Reference Profile Series: The Venturer Manager

The Venturer stands as one of the rarest profiles in the workforce - representing only 3.31% of the population. These self-starting risk-takers bring a unique combination of analytical thinking and bold action that can transform organizations when properly understood and positioned.

Click HERE to get your very own Reference Profile

Related TBC Episodes:

• Head, Heart, and Briefcase

1. The Collaborator Manager
2. The Operator Manager
3. The Promoter Manager
4. The Altruist Manager
5. The Strategist Manager
6. The Guardian Manager
7. The Specialist Manager
8. The Maverick Manager
9. The Artisan Manager
10. The Persuader Manager
11. The Captain Manager
12. The Controller Manager
13. The Adapter Manager
14. The Scholar Manager
15. The Analyzer Manager
16. The Individualist Manager

HERE ARE MORE RESOURCES FROM REAL GOOD VENTURES:

Never miss a good opportunity to learn from a bad boss...

We use The Predictive Index as our analytics platform so you know it's validated and reliable.  Your Reference Profile informs you of your needs, behaviors, and the nuances of what we call your Behavioral DNA.  It also explains your work style, your strengths, and even the common traps in which you may find yourself.  It's a great tool to share with friends, family, and co-workers.

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Provide your feedback HERE, please!  We love to hear from our listeners and welcome your thoughts and ideas about how to improve the podcast and even suggest topics and ideas for future episodes.

Visit us at www.realgoodventures.com.  We are a Talent Optimization consultancy specializing in people and business execution analytics.  Real Good Ventures was founded by Sara Best and John Broer who are both Certified Talent Optimization Consultants with over 50 years of combined consulting and organizational performance experience.  

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Venturer Profile
• 2:10 Venturer Drives, Needs and Behaviors
• 6:20 Signature Work Styles of Venturer Managers
• 9:24 Strengths and Common Traps
• 11:34 How to Work with Venturers
• 13:12 Coaching and Developing Venturers
• 18:41 Final Thoughts and Resources

Transcript

John Broer: 0:04

Welcome back to The Bossh ole Chronicles. Everyone out there in The Bossh ole Transformation Nation. Well, guess what? You are tuning in for the final installment of our PI Reference Profile series regarding managers. And we talk about a lot of other stuff regarding the reference profiles, but guess what? This is number 17, the Venturer reference profile. If you look in the show notes, you will see links to every other one of the 17 reference profiles, and this has been a great journey to help broaden our listeners' understanding of the ever-important reference profiles. Let's learn about the Venturer.

John Broer: 0:51

The Bossh ole Chronicles are brought to you by Real Good Ventures, a talent optimization firm helping organizations diagnose their most critical people and execution issues with world-class analytics. Make sure to check out all the resources in the show notes and be sure to follow us and share your feedback. Enjoy today's episode. So, in preparing for this final installment of our reference profile series episodes and today we're going to be talking about the venture I couldn't really remember when we started this I thought it was earlier this year because you know we thought, hey, let's start to roll these out and give people some really good, in-depth information about each of the individual reference profiles. Well, guess what? We started this in September of 2024. I cannot believe it. We've had so many other episodes jump in and we've spaced these out on purpose, but I can't believe it's been a year. So I'm really excited to deliver and offer to you our final episode in the reference profile series and wrap this thing up, and now you will have an entire list of all 17 of the PI reference profiles. As it relates to being a manager and, of course, we are always trying to help our managers and our supervisors stay out of the boss hole zone but this information applies to everybody. You know everybody has their own unique behavioral DNA and you can find out what that is in the show notes. Just go in and use the link and we'll send you your reference profile description. But, especially if you're a manager or a supervisor, you need to know this stuff and you need to work with your people about this stuff. So we're hoping that this series has been helpful.

John Broer: 2:38

But today, talking about the Venturer, the Venturer represents 3.31% of the human population. That is only second lowest to the Analyzer. Venturers are kind of a rare breed when you think about. Well, we started with collaborators and collaborators are, you know, somewhere around 11% of the population. Venturers represent a much smaller segment of the human population and, as we've done in the past, we're going to talk about the Venturer from a high. We've done in the past, we're going to talk about the Venturer from a high level, talk about the drives, needs and behaviors and then get into signature work style, strengths, common traps, etc. So what do we know about the Venturer?

John Broer: 3:14

The Venturer is a self-starting, self-motivating and goal-oriented risk taker. All right, just remember that it actually falls into a category of what we call our analytical profiles. And those analytical profiles tend to have lower extroversion and that doesn't mean they don't like people. It means they tend to be more introspective. That's a word we prefer to use. So when you start to think about the average pattern of a venture and remember that pattern shows up when you complete the assessment we look at those four primary drives dominance, extroversion, patience and formality. And it's very unique because in a venturer pattern the average pattern has one high factor to the right of the midpoint and the other three are on the low side of the midpoint. Now it will come as no surprise with the term Venturer that the dominance is the highest factor. It is the one furthest to the right and, of course, dominance is the drive to exert influence on people and events. Well, the low factors for a Venturer are the extroversion, the patience and the formality which leads to a combination of those factors and those drives that is reflected in their needs and their behaviors.

