Are You a Doer or a Gunner?

When people ask me [writes Caroline, our chief exec] what I do, they often respond with, how did you come up with that idea? I'd love to have done that. I want to start my own business. My answer is: why didn't you, then?

I think I know the answer – it’s because we all tend to fall into one or the other camp when it comes to getting things done. But to start and run a business, you need to have both tendencies working for you – the doer and the gunner.

If you identify yourself as a gunner, you tend to be a visionary. You’re ‘gonna’ start a business, you’re ‘gonna’ provide an innovative new product or service to a niche market. Trouble is, ‘gunners’ are people don’t necessarily get that much done. So, they either need to crack on a bit, or get a great team around them who are willing to put their plans into action. Do you think Alan Sugar got where he got to by himself? He had to have people with him, who could carry his ideas out and assist him with getting things done.

On the other side of the mountain we’ve got the ‘doers’ – the practical, hard-working grafters who keep plodding away. They will do and do and do until the sun goes down, and at their most extreme they won’t necessarily question whether they’re working on the most central tasks or not. The doers are not likely, without a lot of prompting, to take a step back and ask themselves whether they are still busy with the right things, whether they’re still going in the right direction to achieve the goals that mean the most to them or whether they need to do their least favourite thing – step back and have a re-think.

Who’s right? Which is best?

In truth we all have a bit of each in us and a tendency each way. Without the visionary moments, you wouldn’t ever get out of bed, and without the serious work at the millstone, none of those ideas would have borne fruit. Try making a list of everything you’ve achieved in your life so far, and see where your gunner and your doer were dominant, or not dominant enough.

The chances are, it’s a bloody long list – so keep it, celebrate it, and keep dreaming and doing.