Some of the personality traits that draw people into starting their own companies can lead to negative workplace behaviors that cause the start-ups to fail, according to a study of more than 2,000 managers by Adrian Furnham of University College London and two colleagues. Among the traits that are the most predictive of managers’ being attracted to entrepreneurism are an inflated view of self-worth, perfectionism, and attention-seeking; under pressure, these can result in overbearing behavior, a sense of entitlement, micromanaging, slow decision making, stubbornness, and distraction, the researchers say. Managerial behaviors of this sort may contribute to new enterprises’ high rate of failure.
SOURCE: The dark side of career preference: dark side traits, motives, and values