John Broer: 4:33

So what are the felt needs of a venturer? Well, they need independence. They really need opportunity to reflect. That's from that low extroversion. It's like, you know. Let me think about this, let me reflect on this. They like variety, so if things get too stagnant they can get a little bit frustrated. And then, finally, freedom from structure and rules. Now, this is interesting because the Venturer, like the Captain Persuader and just a couple of other reference profiles, have something that's called a corporate cutback or a corporate hook, which is just a unique characteristic in their patients and their formality drives and how they combine. So, while ventures need freedom from structure and rules, they do understand how important structure and rules are, so it's not a free-for-all. They understand that you have to have some structures and rules, but they don't want to be hemmed in by them necessarily.

John Broer: 5:33

So how do these needs actually translate into behaviors, the sort of things that we see in venturers? Well, for example, they can be very assertive. They tend to be analytical Let me think it through. You know more introspective. I just want to process this. They can be driving. There is a task orientation and a proactive nature to them, and also non-conforming. That non-conformity is also associated with that proactive nature, but also their comfort with risk. In other words, let's just, hey, why not try something new? Let's not conform to these specific rules because they may not be serving us very well. That would be something that is very comfortable for a venturer.

John Broer: 6:18

Now let's think of it in terms of a manager. What are the signature work styles of a venturer manager? Well, when it comes to communicating and those of you that you know are working for a venturer manager, you may experience this they tend to be very direct, factual, outspoken and frank. Some of their communication can be very blunt and that can come off as being authoritative. So that's how they communicate.

John Broer: 6:45

How do they delegate? There is a hesitation to delegate major authority or responsibility, and that's different than delegating tasks and activities. Giving up authority and control is more challenging for a venture, so they will delegate details freely, but giving up authority and control is tougher for a venture. When it comes to decision-making, they can be very innovative, great problem solvers and they really tend to value their own judgment versus the judgment of other people. It does not necessarily mean they don't receive it and process it. It's just that there is a level of confidence that venturers tend to have in their own assessment and judgment when making decisions.

John Broer: 7:37

And then, finally, how do these venture managers deal with action and risk? Well, they are very comfortable taking initiative. On average, the widest factor combination is that dominance to the right of that patience. We call that an A over C factor combination, very proactive. They don't need a lot of prompting to do something and they are willing to take risks. So for a venture manager, this is really important for you to know. These are your natural work styles and, of course, those work styles are going to offer up all kinds of experiences for your direct reports, including strengths and ways you help them, but also common traps. So let's take a look at them.

John Broer: 8:23

The strengths of a venture manager or director or anybody, any kind of venture they are comfortable driving change and challenging the status quo. No reason to think that we have to be stuck in one particular place. Let's challenge it. They are also able to think in a big picture way and anticipate problems. In other words, see around those corners and anticipate what's coming down the road. And then, finally, they have a very purposeful approach to most situations and people, very intentional, and I would even say that intentionality is backed up by being very thoughtful, that lower extroversion encourages them, or they are wired for that reflection or that introspection, rather than perhaps jumping to a rash or quick decision. They will be very purposeful when it comes to their approach with people.

John Broer: 9:18

Now, on the other side of that coin, there are some common traps with which our venturers need to deal. For example, they can appear to be very tough-minded and directive. It may not seem that way to them but, being very pragmatic, very task-focused, they can seem tough-minded to other people. They may be dissatisfied or uncomfortable. Working under close supervision, that dominance, that proactive nature, the comfort with risk, it's like, hey, give me independence, I don't need you to babysit me, I can do this. And if there is too much supervision or too much oversight, that can make them feel very uncomfortable. And then, finally, don't be surprised when a venturer does not adhere to structure or direction. Bending the rules a little bit may feel very comfortable for you. It may be confusing for your direct reports, but those are some of the common traps that venturers experience. Now, what's the best way for us to work with them? And I would say that this is helpful for any direct reports.

John Broer: 10:27

If you report up to a venturer or a manager, if you have venturers on your team, these are the ways you really want to work well with them. First of all, keep things at a very high level. Venturers are more concerned about achieving goals than the details needed to get there. There could be many ways to be able to get to that end result. So keep things on a high level. Don't micromanage them. Let them prove themselves. What venturers don't need is for you to be in their business every single moment. If this person is a venturer, that will not work for them. And then, finally, when venturers are moving forward, don't slow them down. Don't throw up a bunch of roadblocks. They thrive on getting things done. So all that to say that you've got somebody here in a venture who is very task-focused, proactive and comfortable with risk. Just be careful not to throw up a bunch of roadblocks that get in their way. All right.

