Inside the Minds of Successful Entrepreneurs

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?

Most people would consider that entrepreneurs are a rare breed of human and that successful ones are, to paraphrase Homer, as rare as wisdom in youth and beauty. Furthermore, many are sure such rare individuals owe their success to innate talents that enable them to tackle the formidable challenges of undertaking new business ventures. It would not surprise them if tomorrow scientists were to discover a specific entrepreneurial gene residing in human DNA.

However, recent research is demonstrating that:

1. entrepreneurship is more common than most think, and
2. that long-held stereotypes of entrepreneurial personality traits are probably wrong.

Considering these findings together, it is reasonable to conclude that lacking the mythical mental chemistry of a true entrepreneur – if such a thing exists - is likely no more than a gossamer barrier to one’s own success.

Not every child that takes piano lessons becomes another Glenn Gould, but that does not mean their playing cannot bring pleasure to themselves and others as a result of many hours of disciplined practice. Likewise, many business owners are successful at earning a living, paying off their mortgage and putting their children through college without becoming another Steve Jobs or Sara Blakely.

The Shape of U.S. Entrepreneurial Activity

Fourteen years ago, Babson College and the London Business School collaborated to create the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor – GEM – to study the characteristics of entrepreneurship in 10 countries. Today, GEM compiles data in 69 nations. Their 2012 report on the state of U.S. entrepreneurship includes these fascinating key findings:

• More than 12 percent of the general population is involved in entrepreneurial activities.
• Over half of all adults believe they have what it takes to start a successful enterprise.
• Nearly half believe that business conditions are favorable for starting a new venture.

These data alone demonstrate that entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial spirit are anything but rare. Every other adult in the U.S. believes he or she already possess the prerequisite traits to participate and succeed as entrepreneurs. Of course, the latter aspect could be viewed as an instance of the overconfidence effect, which finds expression in Garrison Keillor’s fictional town of Lake Wobegon, “where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” Nevertheless, it is apparent that the spark of entrepreneurship is glowing in far more people than can be explained by the requirement of rare innate ability in an exclusive group of individuals.

What Makes the Entrepreneur Special?

Why does the common stereotype of the successful entrepreneur, one who throws risk to the wind, possesses persuasive salesmanship and can see into the future, persist? For one thing, scientists and non-scientists alike have formed such perceptions over the decades by focusing on the most successful examples of entrepreneurs; the ones who made it big. Furthermore, their perceptions are biased by anecdotal evidence on how this thin slice of the entrepreneurial population achieved its successes. For instance, the data are often derived from the incomplete, decades-old memories of the entrepreneurs themselves.

More recent, objective research into the components of the entrepreneurial personality is painting a different picture. The professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at the College of Charleston, Kelly Shaver, has demonstrated that, at best, the differences between “normal” people and entrepreneurial types are subtle.

First of all, entrepreneurs worry a bit less about what others think of them, and secondly, nascent entrepreneurs have a slightly diminished ability to foresee all the pitfalls their new enterprise may face. Desires for personal and financial independence and increased motivation at work are shared equally between entrepreneurs and those who choose not to start their own business venture.

The Psychology of Achievement

As it turns out, the key ingredient in the making of an entrepreneur is not innate talent. As Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D., a social psychologist and the author of Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals, has written, “It isn’t even mostly about innate ability.” She asserts that measurements of a person’s business aptitudes, intelligence, creativity, drive and commitment fail miserably as predictors of a person’s achievements. Instead, such attributes should be viewed as pliable skills that are shaped by experience and one’s own efforts.

It is the nature of humans to form beliefs about their potential based on a perception that they have a fixed set of talents. Everyone has seen people slam shut doors of opportunity with a declaration that they are simply no good at such and such an activity. However, the key to shaping one’s own future does not lie in an assessment of what we think we can or cannot do, but instead in the level of confidence we have in our ability to develop new skills.

The Making of an Entrepreneur

Thus, anyone with a strong belief that they can grow new abilities over time has the potential to be a successful entrepreneur. On the other hand, possessing, a priori, innate talents that are seemingly requisite for entrepreneurial success are no guarantee that success will be forthcoming.

Instead, research demonstrates that choosing productive, objective strategies for your personal and business life provides the greatest chance at accomplishing your goals. Strategies that are goal-focused, avoid distractions, preserve commitment even during hard times and objectively measure personal and business progress are essential. Without such strategies, it is all too easy for the self-destructive effects of doubt, frustration and anxiety to germinate.

Underlying any successful strategy confidence that even if, at the present moment, you do not “have what it takes” you maintain the belief that with persistent and consistent effort you will. In general, this approach toward your life leads to improved coping with challenges and increased work satisfaction. In the final analysis, those who believe they can be entrepreneurs and make the effort to fill in the gaps in their present skills and self-beliefs are already well on their way to succeeding.

Bernhard S