What skills does an entrepreneur need?

Bill J Bonnstetter’s (2013) article in the Harvard Business Review blog discusses five qualities that serial entrepreneurs have, and four that they apparently lack. This is evidenced in Bill’s assessment of a group (N=?) whose job-related skills were evaluated and placed on a spectrum with ‘well developed’ at one end, and ‘needs developing’ at the other. Their results were compared to a control group; (n= 17,000) and indicated four skills entrepreneurs were deficient in, “three skills statistically significantly and one other also noticeably lacking” (Bonnstetter 2013). These included; Empathy, Self-management, Planning and organising, and analytical problem solving. (The generalisability of Bonnstetter’s results is questionable because of the unknown number of the test group, it would also be interesting to know the demographic of the test group, and how random the selection was!) Bill describes entrepreneurs as unique and claims they behave in patterns, and lists their positive qualities as Persuasion, Leadership, Personal accountability, Goal orientation, and Interpersonal skills.                             

                                         

 

To further elaborate on the skills an entrepreneur requires it was useful to refer to research by Bonnstetter’s firm completed in 2012, prior to the above mentioned.

•  Persuasion – Bonnstetter states that entrepreneurs need to excel at persuasion, which ever the circumstance; organising staff to join the team, or organising funding. Having the quality of persuasion includes the ability to change the way someone thinks and what they believe in, and in turn their individual agency. In Bonnstetter’s study to determine this particular quality a likert scale was used; some example questions - "I have been recognized for my ability to get others to say yes," or "I have a reputation for delivering powerful presentations." (Bonnstetter 2012)

• Leadership – Discussed as one of five areas in which entrepreneurs excelled, the quality of leadership is paramount to encouraging people to want to be a part of the solution you have to offer. If people do not feel strongly and competitively lead, they will easily fall away, to find better direction.

• Accountability - Bonnstetter describes accountability as demonstrating initiative, self-confidence, resiliency and a willingness to take responsibility for personal actions (2012). I personally believe that this quality and leadership are interchangeable to an extent; people who blame others for their misfortunes are poor leaders, but someone who can welcome challenge in their stride and push on is a good entrepreneur. Honesty is a cracking quality that fits in here just nicely too.

• Goal oriented – people need to know where they are being lead, not just aimlessly drifting. This focus can aid in the increase of backing from others.

• Interpersonal skills – The last quality on Bonnstetter’s list is at the heart of them all, and is defined by “effectively communicating, building rapport, and relating well to all people, from all backgrounds and communication styles” (2012). Without the ability to connect with others, an entrepreneur would lose out on potential investors, minimising opportunity and win!

Bonnstetter ends his article with an explanation stating that it is not luck and “cosmic alignment” that helps entrepreneurs to achieve, but perseverance and personal development, and working at ones skill set throughout ones career.

References:

Bonstetter, Bill (2013) http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/04/the_much-needed_skills_most_en.html

Bonstetter, Bill (2012) http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/12/new_research_the_skills_that_m.html