John Broer: 11:26

So, as we've done in all of these, let's shift gears a little bit and provide some guidance about how to manage a venture. So, whether you're a venture manager or a manager with one of the other 16 reference profiles, if you've got a venture on your team, this is going to help you understand how to work with them. So first thing we talk about is how to motivate and recognize a venture. What you want to do is to provide them with opportunities to compete and prove themselves. It helps to drive them. They are naturally competitive. You don't have to stoke that fire very much. They are naturally competitive, but you want to give them that platform to really drive things forward. Assign them a variety of projects. They could lose focus and excitement if they have to do a lot of repetitive work. I know that's true for me as a captain, and I know that have to do a lot of repetitive work. I know that's true for me as a captain and I know that's true for a lot of those innovation and agility reference profiles like the Maverick and the Persuader. Venture is the same way, and be careful not to micromanage them. Coming back to that one, they are uncomfortable working under close supervision and if you are a manager, that really needs to feel like you are attentive to what people are doing. Try to do that from a distance if it's possible, because, again, if the venture feels like you are hovering, that's going to stifle their productivity for sure.

John Broer: 12:52

Now, what do you do when providing direction and feedback with a venturer? Well, first of all, stick to the facts and keep it direct when giving feedback. Don't make it a bunch of conjecture or speculative. Stick with the facts. Also, give them high-level direction or expectations, but let them determine the process for achieving results. Give them some ownership of how this thing moves forward. So, in other words, providing them with what success looks like could be enough, and then some parameters of how to get there. And then let them go and position the work as a challenge or a problem needing to be solved. They enjoy the quest of finding the best solution, again, task-focused, proactive, comfortable with risk. That direction and feedback doesn't require a whole lot of detail parameters and what the destination should look like, and then step back and let that creativity flow.

John Broer: 13:51

Now, when delegating, I think it probably comes as no surprise. Don't delegate a lot of repetitive work or details. It's not that they can't do it all right, that's just not optimizing who they are and realize that you may have to ask them to adapt and do that, but it can't be only repetitive and detailed work. And then, when you are delegating, find those things that are challenging or require innovation. Those kinds of projects are great for venturers. Now, remember, this is only a little over 3% of the population, so you may not have a lot of venturers around you. That's why having this data is so powerful, because it helps you to know where and to whom you should be assigning this kind of work on all levels.

John Broer: 14:40

And then, as we've done, let's talk a little bit about coaching, and I can't stress this enough. Coaching is different than managing. We would love our managers and our supervisors and our developers of people to truly embrace and understand what coaching is all about. And so, when it comes to coaching, and specifically coaching a venturer, help them become more aware of the viewpoints and ideas of other people. They could get going so fast that they overlook that, so direct them back to the viewpoints and appreciation of the ideas that other people can provide, because they have a strong sense of value about their own opinions and ideas, and it's not that they're wrong, it's just that they also need to include others or think about others.

John Broer: 15:27

Another one is ask them how their risk-taking approach may affect others on the team who may not gravitate to challenges or risk as much as they do, and what they can do to ease those concerns. If a venture is not self-aware, they could move so fast and with a comfort level of risk that is completely foreign to other members of the team. So they have to be aware of that and, again, that's why we use this kind of data with individuals and with teams, because it helps you to gain that introspection, that insight and self-awareness. Then consider its impact on other people around you and from that you are able to adapt. So this coaching helps them to think about it from another person's perspective.

John Broer: 16:30

No-transcript like a venturer to tackle again. Give them an overview of the direction you would like to head, what success might look like, parameters that they should consider, and give it to them to go and just ponder it, just think about it. Time to go off and leverage that introspective nature of their wiring, their behavioral DNA, and review and process it. And then plan to get together with them and hear their ideas. Because, again, that innovation, that creativity that naturally flows from a venturer is something you really want to tap into and give them an opportunity to have some ownership in how things move forward.

John Broer: 17:18

So, as you can see, the Venturer presents, like all the other reference profiles, a very unique set of capabilities and characteristics and traits that are unique to a team and unique to a project. You just want to be able to optimize all of that. So there you have the Venturer Reference Profile. As a reminder, go into the show notes. You can find a link where you can take the behavioral assessment that we use, the one from Predictive Index. It'll take you less than 10 minutes to complete it and we'll send you your one-page reference profile description.

John Broer: 17:56

And now you have all 17 reference profile episodes at your fingertips to be able to help you understand more effectively what your own reference profile is, build your own self-awareness, your understand the impact on other people and the adaptation you can employ to be more effective, and you also have information on all of your direct reports, as long as you know what their reference profiles are. So keep checking back to the Boss Hole Chronicles for different types of episodes. I've got some things in mind for other series that we know would be helpful, but it was good to have you joining and keep listening in and we will see you next time on the Boss Hole Chronicles. Thanks very much for checking out this episode of the Boss Hole Chronicles. It was so good to have you here, and if you have your own Boss Hole story that you want to share with the Boss Hole Transformation Nation, just reach out. You can email us at mystoryatthebossholechroniclescom. Again, mystoryatthebossholechroniclescom, we'll see you next time.