Whatever stage you are in the lifecycle of your business, knowing your strengths and blind spots and those of your team/employees are as essential as having a business plan.
Whereas figures and spreadsheets are the language of business planning, an understanding of both your own personal preferences and those of the people you employ should shape the language of strategy implementation.
What do we mean by personal preferences? Often known as type preferences, these key personal behavioural preferences were first identified by Carl Jung over 100 years ago, and have been researched, written about and used extensively throughout the world ever since.
Put simply, there are four dimensions to our personalities:
Energy: taking action or thinking things through? Some people like to talk things out and take action. Others need space and time to think things through
Structure: organised or going with the flow? Some people like to be very organised: they need plans and stick to them. Others prefer to go with the flow
Content: facts or ideas? Some people prefer to focus on the facts of a situation: on what is immediate and real. Others think in terms of ideas, wanting to explore possibilities
Conclusions: solution-focused or people-focused? We all make decisions. Some people base these on logical thinking, while others make people-focused decisions
These combine to give 16 type personalities. No one type is the best at setting up and running a business. All have their strengths, and their blind spots. What are yours?
Let's just take the impact of our preferences for energy and structure on running a new business.
If your energy is about taking action and talking things out, you will tend to communicate enthusiastically with anyone around you: one-to-one with a friend, with your colleagues or in groups. You like to have your say, and you like the stimulus of working with people.
You're probably comfortable getting out and about, being busy and active. You'll see networking as a good way of making contact and keeping in touch.
However, without thinking time, you might find yourself jumping into action, over-committing yourself and your resources, and not thinking through what's actually the best action to take.
If the focus of your energy is more about reflection and thinking things through before acting, you probably spend a lot of time thinking deeply about your business to understand what's needed. You might well enjoy constructing the business plans, as it gives you the chance to reflect on what your business is.
However, your business lives or dies on its activity in the outer world. And your interpersonal relationships - with clients and staff - depend on strong and active communication. Do your staff know what you're thinking? Do you sometimes think about something for so long that the opportunity has come and gone before you know it?
If you have a structured and organised approach to your life, you like to have a clear view of what lies ahead so that you can plan for the week, or the month, or the year ahead, the likelihood is that you like things to be organised. You'll have lists, and plans, and you'll use them. You are probably happy at setting yourself - and your staff - goals.
But what happens when you don't achieve them? What happens when something gets in the way of you achieving what you've planned to do? And what if people don't follow through, or aren't as focused as you?
It's a great strength to have a plan and work the plan, especially if you've learned that flexibility and adaptability to make the most of the unexpected are also useful traits to cultivate.
If you're more of a go with the flow sort of person, you enjoy remaining open to change, and are always willing to adapt to new information. You like to go your own way, exploring new trains of thought and activities, rather than conforming to others' schedules and systems. You often leave things until the last minute, needing the pressure of a real deadline to get things finished.
As an implementation strategy this approach can be stressful, for yourself as well as others around you. And when running a business, organisation is essential. You can't ignore the VAT man, the taxman and cashflow. If you haven't managed to train yourself to knuckle down and do the detail, hire someone who can.
Being realistic about what makes you tick - and how to work with your strengths without overworking them and creating blind spots - is the key to improving personal effectiveness. Understanding what makes other people tick, helping them work to their strengths and creating a balance of strengths within your team is the key to improving business effectiveness and success.
Dr Clare Howard is behavioural preferences expert at Academy 28. For an online graphical assessment of your type preferences visit www.academy28.com/yournewbusiness
