How Entrepreneurs Can Make the Most of Their Personality Type
Have you ever worked with someone who has entirely different motivators than you? They are great at getting work done for other people but can’t seem to uphold their own goals. Or conversely, they have no interest in other people’s requirements and only do what they think is best.
Gretchen Rubin’s book The Four Tendencies identifies four personality types (or tendencies) based on how people react to external and internal motivators.
She explains when these tendencies thrive and when they can cause difficulties or conflict. She also identifies strategies to make the most of your personality type, both when working independently and while engaging with others.
While this book wasn’t written specifically for entrepreneurs, it does have some valuable takeaways that you can apply to your business.
Making the Most of Your Tendency as an Entrepreneur
The Upholder
Upholders are people who easily uphold external and internal obligations. They follow rules to a T— both those imposed on them by the outside world and those they create for themselves.
Because upholders are great at adhering to expectations, they can thrive as entrepreneurs. They don't need anyone looking over their shoulder to stay on task.
However, upholders can have a hard time breaking a routine or process, even if they realize what they’re doing isn’t moving their business forward.
If you are an upholder, make sure to schedule regular “are my processes working?” review sessions, and create a rule to stop doing activities that aren't adding to the growth of your business. Otherwise, you could get stuck in a loop of useless activities, avoiding new opportunities because you don't have time to take them on.
The Questioner
Questioners are very good at upholding their own standards and executing tasks they want to do, but question directions or rules from outside sources. They do a lot of their own research and want to find the best solution to every problem. If they don’t see the logic in a law, advice from a professional, or instructions from a boss, then they will do their own thing ignoring the requirements of others.
Questioners can be amazing entrepreneurs because they are self-motivated and refuse to accept the status quo. However, they can get stuck in research mode looking for the perfect answer. And once questioners make a decision, they are so certain they’re right, it can be hard to acknowledge negative results and change course.
If you are a Questioner, to avoid getting stuck in research purgatory, set a research deadline and stick to it. You can also remind yourself that trying a new strategy or resource is part of the research process. This will allow you to move forward into the actionable experiment phase, while also giving yourself permission to change your mind later if that experiment doesn’t work out.
The Obliger
Obligers are exceptional at upholding other people’s wants and requests but have a very hard time following through on things they want to do for themselves.
Obligers can be great entrepreneurs because they have a strong inclination to take care of their customers and staff. However, they have difficulty with self-motivation. If something needs to be done that doesn’t directly affect others, like writing a blog post or doing the bookkeeping, they can struggle.
If you are an Obliger, you need to create external accountability systems. If you want to write a weekly blog post, make a promise to your subscribers that they will get a weekly educational email. Then you will feel obliged to finish your writing each week.
If you want to keep your books up-to-date, tell your bookkeeper that you will send your receipts at the end of each week, and ask them to follow up with you if you don’t get it done.
Believing that someone else will be let down if you don’t follow through will give you the motivation you need to get your work done.
The Rebel
Rebels are people who don’t like rules and requirements whether they are set by others or by themselves. They do what they want when they want.
Rebels often become entrepreneurs because they don’t want anyone controlling their decisions. And while their free spirit mentality can help them see opportunities others might not consider, they struggle with maintaining schedules and doing mundane tasks.
If you are a rebel entrepreneur, you will probably need a cofounder or employee to execute the ideas you create. Because your customers, vendors, and partners will have regular expectations of you, trying to run a business on your own is unlikely to lead to success. Find an Obliger or Upholder who will gladly meet the outside world’s expectations, so you can focus on creating the next great idea.
The Four Tendencies: Small Business Book Review
While I always approach this type of book with some skepticism (can the entire world really be classified into just four groups?), I did find many of the arguments compelling and useful.
Rubin’s reflections on the pros and cons of each tendency and how those tendencies can work together is quite valuable.
However, this book was not written directly for business, and there is a lot that you can skip over if you are reading just from a business perspective.
I give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars for small business owners. It’s not going to change your life or your business, but it’s a fun read and there are some valuable takeaways you can apply to your daily work life.
