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Jewish World Review
Are you successful, but a real jerk?
By
Louise Witt
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
(KRT)
We've read about them over and over again. An entrepreneur founds a
wildly successful business and then is forced out, because he's
alienated those who work with him.
The common explanation is that these companies get too big for the
entrepreneurs to run. They're not managers; they're idea guys.
But John Gartner, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Medical
School in Baltimore, has another theory: It's not that they just
haven't been trained as managers, but they're not wired to be
managers they're hypomanics.
Garter, who studied successful businesspeople in his recent book,
``The Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between A Little Craziness and A Lot
of Success in America'' (Simon & Schuster, $26), said the most
successful entrepreneurs are somewhat manic in their
single-mindedness. "They have an offbeat idea, which they believe
with messianic fervor will change everything," he said. "And their
evangelical zeal gets other people on board."
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Apple Computer co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs
thinks his company's product will change our lives, and is a good
example of this type of visionary. In fact, Gartner said, Jobs
formally acknowledged the importance of evangelism in business when
he made Guy Kawasaki the company's Macintosh evangelist in the early
`80s. Jobs also embodied the hypomanic's dark side, and was ousted
from the company in 1985 due to his mercurial management style. He
returned as CEO in 1997.
It was during the dot-com era that Gartner, a psychologist, started
to notice that entrepreneurs had the same manic behavior as those
who consider themselves to be religious prophets. "I started to
realize that all these figures on CNBC and in FORTUNE magazine
shared some of the same qualities as messianic visionaries," he
said. "They said, `We are going to change the world and get rich
doing it.'"
In profile after profile, Gartner said, business publications
described these entrepreneurs as "maniacs." To Gartner, describing
someone's behavior as manic was more than an easy label - it
described a specific type of behavior. Maniacs have grandiose
visions and high energy, and are risk-taking and impulsive. A
hypomanic shares some of the same characteristics of a
manic-depressive, but he doesn't suffer from a psychiatric disorder.
"It's not an illness, but it's not normal," said Gartner. Hypomanics
"don't think outside the box, because they don't even see the box."
In his book, Gartner cites J. Craig Venter, founder and former CEO
of Celera Genomics, as a classic example of a hypomanic. Setting off
a race to map the human genome, Venter bragged that Celera would
beat the National Institutes of Health's Human Genome Project, even
though the government initiative had a considerable head start. In
early 2001, both announced their findings.
Yet, less than a year later, the biotech firm fired Venter, because
he refused to consider that the company might be more profitable as
a pharmaceutical company. Venter and his foundation, The J. Craig
Venter Institute, in Rockville, Md., are now at work mapping the
genomes of the airborne microorganisms like fungi, bacteria and
viruses in order to study how they affect human health.
Venter's ouster from Celera shows the downside of being a hypomanic
entrepreneur these personality types can be real pains in the
rear.
Hypomanics tend not to listen to others' suggestions because they
believe their ideas are the right ones. They also are impatient with
others, because they believe they must take action immediately. And
they can make disparaging comments without considering that they may
hurt people's feelings. While these characteristics may not prevent
entrepreneurs from starting their ventures, they could become
liabilities later on when the company needs loyal employees.
If you think you are a hypomanic, Gartner has some tips about how
you can modulate your behavior.
- Don't be a jerk. You may think that it's perfectly understandable
for you to get angry at someone who doesn't agree with you, but you
have to realize that your temper tantrum may have lingering
repercussions. You may not remember what you said five minutes
later, but the person you insulted won't forget so quickly.
- Don't rush into decisions. Take time to consider different courses
of action. While making a quick decision may pay off in some cases,
in others it may cost you your business. One entrepreneur told
Gartner that his modus operandi was "ready, shoot, aim," He finally
realized that it would be better if he changed it to "ready, aim,
shoot."
- Don't assume that your company will be an instant success. It's
good to think big, but not so big that you set yourself up for
failure.
Gartner said that many dot-com startups made it almost impossible
for themselves to be long-term successes, because they planned to be
successful from the get go. Boo.com, an upscale online retailer,
bought five castles in Europe before it even had a Web site, he
said.
Remember, you may have the best idea in the world, but if you can't
work well with others, you may not be around to see it to fruition.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
© 2005, FSB Magazine, Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
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