Do you have what it takes to be your own boss

Is being your own boss right for you?

Temperament vs. personality: nature and nurture.

As a background to this topic, let's consider the difference between temperament and personality.

Temperament is genetically coded into our DNA. It is set without much variation and it has a direct influence on the way we instinctively handle everyday situations, including those that occur without warning. It's the private face the world doesn't see.

By contrast, personality traits can be learned. Just look at actors, how skillfully they can take on the personalities of the characters being portrayed. Personality is the public face we choose to show to the world. It's how we would like others to see us. "All the world's a stage and we are the actors on it." Shakespeare.

To illustrate this point, think about an infant. At the start of life's journey, we see a baby with virtually no personality until a few years have passed. On the other hand, the temperament of a "strong-willed" child, for example, will begin to be obvious at a very early age.

The four temperaments model.

In a previous hub, I mentioned how to understand the money-making temperament as a means of forecasting the probability of success in starting and operating your own business. The basic question is, do you have what it takes to apply the drive, focus, and self-discipline necessary?

To provide adequate background, let's look at the four basic temperaments as they apply to the work place. This is by no means a complete study. I'm indebted to Dr. William Marston (1893-1947), an American Harvard-educated psychologist and lawyer. He is credited with inventing the first lie detector and was an advocate of feminism, which led to the creation of Wonder Woman for DC Comics. Rather than spending time studying aberrant human behavior, he devoted his brilliant mind to the exploration of the behavior patterns of "normal" people.

For further study enter the following web address: http://www.discprofile.com/williammoultonmarston.htm

Dr. Marston updated and modernized the original ancient Greek model (choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholy), instead applying more current terminology (Dominant, Influencing, Steadfast, and Compliant). In this article, we will be using different terms that specifically apply to the work place: boss, sales, personnel, and accounting.

Now let's construct a rather typical scenario with a brief description of how the four temperaments would likely start the day.

1. It's Monday morning on the job, and the boss gives you his customary one-word greeting and then asks about the status of your current project. Right off, his main focus is on the big picture of the work in progress because he is primarily task- and action-oriented .He would be competitive at times, and when challenged would say, "If you're not with me then get out of my way."

2. Now comes the outward-going salesman, who not only spends considerable time visiting everyone, but also suggests coffee to warm up to the challenges of the day. He will eventually start working but his main focus is upon people as a group. He loves an audience, is quite talkative because he is most definitely a "people person." Maybe an hour later he'll make it to his desk.

3. Then in comes the HR person, who stops and asks about family and all the weekend doings. You can tell that he is genuinely interested in your life situation as an individual, rather than you as part of a group. Ten minutes later he goes on to his daily routine. Here we see someone who definitely likes people because he is by nature relationally-oriented, the kind of person that you just take a liking to right from your first meeting. He could become your friend for life, one who will stand by you no matter what happens.

4. Finally comes the accountant, who greets everyone warmly but doesn't spend too much time because he prides himself on never being late and never missing a detail. He too is focused on getting the job done, and done right, because in a quiet, non-aggressive way he is very task-oriented. He keeps his checkbook balance accurate to the last penny. Give him a job to do and he'll find the most efficient way to do it if we just leave him alone. Others will often see him as being hung up on picky details.

Now in these examples, we see a rather extreme picture of the four basic temperaments. In actuality each temperament rarely exists in a pure form; usually what we find is a mix of two or more temperaments in various proportions. In addition there is another division between the two task and also the two people groups. Simply put, the glass is either half full or half empty. While most of us don't give this much thought during our daily routine we do subconsciously evaluate people and situations and we perceive our environment as having either a positive or negative effect on our inner thoughts.

Considering persons # 1 and # 4 described above, #1 will predominately see the glass as half full, saying to himself, "I can do it". On the other hand # 4 will tend to see the glass half empty. and find all the ways it won't work.

The same polarity exists between persons # 2 and # 3. The salesman (#2) will sometimes talk too much and too loudly, being overly positive in his ability to influence others. By contrast, person # 3 really wants to get along and will often go along just to keep the peace. He is very much a team player in contrast to the task oriented pair.

Mr. Sam: the prime example of the money-making temperament

As an example of a blended temperament, let's consider Sam Walton. He was an unusual combination of action and sales, oriented toward both tasks and people. On meeting him your first impression would be that of a person with great drive and a true liking for people.

He also did a lot of detailed homework in studying the potential of a future store location.

He took time out to fly many miles to personally visit a store and listen intently to the employees.

But his attention to detail also helped to cut costs without sacrificing quality and service. Mr. Sam even worked out the comparative cost between attracting new customers and bringing back repeat customers.

He was a rare combination of action, salesmanship, and details, or choleric, sanguine, and melancholy, able to see both the big picture and the small while appreciating the value of good employees. He was a firm believer in encouraging repeat customers.

Sam Walton would have achieved success at anything he put his hand to. One could hardly imagine Mr. Sam sleeping in till noon or taking two-hour power lunches. (This is true no matter whether you shop at his stores or not. All this was 35 years ago and some people would say that things have changed; however, that is a comment on the man's heirs and not on the man himself. Those who inherit a well-established business don't always share the same vision or qualities as the founder.)

So where do we fit in? By now we've realized whether or not we even come close to the temperament mix common to industry giants. Building and operating a business appears to be attractive to those of us who yearn to fire our boss, but there are hard questions that have to be answered. Success is never guaranteed.

If you aren't strong in the choleric action temperament, consider a partnership with someone who is. In your circle of friends, a high-action self-starter is easily recognized. You may have the know-how, or the financing, or patent rights to a revolutionary new process, and teaming up with such a partner would provide the spark to ignite the energy needed for startup.

For a more recent work on temperament analysis, enter the following web address:

http://www.temperamentanalysis.com/

Onward and upward through the fog!