by Bill J. Bonnstetter | 10:00 AM April 1, 2013
Entrepreneurs are a unique group of people, but they behave in patterns. In fact, as I
recently wrote here on HBR,
my firm's research shows that most serial entrepreneurs display
persuasion, leadership, personal accountability, goal orientation, and
interpersonal skills. But in that same study, we also discovered a set
of skills they do not possess.
To rehash our methods, we assessed subjects identified as serial
entrepreneurs on what personal skills they possessed. Then they were
compared to a control group of 17,000. As before, this group was
assessed on their mastery of 23 practical, job-related skills. We
measured whether skills were well developed, developed, moderately
developed, or needed developing.
After analyzing the data, we found four distinct skills lacking in
most serial entrepreneurs, three skills statistically significantly and
one other also noticeably lacking. The statistical significance is
derived by comparing the lowest ranking skills to the entrepreneurs' top
skills, as evaluated in the first study.
Empathy is one of the qualities serial entrepreneurs
lack most. Entrepreneurs build things and solve problems for people,
but according to this study they do this in hopes of a return on
investment. Entrepreneurs may have high empathy on an intellectual
level, in that they want to produce a product or service that will help
someone. This is often, however, also tied to the entrepreneur receiving
a return for their time and effort, which people with high empathy do
not generally expect.
Entrepreneurial-minded people are not proficient in
managing themselves
and their time. In many jobs, managing personal day-to-day tasks might
take away from accomplishing larger company goals, which are critical to
entrepreneurs. Since entrepreneurs typically have many projects
underway at one time, they simply do not have time to micromanage each.
Often they need assistance managing everyday tasks and should hire or
delegate them to someone who has mastered this skill.
This leads to another skill entrepreneurs lack:
planning and organizing.
Similar to self-management, if entrepreneurs spent time planning and
organizing every task or meeting, they would never get anything else
done. Once again, hiring someone to keep their calendar, organize
meetings and events, keep the office de-cluttered, and help keep them on
schedule can put them at an advantage.
Entrepreneurs also do not excel above the control group when it comes to
analytical problem solving.
They have high utilitarian motivators (potential future gains, monetary
returns, new products or ideas), so their focus is often on making a
quick decision. They have a sense of urgency in decision-making, and by
nature they do not have time to collect and analyze the data. They see
numbers as getting in their way, and they should - everyone who has told
them an idea wouldn't pan out has used data and logic to illustrate
that point. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. stated, "
I have a dream."
He did not say, "I have a plan and strategy." Entrepreneurs have the
vision, but need to employ people to create an executable strategy and
carry it through.
Entrepreneurial-minded individuals possess a distinct set of skills
that lead to great leadership and ideas. Perhaps the skills they have
not mastered are equally important. With an understanding of those
weaknesses, they can compensate for them by surrounding themselves with
people who excel in these areas. As a leader, realizing other's
strengths and dovetailing them into your own weaknesses is key to
developing a team that will carry out your grand vision and achieve
goals.
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