9 Key Entrepreneur Personality Types

The better you know yourself the more likely you are to find your purpose, achieve your goals and enjoy your life. You will also work better with other people because you will have empathy for the differences. Yet the vast majority of the population quickly settle for a life less ordinary, doing things they don’t like and end up in a trap made by them, not anyone else. One of the key similarities in ALL entrepreneurs is a hunger that burns for more. More experience, more ideas. More life. With these similarities , here are also a myriad of different personality traits. Which do you most identify with?

KEY ENTREPRENEUR PERSONALITY TYPES

The 4 DISC profile types are:
  • Dominant
  • Inspiring
  • Supportive
  • Cautious
Each participant in our masterminds completes a DISC profile. It’s impossible to completely match 8 strangers into a virtual Mastermind but know the DiSC profile does give us an extra piece of the jigsaw and allow us to create some balance within each pod. Most mastermind groups I’ve run you will find one of those 4 types (based on Enneagram):

1.Dominant (Achiever type)

They are efficient, but not effective. Work alone. a dominant or achiever personality enjoys solitude and works alone Enjoy the solitude and peace and quiet. Process and results driven. Used to working autonomously.  Confident in all their decisions. Accountability requirements – They need spreadsheets, goal setting, shaming/guilting (it works on only this type), bets, encouragement in celebrating any wins, help with longer-term planning, setting a vision. They need help with strategy, tactics, tricks, knowledge. Sometimes ethics – they tend to do whatever is necessary and sometimes can cross the ethical line (spamming, using shady tactics, etc). They don’t need a coach, they need someone that is more of an advisor/mentor.

2. Cautious Investigator type

an investigator personality do over research They are effective, but not efficient. Also tend to work alone. They over-research to the point where they know everything there is to know about a subject (subject matter experts) Accountability requirements: They need help in removing mindset blocks (perfectionism, ethical dilemmas, fear of failure is a big one) by making them focus on short-term goals, building key habits, creating systems to follow. Break it down to step-by-step and don’t let them think about step 7 until they’ve completed step 6. They need a coach, not a mentor/advisor.

3. Supportive type

They are all about the community and building relationships. Accountability requirements – translate their goals into “relationships.” Things that help a lot is group goals, pairing them together to help each other, let them talk and advise each other, celebrating each others wins, removing mindset blocks ( fear of success, fear of isolation, fear of criticism). Have them follow the steps, otherwise they are all over the place. suppportive type of personality are concerned about relationshipsThey need a group leader (sometimes that’s you, sometimes it’s one of them, and you’re just a trusted advisor).

4. Inspiring type

They are all about the big ideas and community Accountability requirements – translate their goals into “usable visions” others can follow. Pairing them together to help cautious type, let them show not tell, lead not follow, removing too many projects, fear of missing out (FOMO), fear of rejection. Have them lead, otherwise, they get bored easily. inspiring personality are natural leaders They are natural group leaders (but may initially get overawed by the Dominant profile and defer) . Preferring to lead by example rather than by title.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Now you know more about the different groups how does this help you or your Mastermind tribe? Every group has many types. I’m talking about how the group “feels” and responds. It’s best if you adapt to each individual, but it’s much harder and more time-consuming. Obviously, that’s just one of many factors. For example, groups that contain the enthusiastic chatty people look to encourage the quiet ones to open up. Groups that contain the investigator type find an accountability buddy to get them to focus on their tasks and goals rather than obsessing over the details. Groups that contain the “Achiever type” encourage them to become more social and open to the benefits of collaboration. To know your yourself it to know your worth, and the key to unlocking your true potential. There is no problem until a question is asked. If you don’t know your personality traits then you might not fully understand your strength,you probably do, but more importantly your weaknesses (Lets call them improvement projects)

ENNEAGRAM 9 TYPES

The Enneagram has more categories (9 in total) so if you feel like you don’t fit any of the DiSC profiles because they are too narrow then review the 9 different categories and see if one of these more accurately describes you

1.The Reformer

The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic

2. The Helper

The Caring, Interpersonal Type: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive

3. The Achiever

The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious

4. The Individualist

The Sensitive, Withdrawn Type: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental

5. The Investigator

The Intense, Cerebral Type: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated

6. The Loyalist

The Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious

7. The Enthusiast

The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered

8. The Challenger

The Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational

9. The Peacemaker

The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent

I CAN’T BE LABELLED

Some people can’t and don’t want to be put in a box or a label. Many of us are a mixture of several of the categories on any given day or even hour. Take the labels with a pinch of scepticism but also understand that many clichés and generalisation are born out of a large amount of truth. If you want to understand more about yourself then try our epic blog on Self-reflection  

About the Author:

Ronan Leonard is a Mastermind facilitator and Mastermind teacher. Connecting entrepreneurs and small business owners together to create the perfect Mastermind groups or teaching self-employed professionals how to run their own groups. Small business owners are often overwhelmed with to-do lists and need impartial advice to get the right support to help them achieve their goals.