The 6 Essential Traits of Entrepreneurship
Do you have the traits within you to make it as an entrepreneur? In his book, Entrepreneurial Leap (book summary), Gino Wickman claims that there are 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship. And so, he defines an entrepreneur as follows:
Entrepreneur – “someone who sees a need or an opportunity, and then takes a risk to start a business to fulfill it”
First, the 6 essential traits are “genetically-determined characteristics,” which means either you have them or don’t. Second, essential means that these traits are “absolutely necessary, extremely important” to being a successful entrepreneur.
These are the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship:
- Visionary – “being imaginative, creative, inventive, ingenious, enterprising, and innovative”
- Passionate – “showing or caused by strong feelings or a strong belief”
- Problem Solver – “someone who leans into problems, obsesses about them, and genuinely gets a high from solving them”
- Driven – “relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal; very hard-working and ambitious”
- Risk-taker – “someone willing to take a leap and willing to fail”
- Responsible – “ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization”
If you can’t answer yes to having all 6 traits, you should probably not be an entrepreneur. While the traits can’t be taught, you can discover them within you. If you answer yes, you should consider yourself an entrepreneur-in-the-making and take the entrepreneurial leap sometime in the future.
Also, Gino Wickman offers an assessment on his website to confirm the degree to which you possess the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship. For more on entrepreneurship, check out Entrepreneurial Leap or our summary of the book. Now, let’s discuss each of the characteristics in detail.
1) Visionary
The first of the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Visionary:
Visionary – “being imaginative, creative, inventive, ingenious, enterprising, and innovative”
- Understands where your company is now and where you want to take it in the future
- Sees the bigger picture of how your company operates and fits into the world
- Provides the intuition to sell your goods and services and generate revenue
- Sources new ideas, initiatives, or innovations to move the company forward
There are incredible visionaries like Steve Jobs or Walt Disney, but not every company needs a high level of visionary. In Entrepreneurial Leap, Gino Wickman teaches entrepreneurs this tool to encapsulate the range of visionaries that exist:
Visionary Spectrum – a tool that shows how much of a visionary is required by a company, which is determined by:
- Type of industry,
- Growth aspirations, and
- Degree of market dynamics (change, competition, or complexity)
Thus, visionaries fall on a spectrum that can range from a higher-end in a fast-growth tech company to a lower-end lawn care management company. Regardless of how visionary you are, it is necessary to have a mindset that is constantly innovating, seeking opportunities, and continuously improving.
If you have not done so already, you should clarify and document your vision using the MyVision Clarifier tool.
Are you a visionary?
2) Passionate
The second of the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Passionate:
Passionate – “having such a strong belief that you’ll do almost anything to prove, create, or deliver your idea, product, or service to the world”
- Provides the why for doing what you do and why your organization exists
- Creates an intense obsession for their company, products, services, or impact
- Inspires you to work hard to achieve mastery in your work, product, or services
- Helps one to survive through failure and challenging periods in a business venture
In his book, So Good They Can’t Ignore You (book summary), Cal Newport recommends blindly following your passion is terrible advice. Instead, you should cultivate your passion by becoming excellent at something valuable. He says that people typically find love in what they do by being “So Good They Can’t Ignore You.” Over time, you will become passionate about what you are doing, allowing you to endure and grow your business.
Once you cultivate your passion, you need to embody it and communicate it. Simon Sinek, in his book, Start With Why, discusses that “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Thus, showing others why you do what you do will get them to buy into your why and pay for your products and services.
And so, the first question of clarifying your vision using the MyVision Clarifier tool asks, “What am I passionate about? Why am I doing this?”
Are you passionate?
3) Problem Solver
The third of the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship is being a Problem Solver:
Problem Solver – “someone who leans into problems, obsesses about them, and genuinely gets a high from solving them”
- Focuses on finding the truth and best solution over being right or proving so
- Stays positive in negative situations, seeing them as a chance to learn and grow
- Considers and explores the alternative options and positions
- Make things better by innovating, improving quality, or reducing costs
Businessman Paul Marsden has said that “Business is all about solving people’s problems – at a profit. The larger the problem you solve, the more you will earn to solve that problem. Thus, you need to look to solve problems in the market and issues that arise within your business venture.
