbes, Publisher, Forbes Magazine.
8. The Hero: You have an
incredible will and ability to lead the world and your business through any
challenge. You are the essence of entrepreneurship
and can assemble great companies.
Personality Alert: Over promising
and using force full tactics to get your way will not work long term. To
be successful, trust your
leadership skills to help others find their way.
Entrepreneurial example: Jack
Welch, CEO GE.
9. The Healer: If you are a
Healer, you provide nurturing and harmony to your business. You have an
uncanny ability to survive and
persist with an inner calm.
Personality Alert: Because of your
caring, healing attitude toward your business, you may avoid outside
realities and use wishful
thinking. Use scenario planning to prepare for turmoil.
Entrepreneurial example: Ben
Cohen, Co-Founder Of Ben & Jerry’s
Ice Cream.
Each business personality type can
succeed in the business environment if you stay true to your character.
Knowing firmly what your strong
traits are can act as a compass for your small business. If you are
building a team, this insight is
invaluable. For the solo business owners, understand that you may need
outside help to balance your
business personality.