Entrepreneurs And Employees

Lovely article on the difference in the nature between entrepreneurs and employees:

http://www.businessinsider.in/Scientists-have-discovered-a-personality-difference-between-entrepreneurs-and-employees/articleshow/46305421.cms

http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol8/JITEv8p029-043Johnston281.pdf

A classification of types from the link above:

The four temperaments that Keirsey and Bates (1998) identified are:

• Artisans – Live one day at a time, and can be classified by the following personalitytypes: ESTP, ISTP, ESFP, ISFP.

• Guardians – Are driven by responsibility, and possess one of the following personality types: ESTJ, ISTJ, ESFJ, ISFJ.

• Rationals –Seek knowledge and competence in all they take on, and can be recognised by the following personality types: ENTJ, INTJ, ENTP, INTP. Johnston, Andersen, Davidge-Pitts and; Ostensen-Saunders.

• Idealists – Are soul searchers who constantly quest for meaning and significance in their lives, with the following personality types: ENFJ, INFJ, ENFP, INFP.

Keirsey and Bates (1998) divided the four temperaments into two groups: “Earthlings” which consisted of Artisans and Guardians (all S), and “Martians” (all N) which consisted of Rationals and Idealists. 

As per this article, entrepreneurs are likely to be S because of the need for entrepreneurs to live and survive in a practical world. "Head in the clouds" (N) is a good fit for systems analysts but not for entrepreneurs. The paper suggests that entrepreneurs are more likely to be J than P. I disagree. I believe that J's form good managers, entrepreneurs should be open, flexible focused on the big picture than the immediate closure of issues. The paper also finds three correlations (not very strong though).

• Entrepreneurship correlates with P (I don't understand why the paper mentioned the opposite earlier.)
• F and N are correlated. I have always suspected this because both F and N (Ne actually) are intuitive, able to look beyond the obvious. Both derive from Venusian influence. 
• J, T and I are correlated. I have suspected this also (J and T). I, T and J derive from Saturnine influence. Actually I believe E, Ne, F, P are kinda similar traits. E, F and P being people-centric and pleasant. While Ne and F are both similar in terms of their intuitive nature. Again I, T, J are all similar - they seem to go together, all of them being generally unpleasant.

The article also mentions that innovative entrepreneurs are intuitive. I call them the creators. I have explained this later in this post.

Another definition of entrepreneur from the same link above:

Deo (2005) defines an entrepreneur from two different viewpoints: that of an economist and a psychologist:1. “To an economist, an entrepreneur is one who brings resources, labour, materials and other assets into combinations that makes their value greater than before, and also one who introduces changes, innovations, and a new order.”2. “To a psychologist, such a person is typically driven by certain forces-the need to obtain or attain something, to experiment, to accomplish, or perhaps to escape the authority of others.” 

Entrepreneurs having a driving ambition and an ability to risk it all. Risk taking is a Martian trait. Driving ambition comes from Venus. An introverted person is unlikely to be an entrepreneur. The likely MBTI group that are entrepreneurs are E*FP. An entrepreneur is unlikely to be a T. More likely to be E*FP. Some entrepreneurs are actually creator who stumbled into entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur is a person who is driven to achieve, on the way he tries to find his calling. A creator knows what his calling is. Creator is likely to be I*TP.

On this subject:

"The INTP the perfect right hand man for any entrepreneur." from http://www.quora.com/What-Myers-Briggs-personality-type-are-most-entrepreneurs

"I'm starting to feel that entrepreneurship requires a team with two members, one who exhibits ENTP and one who is an INTJ, or some combination thereof. I've noticed that teams that are too J build one product with too much detail whereas teams that are too P focused build too many products with little detail." from http://www.quora.com/What-Myers-Briggs-Type-Indicator-(MBTI)-types-are-best-suited-to-entrepreneurship.

I saw a table listing attributes needed in leaders in this article.
Most of the attributes seem to FP related. TJ skills such as Planning, Analytical Ability, Functional / Technical Expertise were among the 5 least frequently selected attributes. The frequently chosen attributes were largely ones were Emotional Intelligence attributes.


Additional reading on this subject:

• Page 164-165 in the book "Snakes in Suits": http://www.mtpinnacle.com/pdfs/psycophaths-at-work.pdf
• http://www.bretlsimmons.com/2009-07/entrepreneurs-and-%E2%80%9Cthe-big-five%E2%80%9D/
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/10/11/the-four-essential-personality-traits-of-every-entrepreneur/
• http://www.inc.com/adam-heitzman/can-the-myers-briggs-predict-your-entrepreneurial-success.html
• http://www.inc.com/adam-heitzman/can-the-myers-briggs-predict-your-entrepreneurial-success.html
• This is a very nice article according to which most entrepreneurs are likely to P's than J's: http://www.intent-conference.de/DWD/_621/upload/media_1878.pdf
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/10/einstfpj-mbti.html
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/07/brain.html