In a few weeks we’ll be launching a new assessment designed to help you answer this question. We’ve been working with author-entrepreneur John Bradberry, whose book Six Secrets to Startup Success: How to Turn Your Entrepreneurial Passion into a Thriving Business, will be hitting bookstores in March.
We worked with John and his team to create the Entrepreneur Core Characteristics Profile (ECCP) that is designed to give you insight into 11 key personal attributes associated with entrepreneurial success.
John’s work supports that of others who have researched this topic, pointing out a high achievement orientation, confidence and resilience. What I found interesting about his approach was the identification of several “Icarus” factors, basically when there is too much of a good thing. One of those factors, for example, is independence. While it is good to be able to stand on your own, a successful entrepreneur also has to be able to engage others to solve problems.
You can read more about these “Icarus” factors on John’s blog.
The concept of strengths being taken to extremes and turning into ineffectiveness can be seen in many psychological measures. Those who score very high in Adjustment may seem cold and aloof. Those scoring high in Ambition compete with others on their own teams. Those high in conceptual thinking or inquisitiveness study problems without recognizing the need to act.
Why is it so hard for people with a strong uniqueness to manage it? One reason is that people recognize unusual differences, and that is often a source of recognition. For example: Joe is very outgoing. Or, Jane is a good problem-solver. Those compliments can lead to justified pride in something that makes us special. And over time that pride can be cement for a person’s identity.
Another key reason is that unusual traits often lead to a success. In my own case I have been known to have a fair bit of persistence. This tendency helped me get through several barriers along the way, including getting through graduate school and starting a business. But that same attribute had also led me to an early but spectacular failure in college, when I couldn’t give up on a medical career despite more than ample evidence that it was simply not a realistic option for me. I nearly flunked out of school rather than recognize that my skills were in a different direction. There is a difference between persistence and blind obstinacy, a nuance that is often lost on someone whose strength is the ability to keep trying.
There are definitely clusters of attributes that are common to particular jobs. In our next entry, we’ll review the research on a sample of 75 widely recognized, high-achieving women. These results show what they have in common and how they are different, in terms of what it takes to be successful, on either the corporate or entrepreneurial track.
