A Look at Entrepreneurs' Weaknesses

No one is perfect, but for the entrepreneur, weaknesses are especially important. They can both be a barrier to and a means of achieving growth. Knowing and understanding your weaknesses is key in converting them from the former to the latter.

1.    Lead to Please or Lead to Win?
Are you a people’s person, to the extent that you let your fondness for your colleagues and subordinates obstruct you from getting results? Or are you a strictly result-oriented person, always striving to meet the bottom line, even to the detriment of those around you?
The key, of course, is to strike a balance between the two extremes—but that’s easier said than done. Being collaborative and valuing others is crucial in the entrepreneur’s workplace. So is holding your team members accountable, addressing performance issues directly and making hard choices when needed.
2.    Over-dependence on Snap Judgments
The entrepreneur thrives in highly dynamic, agile environments—to him/her, snap decisions are second nature. However, as the business continues to scale, the importance for analytical thinking grows along with the size and scope of the firm. Gut instincts don’t always serve well in such a context, and it’s important to keep your impulses in check when dealing with complex situations.
3.    Chaos Reigns Supreme
Creating companies from scratch is a messy business, and entrepreneurs are well used to this fact. They often work with small teams who work cross platform on multiple projects and handle several functional activities at once. It’s important that this chaos doesn’t become infectious, however, or soon you have a startup team that can hardly keep track of who’s doing what, and what’s the progress on each front.
Manage the chaos from time to time instead of stifling it entirely— you absolutely need a dose of controlled chaos to fuel your team’s creativity from time to time!
4.    Non-existent Family Life
The family lives of most entrepreneurs fall victim to their crazy working hours and a host of work commitments. However, it’s important not to play fast and loose with this facet of your life. Sometimes it becomes too hard to hold in all the pent-up stress and you end up unloading on the person nearest to you, which can unfortunately be your spouse, parent or even children!
Try to cherish the little time you get to spend with them, and liven up your activities with them whenever you can. When your family members grow too concerned about you, don’t get annoyed—explain to them how much your work means to you, and show appreciation for their concern.
5.    Cautious Optimism
Passion and optimism are part and parcel of being an entrepreneur. What are probably pipe dreams for most people can become future ventures for entrepreneurs, and you absolutely need to be optimistic about your chances to make that happen.
Sometimes, however, a spade is a spade, and you need to recognize it as such. Learn to identify whether your optimism is misplaced. It’s a good tool that can get you through the toughest of times, but sometimes you need to be pragmatic to avoid mistakes. In a make-or-break environment like the startup scene, mistakes can cost big.