Dubai: Peter Drucker, the late management consultant and author dubbed by some as the ‘founder of modern management’, once said: “Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice.”
Many in business would agree with Drucker that success as an entrepreneur is about taking action. Additionally, there have been numerous studies suggesting that entrepreneurship may be genetic; or rather individuals with certain innate characteristics are more likely to be successful entrepreneurs than others.
So, are you really just born with the required characteristics to be successful in business? Can it be that natural?
The answer is really not quite as black and white. Earlier studies focused on personality as a predictor of entrepreneurial inclination. It is true, that there are psychological traits that play a part in entrepreneurship such as self-efficacy (the can-do attitude), achievement motivation, stress tolerance, innovativeness and proactive personalities.
Further studies indicate other natural behavioural characteristics in successful entrepreneurs. For example, entrepreneurs tend not to engage in counterfactual thinking — the human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred; something that is contrary to what actually happened.
Individuals who tend not to think like that are more confident and less prone to regret.
However, there are drawbacks. While practical intelligence serves entrepreneurs well, they can also be susceptible to overconfidence or other deviations from rationality or better judgement.
Personality does play a relevant role, but this is by no means the only indicator for entrepreneurial success. There are social as well as cognitive factors that can be associated with entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial thinking.
Other studies highlight that ‘serial’ entrepreneurs become progressively better at spotting opportunities — suggesting this is a learnt thinking process.
Many of the world’s iconic entrepreneurs — from Jobs, to Trump, to Branson — have agreed that entrepreneurial thinking is about learning. Much of their success is attributed to perseverance and learning — whether from the environment and people around them or from failure.
We have seen a rise in the number of people looking for psychology ‘training’ in entrepreneurship; essentially wanting to learn how to be entrepreneurial. The UAE is known as a hub for entrepreneurial spirit and there are more and more people look for ways in which to take their own slice of this.
There are key characteristics that help drive individuals to become entrepreneurs — not only in the context of owning one’s own business but also in the context of organisational success too. What seems more important to successful entrepreneurialism is a balance between social conditions, character and developing the right skills and mindset.
An important indicator that seems to show that entrepreneurial skills can indeed be learnt is the ‘accidental entrepreneurs’ group. By this, I mean those people that experience a career change whether through retirement, redundancy or maternity leave, for example.
To many, such a career change and a route to entrepreneurship may seem like chance. However, the ‘accidental entrepreneurs’ would need to develop and learn many psychological aspects necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Examples of late blooming entrepreneurs are abound. From McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc to John Pemberton’s post-civil war creation of Coca-Cola, some of the world’s most iconic brands stemmed from an entrepreneurial push later in life.
Additionally, many of these ‘accidental entrepreneurs’ were not alone and utilised the support and opportunities around them for the company’s success.
The ability to learn the psychology required and identify opportunities are important. Developing a character that is prepared for the world of an entrepreneur is equally important. From passion, vision, tenacity, tolerance of ambiguity, flexibility and self-belief — the character required can well be developed.
So, it appears you don’t have to be born a ‘serial’ entrepreneur. In fact, you don’t even have to be an overachieving extrovert to launch a successful business. All that is required is commitment to the cause and a desire to learn.
The writer is programme coordinator for MSc Business Psychology, Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus.
