REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

10 REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

Silicon Valley, Route 128 in Boston, or Sophia Antipolis in the south

of France.

The Psychological Perspective

Here the emphasis has been on the assessment of specifi c entrepreneurial

traits using a variety of psychological tests (Brockhaus and Horovitz,

1986 ; Gartner, 1989 , Shaver and Scott, 1991 ). Unfortunately, because of

a lack of consistency among instruments used and methodological prob-

lems, a very confusing and not always consistent psychological picture

emerges.

Among some of the qualities regularly attributed to the entrepre-

neurial personality we can list high achievement motivation, need for

autonomy, power, and independence (McClelland, 1961, 1975, 1987 ).

In addition, some of these studies defi ne entrepreneurs as moderate risk -

takers, anxious individuals who are ‘ inner directed, ’ meaning that they

possess an ‘ internal locus of control ’ (Lefcourt, 1976 ; Phares, 1976 ;

Shapero, 1975 ; Brockhaus, 1980 ; Miller, Kets de Vries, and Toulouse,

1982 ).^1

COMMON PSYCHOLOGICAL THEMES

IN THE ENTREPRENEURIAL PERSONALITY

It is not diffi cult to recognize an element of mythology and legend in

articles about entrepreneurship that appear in journals like Fortune maga-

zine, which devote part of each issue to preaching the gospel of enter-

prise and business leadership. Not surprisingly, the themes of individual

success and failure are highly popular; they catch the readers ’ imagina-

tion and are empathy - provoking since they awaken the rebellious spirit

in each of us. Mythological heroes like Prometheus and Odysseus have

now been replaced by that folk hero of the global world, the entrepre-

neur. He has become the last lone ranger, a bold individualist fi ghting

the environmental odds. He is that individual who after enduring and

overcoming many hardships, trials, and business adventures fi nally seems

to have ‘ made it. ’ However, as the stories of many entrepreneurs show

us, success is very fragile, and easily followed by failure.

Most of the stories about the rise and fall of entrepreneurs contain

a number of common themes. We are usually introduced to a person

with an unhappy family background, an individual who feels displaced

and seems a misfi t in his particular environment — a loner, isolated and