BRIAN WEBB BLOG

It’s not secret that I am an enormous fan of Michael Gerber and his literary resources on how to successfully build a business. While Michael Gerber has written numerous best-selling books on building a world-class business, it’s my belief that E-Myth Revisited, and E-Myth Mastery should both be legally mandated prerequisites for anybody applying for a DBA, S-Corp or LLC. I believe the resources in these 2 books are just that crucial to the success of any business.

Listed below, Michael Gerber summarizes the differences between the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician. He highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each, while pointing out the danger that erupts anytime the wrong person is at the helm of a business.
You can read this “CEO Report” article in its entirety by simply clicking here. I hope you enjoy, and share this with your colleagues.

THE ENTREPRENEUR
The entrepreneurial personality turns the most trivial condition into an exceptional opportunity. The Entrepreneur is the visionary in us. The dreamer. He lives in the future, never in the past, rarely in the present. He’s happiest when left free to construct images of “what if” and “if when“. He is our own creative personality; always at its best dealing with the unknown, prodding the future, creating probabilities out of possibilities. Every strong entrepreneurial personality has an extraordinary need for control. Living as he does in the world to concentrate on his dreams. Given his need for change, he creates a great deal of havoc around himself, which is predictably unsettling for those he enlists in his many projects. This then becomes his world-view: a world made up of both an over-abundance of opportunities and dragging feet.

THE MANAGER
The managerial personality is pragmatic. Without The Manager there would be no planning, no order, no predictability. He lives in the past. He craves order. He compulsively clings to the status quo. He sees problems. He creates neat, orderly rows. Without The Manager, there would be no business.

THE TECHNICIAN
The Technician is the doer. “If you want it done right, do it yourself” is the Technician’s credo. He loves to tinker. Things aren’t supposed to be dreamed about, they’re supposed to be done. He lives in the present. He loves the feel of things and the fact that things can get done. He’s happy when he’s working. To him thinking is unproductive unless it’s thinking about work that needs to be done. He’s not interested in ideas; he’s interested in how-to-doit. All ideas need to be reduced to the methodology if they are to be of any value.

PUT ANOTHER WAY
The Entrepreneur dreams, The Manager frets, and The Technician ruminates. To The Manager, then, The Technician becomes a problem to be managed. To The Technician, The Manager becomes a meddler to be avoided. To both of them, The Entrepreneur is the one who got them into trouble in the first place.

SUMMARY
The fact of the matter is that we all have an Entrepreneur, Manager, and Technician inside us. And if they were equally balanced, we’d be describing an incredibly competent individual. The Entrepreneur would be free to forge ahead into new areas of interest; The Manager would be solidifying the base of the operations; The Technician would be doing the technical work. Unfortunately, the typical small business owner is only 10% Entrepreneur, 20% Manager and 70% Technician.

The Entrepreneur wakes up with a vision. The Manager screams “Oh, no!” And while the two are battling it out, The Technician seizes the opportunity to go into business for himself! To The technician it’s a dream come true. But to the business it’s a disaster, because the wrong person is at the helm.

Please feel free to share your comments. I’d be thrilled to hear from you.