Problem solvers seek the truth, have an optimistic attitude, and lean into their issues. They take on obstacles viewing them as opportunities for revenue and growth. There is always room to be better by improving experiences, reducing expenses, or making better products.
Are you a problem solver?
4) Driven
The fourth of the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Driven:
Driven – “relentlessly compelled by the need to accomplish a goal; very hard-working and ambitious”
- Has the willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed, no matter what
- Wants to compete and be the best in their industry or sector
- Sets big, ambitious SMART goals and works tirelessly to achieve them
- Has an internal feeling of urgency and motivation (check out these productivity quotes if you need motivation)
Being driven is the desire to be successful. The author Jack Canfield has proclaimed that “Part of paying the price is the willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done. It comes from a declaration that you are going to get it done no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, no matter what comes up.”
Being driven is different than being passionate. Passion requires understanding the why behind your product or service. However, drive is about having the desire to be motivated and achieve success regardless of what business you are in.
In his book, Drive, Daniel Pink discusses that the secret to being driven does not involve biology or reward and punishment. Research shows that achieving high levels of performance requires three elements:
- Autonomy – “the desire to direct our own lives
- Mastery – the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and
- Purpose – the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves”
5) Risk Taker
The fifth of the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship is being a Risk-Taker:
Risk Taker – “someone willing to take a leap and willing to fail”
- Has the willingness to take a chance, fail, adapt, and try again
- Makes calculated decisions by understanding the risks versus rewards
- Wants to put themselves in uncomfortable scenarios as this leads to growth
- Has a rebellious nature by thinking outside the box and taking actions outside the norm
In his book, Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins states that you will genuinely grow when you “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” You need to be willing to break the rules, defy norms, and take a chance. To grow as an entrepreneur, you need to get uncomfortable and take risks in yourself and your business venture. You may fail, but failure is just an opportunity to learn and try again.
Many use the risk/reward framework when deciding the risks to take. This framework allows you to evaluate the tradeoff of various decisions based on the risk of failure versus the reward of success.
Typically, the higher the reward that you seek, the greater the risk involved. Many are not willing to take the risk due to the chance of failure, but successful entrepreneurs are ready to take calculated risks to be successful.
Are you a risk taker?
6) Responsible
The final of the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship is being Responsible:
Responsible – “ability to act independently and make decisions without authorization”
- Takes total responsibility for the outcome of their circumstances and actions
- Don’t complain, make excuses, or feels entitled to success
- Own up to a failure when a mistake occurs, or a wrong decision is made
Despite everything that happens, good or bad, you ultimately are responsible for your life and own business. In his book, Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink says that “You must own everything in your world. There is no one else to blame.” It means that you are not only responsible for actions under your control but also responsible for everything that happens in your life and business.
Founder of The Strategic Coach® Program, Dan Sullivan, has trained many successful entrepreneurs and defines an entrepreneur as follows:
Entrepreneur – “someone who:
- Decides they will depend on their own initiative, performance, and results to guarantee their financial security, and
- Decides they won’t expect anyone to give them an opportunity until they’ve first created something that’s useful and valuable”
This definition shows that a successful entrepreneur must be responsible. They must take ownership, work the challenging tasks, and solve issues to guarantee their own success. There are no handouts, shortcuts, or shirking of responsibility.
Are you responsible?
Next Steps
The 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship are as follows: Visionary, Passionate, Problem Solver, Risk Taker, and Responsible. Either you have all of them, or you don’t. If you are not sure, take Gino Wickman’s assessment on his website to confirm the degree to which you possess the 6 essential traits of entrepreneurship.
For more on entrepreneurship for beginners, check out Entrepreneurial Leap or our summary of the book. For more on advanced entrepreneurship using the EOS process, check out Traction (book summary) or What the Heck is EOS? (book summary) by Gino Wickman. For a book on incorporating entrepreneurship into your life, check out The EOS Life (book summary).
