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Five Steps to Entrepreneurial Success - Personality Matters!

Written by: Bill Wagner

Article Overview: Bill Wagner, owner and CEO of Accord Management Systems, Inc., has been at the forefront of entrepreneurial practice and research for the past twenty years. His recently published book, The Entrepreneur Next Door, defines the personality traits that affect entrepreneurial success and explains how to manage the gap between who we are and who we need to be to get the job done. Bill is heavily involved in the franchise community, helping both franchisors and franchisees alike to “get the right people on the bus!”

Five Steps to Entrepreneurial Success - Personality Matters!

I look at my audience, a group of business owners, CEO’s and Entrepreneurs and as I begin my presentation, I ask the question, “Fill in the blank, I wish my employees displayed more . . . what?” The answer is always a resounding “initiative”, which is the exact quality that most, if not all entrepreneurs possess.

I go into my second question, “When is the last time any of you have missed a day of work because of illness? May I see a show of hands of those that have gone at least one year without taking a sick day? How about two years, three, how about five years?” What you can’t see, but based on many of your own answers, you know that, many of these attendees have gone years without missing a day of work due to illness.

I then ask, “How is it that many of us can go years without missing a day’s work due to illness, yet we have employees that can’t string thirty days together without missing one or two of them?” Everyone thinks they know the answer, we all laugh and we look at each other. The answer is that we are all wired differently. If our employees were hardwired like us, they wouldn’t be our employees, they would be our competition. Viva la difference.

As CEO of Accord Management Systems, Inc, a behavioral consultancy, our job is to first measure the personality or behavioral requirements for a given position, then match the personality of the applicant or incumbent to that benchmark. We refer to this as job-fit. I have been a student of psychometrics for the last fifteen years and have gotten pretty good at it. I am not only a CEO, but also an author and a researcher. As researchers, we oftentimes begin our study with a pretty good sense as to the desired outcome. The research for my book, “The Entrepreneur Next Door,” wasn’t much different until the publisher threw a wrench into the whole works. They didn’t want a book just for entrepreneurs but rather for those that desire the same opportunity of financial independence. The publisher wanted to determine what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, and since we had the database of thousands of entrepreneurs, I started looking at those that did not have the right entrepreneurial personality. That’s right, I began to interview those individuals that should not have been successful and I soon discovered two things.

First, the successful entrepreneur either had the right personality to do the job, or two and more importantly, they understood the differences that existed between who they were and what the behavioral requirements of the position were. They were able to manage this behavioral gap. This was the beginning of what I refer to as the Five Tier Performance Pyramid, also detailed in my book.

Tier I represents our personality. This is the least changing side of our temperament. Tier II embodies the behavioral requirements of a given position. As an example, what are the qualities that would one might want to find in an awesome leader? Such traits may include aggression, assertiveness, domineering, self confident, outgoing, warm, friendly, chameleon like, analytical, good with numbers, problem solver, driven, flexible, having a high sense of urgency, independent, strong-willed and a higher-than-average level of street smarts.

Each of these preceding qualities are more behavioral than skill-related or education and experience based. These are the requisite qualities of great entrepreneurs and business leaders. So what should you do if you don’t possess these qualities? Does that mean that you can’t do the job? Not at all. What it does mean is that you are going to work harder and experience more stress and frustration, but if you follow-through, you can be just as successful. Just be prepared for the toll it may take. One way to minimize this level of frustration is to understand exactly what the actions are that will lead to your success. I refer to these actions as Tier III of the Five Tier Pyramid. Actions are the specific plans that need to take place. Examples of actions for a CEO may include holding others accountable, and more specifically, looking at the sales organization and focus on each individual’s numbers. Do this once per pay period and follow-up with a one-on-one meeting with each sales person by week’s end. Let them know exactly where they stand and what they need to accomplish in order to grow with the team.

The actions represent our Tier III and the Metrics represent Tier IV of the Pyramid. Ultimately when we are able to achieve our results we have reached our Tier V.

Word to the wise, we can’t change our personality but we can change our behaviors which then allow us to accomplish our results. Sometimes the behaviors that are required go against our natural behavioral grain. Therefore, this level of change can be exhausting. When you accomplish your goals yet are exhausted at the end of the day, it’s a good thing because it is bringing you closer to your desired result. This may be frustrating but don’t give up as your entrepreneurial success could be right around the corner.

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