Recently, I had the opportunity to have an engaging conversation with a successful Business Success Coach. During her many consultations with small business owners and their companies, she realized that it was possible to tell who the successful leaders would be, based on common personality traits that are exhibited in the workplace. She came up with Titles which exemplify these 3 simple characteristics, which she referred to as: 'The Nature of a Successful Entrepreneur'.

A. The Technician. This is the type of person who loves to be active, often falling in love simply with the process of doing. Technicians are people who handle the details of the job, the gears that make the clock work.

B. The Strategist exemplifies the type people who have great oversight of what is going on with in a business. Typically they do the planning, figure out the 'how' of doing things. These people take pleasure in making sure all the steps are in place, that everything fits properly, and that everything gets done.

C. The Visionary has the innate ability to look at the overall picture, the long view. The visionary gives you the passion, the fuel, and the drive to keep going. He or She can see problems others can't, and usually become enamored with the creation process.

Each of us has these three personalities within us to varying degrees, but one characteristic tends to dominate our personality. For instance, a successful entrepreneur exhibits characteristics of The Visionary at least 50% of the time. But too much envisioning can be a hindrance. For example, The Visionary often has a hard time coming up with the plan and has an even tougher time executing minute details. That's why it's important for successful small business people to also have strong characteristics of The Technician, and The Strategist. Of course, both of these personalities also contain inherent flaws. When it comes to entrepreneurial success, The Strategist and The Technician personalities either get too lost in the details or lose sight of the overall objective. A successful organization must have a 'Visionary' at the helm to keep the others motivated and on track, but more importantly, to keep the big picture at the forefront of thought, so the direction of the company is always on target.

If you don't think you are a 'Visionary', that doesn't mean you can't become one. You can always develop and enhance your visionary characteristics. In my own life, I've become aware of my tendency to migrate through three phases. I've given them different names.

a. The Creative Phase. This is when my creative energies are bursting, and the way to increase it is to LET IT FLOW. Write, philosophize, come up with new ideas. You'll feel driven and motivated. (The Visionary)

b. The Productive Phase. Have you ever just felt like doing tasks? I know I'm in this phase when I really don't care about sitting and thinking, I just want to get a job done.You might notice you're doing tasks that require little in the way of creative thought, but more work and time. That's how you know you're in a Productive Phase.(The Technician)

c. The Organizational Phase. I usually fall into this phase just after a solid production phase. I spend time cleaning up, organizing files, planning a new strategy - organizing my time and my life. (The Strategist)

I've seen myself go through these three phases repeatedly over the years, each lasting 1 to 2 weeks each. And it's very helpful to recognize which phase you're in so you can take best advantage of it, and not become frustrated when you can't, for example, be creative in your productive phase. I've recently learned how to stay in the creative phase longer. The next time you consciously find yourself in a Creative Phase, try to focus on the following:

1. Who you are

2. Where you want to go. In other words, your overall goals and mission

3. Doing what you are ideally suited to do, or finding out what you believe you are ideally suited to do.

These are big picture questions, which are what the Visionary focuses on. One thing that can really help you stay focused is to not only think about these 3 topics, but to pull out a pen and just start writing about them. You might not think it, but once you start writing, you'll be able to write a little more, and a little more, and a little more. And all this while you're focusing on big picture questions thus increasing your creativity! As I've pulled all my various projects into one common focus, I've noticed an increase in the time I spend in the creative phase.

In summary, to be successful in your own business or as an entrepreneur, you need to spend at least 50% of your time in the creative, visionary phase. In order to do this,

I. Work with your gifts. Focus on what you are truly suited to do best. This makes you happy, which keeps you motivated, which feeds your ability to be motivated, have passion, and stay driven.

II. Delegate or eliminate aspects of your work that that you don't like or don't do well. That isn't to say that you should never try to improve on something you don't think you do well. It just means that there are things you could do, but you don't enjoy it, you don't need to do it, and you could spend your time more productively doing something else.

III. Create an overall mission or focus for your life and your work and live in harmony with it. How can you be happy, and be a positive influence on others if you never think about and plan or think about doing the things in your life that you want to do?

Don't be frustrated if you're not the Visionary type, or if you don't want to be the Visionary type. Every successful small business must have a good strategist to figure out how to accomplish what the visionary dreams up. And every organization needs good technical people to do the tasks outlined by the strategists. No matter what your personality, though, you'll be happiest when you do what you are ideally suited to do.