Yes, Highly Sensitive People Can Be Entrepreneurs (And Even Have Competitive Advantages)

The Psychology of Highly Sensitive Entrepreneurs

Modern day entrepreneurial culture isn't heavy on the soft. The typical founder archetype reads something like a macho Marvel character: Sharp and strong with superior levels of risk tolerance and shark-like decision making, à la Daymond John and Barbara Corcoran.

As someone who studies the mind of entrepreneurs, I'll admit: Qualities that skew toward the masculine archetype are helpful in the arena of new venture creation (1). If a personality is wired too much for softness, the realities of entrepreneurship may simply be too harsh on their psychophysiology.

That said, there is real value in sensitivity for entrepreneurial work. Sensitivity offers a larger aperture through which ideas and insights can enter, as well as deeper processing that refines and extracts the value of those ideas. In fact, those who are wired with a dash (or two) of sensitivity may be more likely to self-select into entrepreneurship because of the unique adaptive advantages it bestows upon them.

Introducing: The Highly Sensitive Person.

Highly Sensitive People are defined by a nervous system that's particularly responsive to physical, emotional, or social stimuli, also known as Sensory Processing Sensitivity (2). Their nervous system operates at a lower threshold for arousal (think: the dam that keeps floodwater and debris out is lower than most), which makes them hypersensitive to both external stimuli, like lights, sounds, and smells, as well as internal stimuli, like emotions, hunger, and pain.

The systemic permeability of the Highly Sensitive Person means they experience the world with an intensity and depth of perception that can be both utterly overwhelming and existentially poetic. An innate trait rather than a disorder, it's estimated that 20% of the population is highly sensitive (3).

You might be a Highly Sensitive Person if you:

• Are easily overwhelmed by bright lights, strong smells, loud noises, scratchy materials, and other intense stimuli

• Often need to withdraw and seek moments of privacy in highly stimulating situations, like parties or family gatherings

• Experience deep and complex thoughts and feelings, and tend to be more emotionally sensitive

• Notice subtle patterns, details, and dynamics that others miss

• Enjoy nature, animals, beauty, art, and other peaceful pleasures

In full transparency, entrepreneurs who are highly sensitive will face plenty of struggles in their work: They're more likely to become overwhelmed when asked to do too many things at once, overstimulated at grabby networking events or (deep breath) open-layout offices, or overwrought with the emotional intensity of risk and ambiguity. To be receptive to every stimulus comes at a terrific cost.

But for those who harness the gifts of their sensitivities, while mitigating and caring for their vulnerabilities, entrepreneurs can find themselves with a unique edge while starting, running, and growing a business. Here are three competitive advantages of highly sensitive entrepreneurs:

1. Opportunity & Pattern Recognition

I was recently speaking with the founder of an app that's on nearly every twenty-to-thirty-somethings phone. He shared that, if he's good at anything, it's spotting high potential ideas and identifying patterns within people that indicate talent. I'll also add: He's mighty sensitive.

Without realizing it, he described two core strengths of Highly Sensitive People: Opportunity recognition and pattern recognition, the former being the ability to identify and capitalize on viable business opportunities, and the latter being the ability to identify and interpret patterns in both quantitive and qualitative data.

With a brain wired for heightened perception, sensitive entrepreneurs are constantly processing more information than their non-sensitive peers (4). This means that every subtle piece of data they collect — from conversations they overhear in the park to surprising feedback in user testing to a job candidate with an atypical resume — can be mined to give them an informational advantage.

2. Empathy-Based Value Extraction

One of my longtime friends is the founder of a successful leadership development firm. Never in my life have I met someone who has so many people benevolently and authentically wrapped around her little finger. While her network is not the grandest nor her team the most resource-flush, her EQ allows her to extract value from others with masterful ease.

This is because Highly Sensitive People possess spidey-sense social skills: They detect every wince, Duchenne smile, or shoulder softening. This social empathy allows them to empathetically personalize their interactions — whether motivating their team, giving feedback to employees, or pitching a stakeholder — to more effectively reach their goals (5). While their sensitivity might not always allow them to work as hard, it can allow them to work far smarter.

This hardwired EQ can also make them masters of impression management: They innately know when, how, and what to share to make themselves seem likable, competent, and trustworthy. Vulnerability is a common tool of the Highly Sensitive Person, allowing them to use their own life experiences as a source of inspiration, motivation, and social capital on their journey.

3. Existential Business Intelligence

As a Highly Sensitive Person myself, I've found that one of the greatest entrepreneurial advantages is what I like to call existential business intelligence. In other words, my sensitivity compels me to think (err, ruminate) not just about the who, when, or what, but also about the why. On my good days, I channel this fidgetiness to create things with depth, meaning, and resonance.

Highly Sensitive People rarely engage with life or work superficially — 'surface-level' is not part of our wiring, for better or worse. The intensity of our processing systems makes us more aware of the deeper consequences of our business decisions: Is my work helping people? Is my team happy? Is my product healthy? Is my business making a positive impact?

While some investors may argue that this existential-orientation may be benign at best or a liability at worst, the evidence would suggest otherwise: Entrepreneurs who truly care, whether it's through a full-blown social enterprise or a simple desire to take good care of their employees, find themselves with many competitive advantages, both financial and reputational (6).

What can you do if you're a highly sensitive person... and an entrepreneur?

First, as the saying goes, knowledge is power. The more you learn about your unique wiring, the better you can harness it. To that end, I highly recommend The Highly Sensitive Person by Dr. Elaine Aron and The Empath's Survival Guide by Dr. Judith Orloff. You might also enjoy my own book, Wired This Way, which covers topics including, but not limited to, entrepreneurial sensitivity.

Second, give yourself permission to care for yourself in deeper and more meaningful ways than your entrepreneurial peers. Know that you may have to create special strategies, like limiting in-person networking time, taking mid-day naps or nature walks, or growing your business at a slower tick, to create in a way that feels healthy and sustainable for you.

Third, play into your sensitivities. The more you try to play it cool, the faster you'll find yourself burnt out. The more you try to mask your sensitivities, the quicker they'll creep to the surface. If you embrace them, harness them, and even flaunt them, on the other hand, you'll find yourself discovering unknown skills and earning newfound respect.

Rough and tumble entrepreneurs can say what they want about the downsides of sensitivity. But psychologists, philosophers, and artists agree on one thing: The precursor for creativity is sensitivity; to be truly creative, one must be more porous, more receptive, more sensitive. After years of studying this work, I believe no one has captured this better than Pearl Buck...

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him... a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his very breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating.”― Pearl S. Buck

Sources

1. Gupta, V. K., Turban, D. B., Wasti, S. A., & Sikdar, A. (2009). The role of gender stereotypes in perceptions of entrepreneurs and intentions to become an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 33(2), 397-417.

2. Benham, G. (2006). The highly sensitive person: Stress and physical symptom reports. Personality and individual differences, 40(7), 1433-1440.

3. Boyce, W. T., & Ellis, B. J. (2005). Biological sensitivity to context: I. An evolutionary-developmental theory of the origins and functions of stress reactivity. Development and psychopathology, 17(2), 271–301.

4. Harms, R., Hatak, I., & Chang, M. (2019). Sensory processing sensitivity and entrepreneurial intention: The strength of a weak trait. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 12, e00132.

5. Engelbertink, A. (2018). The relationship between Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Entrepreneurship-the moderating role of extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

6. Palao, B. F. (2022, October 13). Making money and a positive impact. IE Insights. https://www.ie.edu/insights/articles/making-money-and-a-positive-impact/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20according%20to%20McKinsey,more%20revenue%20than%20traditional%20businesses.