THE ENTREPRENEURIAL PERSONALITY 17reaction to stressful circumstances, it can become problematic. Scape-
goating is a method people commonly adopt to maintain their view of
themselves as blameless. People who act this way experience little sense
of personal responsibility. They distance themselves from the problem
and deny and rationalize away whatever responsibility they may have
had. They refuse to see what they don ’ t like and blame others.
One entrepreneur who had sold his company, but remained in
charge, refused to accept reports that sales were dropping rapidly or to
acknowledge that a number of creditors were ready to pull the plug on
the company. Instead of recognizing that the downturn resulted from
mismanagement on his own factory fl oor and in his design department,
he denied his own responsibility and blamed any adverse indications on
the government or on customers ’ malice. He argued that the new
product line had miraculous potential, and nobody in the company was
bold enough to contradict his statements. Instead, his subordinates con-
tinually reassured each other that the president ’ s opinion must be correct.
Despite a hands - off policy, head offi ce eventually had to intervene and
end the entrepreneur ’ s employment contract prematurely. It took many
years of effort to get the company back into the black.
Flight into Action
Finally, several entrepreneurs I have worked with defend against feelings
of anxiety (evidenced by their restlessness and irritability) by turning to
action as an antidote. The anxiety of dealing with events in a refl ective
manner is too much for them. They prefer to fl ee into action, even if it
is impulsive and thoughtless, without considering all the facts. This is
not because waiting out events has no attraction for them. Rather,
they have such a strong fear of passivity (because it could make them
overdependent and thus controlled by others) that they have to act
counter - dependently.
These common themes in entrepreneurs ’ personalities do not spring
out of nowhere. They develop from causes lying in their early childhood
experiences.
THE EFFECTS OF FAMILY DYNAMICS
For a number of male entrepreneurs that I interviewed, childhood was
a disturbing experience. (Many female entrepreneurs have similar expe-
riences but, so far, my sample is too small to arrive at valid conclusions.)
In many of their memories, the father appeared to be the main villain.