Within every business owner, there is a balancing act between three different personalities with three different needs. As outlined in the book, The E-Myth, these three personalities are the technician, the entrepreneur, and the manager. Each of these personalities have an important role to play if you are to be successful at your endeavor. Making sure that each one of them has their roles fulfilled is crucial. First and foremost, it is essential to understand each of these personalities and how they will impact you as you take on your business.
The technician
The technician is someone who loves to get their hands on the nitty gritty. Doing all of the “hard work” is what they live for as they think that the harder they work the more successful they will be. Performing tasks is what matters to this personality most. It is essential to let your technician personality show its presence because it will allow you to get a deeper sense of how your business works and functions. However, letting your inner technician become overbearing will lead to you working in your business rather than on it. This is where the next part of the perfect business personality comes into play.
The entrepreneur
Out of the three personalities of the business owner, this one is the most optimistic. The entrepreneur is a visionary who sees the business as puzzle pieces that need to be put together not only to build that business for the here and now, but also take it into the future. Entrepreneurs are all about advancement and innovation. They let their creativity run wild and they are essential to any good business. While the technician has their eyes on the laborious work that needs to be done to keep the business afloat and well-maintained, the entrepreneur has the foresight to oversee the advancement of the business into the future. Characteristically, these two personalities are polar opposites in almost every way. The technician is hyper-focused on the fine details and conservative in nature, while the entrepreneur is a creative visionary who is far less conservative. “How do these two personality types coexist?”, you may ask. Well, they do so with the help of the last personality.
The manager
Organization is what the manager is all about. They are able to keep the personalities of the entrepreneur and the technician at bay to keep them from conflicting with each other, but also make sure each of them has their time to shine. Structure and planning is what takes up the majority of what the manager thinks about. By implementing the skills of the manager, the business owner may harness the good powers of both the entrepreneur and the technician, but limit them from becoming overbearing and taking full control of the business owner. In other words, this means the business owner would be able to understand and respect the day-to-day work of being in the business, but have the foresight and discipline to be able to work on their business rather than in it. The manager keeps the technician from becoming too conservative and the entrepreneur from losing sight of the day-to-day work in the current moment. The most important role of the manager is to bridge the gap between the technician who is hyper-focussed on the present and the entrepreneur who is hyper-focused on the future. This cohesion is what makes businesses and their owners great.
The balancing act
As you can see, all three of these personalities are vitally important to your business. Being successful means that one will not outshine another and they will all have their chance in the spotlight. As different as they are characteristically, all three of these personalities need each other to survive and thrive in the best possible manner for success. Their relationship is symbiotic as they each help each other negate their negatives and bring their upside to the forefront. If one personality outshines the others, then the deficiency of that personality will begin to show through in your business. For example, if your technician takes the reins completely away from your entrepreneur and manager, you may find yourself getting lost in the daily tasks of your business and leave no time or energy to grow and expand the vision. If the opposite was true, you may spend too much time living in the future while forgetting about the present. Without a manager, there would be no organization or clarity as to where the business is now and where it needs to go. These personalities are drastically different, however, such as opposites attract in a relationship, the same is true in this scenario. To be a great business owner, you need to embrace and balance these three crucial personalities.