Personality characteristics of

successful entrepreneurs

09/18/20
Personality Traits
Strong need for achievement (Nach) McCelland 1965
• high achievers
• spend time considering how to do a job better or how
to accomplish something important to them.
• They actively seek out opportunities to take
responsibility and
• They welcome feedback on their actions
Risk taking propensity
• Medium, calculated risk takers
• Avoid high and low risk situations
• Ability to evaluate risk
Personality Traits
Locus of control Rotter
•desire to be in control of their own fate
•High internal LOC
•the achievement of a goal is dependent on their own
behaviour
Tolerance of ambiguity Schere
•have an open mind,
•respond quickly to change,
•need to know only the key facts
•have a flexible attitude
Personality Traits
Desire for autonomy Birley and Westhead
• high need for independence
• Smith- fear of external control
Determination
Initiative
Creativity
Self confidence
Trust
Personality Traits Chell, Haworth and Brearley & Chell
2008

• Opportunity recognition/ Opportunistic

• Entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE)
• Social competence
• Intuitive
• Innovative
• Imaginative
• Proactive
• Agents of change
The ‘Big Five’ based on Costa and
McCrae’s model of personality structure

Neuroticism Anxiety, angry hostility, depression,

self-consciousness, impulsiveness,
vulnerability
Extraversion Warmth, gregariousness,
assertiveness, activity, excitement-
seeking, positive emotions
Openness Fantasy, aesthetics, feelings, actions,
ideas, values

Agreeableness Trust, straightforwardness, altruism,

compliance, modesty, tender-
mindedness
Conscientiousness Competence, order, dutifulness,
achievement-striving, self-discipline,
Chell 2008 p.123 deliberation
The Personality Approach
Observations are that:
• Some personality traits can be acquired by people
• Some traits eg high energy, emotional stability are
innate
• Most entrepreneurs do not possess all of the ideal
personality traits
• The validity and reliability of personality scales are
questioned
 Desirable and Acquirable Attitudes
Timmons (2008) contd
Commitment and determination
• Tenacity and decisiveness
• Able to commit quickly
• Disciplined
• Persistent in solving problems
• Willing to undertake personal sacrifice
Leadership 
• Self starter
• Team builder and hero
• Share the wealth
• Integrity and reliability
• Superior learner and teacher
Desirable and Acquirable Attitudes
Timmons (2008)
• Opportunity obsession
• Have intimate knowledge of customers needs
• Market driven
• Obsessed with value creation and enhancement

• Tolerance of risk, ambiguity and uncertainty

•  Calculated risk taker
• Risk minimiser/ sharer
• Tolerant of uncertainty
• Tolerant of stress
• Able to resolve problems and integrate solutions
Desirable and Acquirable Attitudes
Timmons (2008) contd
• Creativity, self-reliance & ability to adapt
• Creative and lateral thinker
• Ability to adapt and change; creative problem solver
• Ability to learn quickly
• Rely on own judgement & lack of fear of failure
 
• Motivation to excel
• Goal and results orientation
• Low need for status and power
• Aware of weaknesses and strengths
• Have perspective and a sense of humour
Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
Kaplan 2009

• Passionately seek to identify new

opportunities
• Pursue opportunities with discipline and focus
on a limited number of projects
• Focus on action and execution
• Involve and energise networks of relationships
Entrepreneurs
• Experience success and failure
• Feel good about themselves, their work and
the potential rewards
• Enjoy a challenge
• Take pride in their work
• Find their work invigorating/energising/
meaningful
• Think the unlikely, do the unreasonable
 Cognitive abilities
 Westhead, Wright & McElwee 2011
• Information acquisition and dissemination
• Intelligence, ability with information
• Sense making
• Unlearning
• Implementation and improvisation,
autonomous behaviour, experimentation,
reflection and action
Entrepreneurs Cognitive Processes
(Palich & Bagby)

• Entrepreneurs do NOT perceive

themselves as being more pre-disposed
to taking risks than managers
• Entrepreneurs interpret equivocal data in
a more positive way than managers
– Strengths versus weaknesses
– Opportunities versus threats
Entrepreneurs Cognitive Processes
(Palich & Bagby)

• “What each man wishes, that he also

believes to be true” - Demonsthenes

• Entrepreneurs categorise situations as

having strengths and opportunities,
because the positive attributes, are more
salient to them
Entrepreneurial skills
• communication skills, especially persuasion;
• creativity skills;
• critical thinking and assessment skills;
• leadership skills;
• negotiation skills;
• problem-solving skills;
• social networking skills; and
• time-management skills.