Understanding Personality Patterns as an Entrepreneur: A Deep Dive into Steven Kessler's 5 Personality Patterns.
Starting a business is an exhilarating journey filled with ups and downs, requiring a balanced blend of strategy, passion, and self-awareness. In the latest episode of "Starting a Business Simplified", host Suzy Wraines introduces listeners to a new 12-episode series focusing on personality patterns. This series draws upon the concepts of Steven Kessler's groundbreaking book, "The 5 Personality Patterns".
Introduction to the Series
In this initial episode, Suzy Wraines lays the groundwork for understanding personality patterns and explains how these patterns influence entrepreneurial behavior. She promises a deep dive into each of the five personality patterns covered by Kessler over the next episodes, examining how these patterns manifest in the business world. Wraines emphasizes her personal connection to the topic, sharing how understanding these patterns has transformed her own entrepreneurial journey, helping her identify and heal old wounds stemming from childhood developmental trauma.
Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Basis of Personality Patterns
Victims of trauma often exhibit what experts describe as "fight, flight, or freeze" responses—a concept familiar to those with survival training, like Suzy's own experiences growing up in Alaska and her service as a medic in the Army. Although our modern lives typically eliminate the immediate threats our ancestors faced, our brains don’t always distinguish between physical danger and perceived psychological threats. Entrepreneurs frequently encounter stressors that trigger these historical defense mechanisms, manifesting as personality patterns that influence their business behavior.
The Five Personality Patterns
Leaving Pattern
Traits:
Individuals with this pattern tend to disconnect or feel overwhelmed easily, leading to avoidance and difficulty committing.
Business Implications:
If you have difficulty making decisions or often find yourself avoiding difficult tasks, you might be experiencing the leaving pattern. Entrepreneurs with this pattern may feel productive working behind the scenes but avoid putting their work and ideas into the public domain where they might face rejection or failure.
Gifts:
Creativity and the ability to think outside the box are among the strengths that come with overcoming the defensive aspects of this pattern.
Merging Pattern
Traits:
Those with a merging pattern overly seek connection and approval, often wallowing in self-doubt and seeking validation from others before making decisions.
Business Implications:
Constantly asking for others’ opinions and struggling to make independent decisions are clear signs of this pattern. Entrepreneurs here may focus too heavily on relationship-building at the expense of assertiveness or innovation.
Gifts:
Connection and collaboration skills, both crucial for effective teamwork and relationship management in business.
Enduring Pattern
Traits:
Known for their resilience and high tolerance, individuals with this pattern, however, may resist change and prefer stability over innovation.
Business Implications:
The enduring entrepreneur often avoids speaking up and may resist transformational strategies, opting to go along to get along.
Gifts:
Stability and consistency, valuable attributes for creating a solid, dependable business foundation.
Challenger Pattern
Traits:
Natural leaders who can sometimes become over-controlling or authoritarian.
Business Implications:
This pattern can lead to micromanagement and a rigid company culture. These entrepreneurs often struggle to build emotionally intelligent, agile teams.
Gifts:
Leadership and decisiveness, critical for setting and achieving business goals.
Achiever (Rigid) Pattern
Traits:
Driven and perfectionistic, these individuals equate their self-worth with their successes and mistakes.
Business Implications:
Struggling with a fear of failure, entrepreneurs with this pattern may become paralyzed by their pursuit of perfection, hampering adaptability and innovation.
Gifts:
Precision and diligence, which can lead to high-quality outputs and meticulous project management.
Real-Life Application
Suzy Wraines shares her personal struggle with the leaving and enduring patterns when she first launched her business. Fearing risk and rejection, she found herself producing content and handling tasks that didn’t push her out of her comfort zone. Over time, she began working through these defensive patterns, harnessing her creativity and establishing a stable, consistent approach. This transformation is evident in the evolution of her podcast, transitioning from generic business advice to deeply personal and transformative episodes.
Emotional Safety and Pattern Transformation
The ultimate goal of understanding these patterns is to move from a state of defense to one of empowerment and growth. Suzy emphasizes the importance of feeling emotionally safe to break free from these patterns and explore an individual's underlying gifts. By understanding and addressing the origins of these defensive patterns, entrepreneurs can better navigate their emotional landscapes, transforming their business operations, ideas, and approaches.
Quizzing Your Patterns
Curious about which pattern might be influencing your business behavior? Wraines offers a fun, insightful quiz in the show notes to help you identify dominant patterns. Remember, recognizing these patterns is not about labeling oneself but rather about gaining insights into one's behavioral tendencies and cultivating the more constructive aspects of each pattern.
Conclusion
In summary, this series on personality patterns promises to be a transformative journey for entrepreneurs. By understanding Steven Kessler's 5 Personality Patterns, listeners can identify and work through their defensive behaviors, ultimately tapping into their unique strengths and gifts. With the help of Suzy Wraines and her personal insights, entrepreneurs can achieve greater self-awareness, adapting their approaches to business challenges in ways that align more closely with their true potential.
Stay tuned for future episodes, where each pattern will be explored in greater detail. You'll learn to recognize the wounds and defenses associated with each pattern, discover actionable steps for transformation, and tap into the inherent gifts that come with deeper self-awareness. Whether you're an experienced entrepreneur or just getting started, knowing these patterns can offer tools for navigating the complex emotional terrain of running a business, making your entrepreneurial journey not just successful but profoundly enriching.
Don’t forget to check the show notes for the quiz link and dive deeper into identifying your personality patterns. With self-awareness and proactive healing, you can simplify your business processes, bring forth your creative strengths, and lead a more fulfilled entrepreneurial life. Keep it simple and stay tuned for a deep dive into the leaving pattern in the next episode!
Thank you for sharing this transformative journey with "Starting a Business Simplified." Keep flourishing, and, as always, keep it simple.
Links Referenced
Higher Purpose Entrepreneur Community
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