Pop Quiz: What’s Your Workplace Personality?

Companies are increasingly turning to personality tests for everything from team bonding to helping to make decisions during the hiring process. While I don’t doubt the validity of some of these popular assessments, they can be a bit complex, especially for a busy entrepreneur who’s trying to quickly understand whether someone would be a good fit for a role or how to give a teammate the best chance of success. 

My advice for an entrepreneur considering this method is to simply pay attention to one core work personality trait: whether someone is a builder or a maintainer. Neither type is better than the other. They’re both important. It’s a dichotomy that I don’t hear talked about often, but I think is critical to understand. (Related: My Top Growth 3 Mindsets for Success)

As a leader, knowing the difference can help you plug the right people into your company at the right time to help it thrive. As an individual, recognizing which trait you lean toward can help you target roles that will leave you fulfilled rather than stressed or bored.

What’s the main difference between builders and maintainers? Read on to find out and discover where your own strengths lie.

Builder Personality Traits

Builders excel at taking a vision and making it a reality. They aren’t afraid of a blank canvas or trying to tackle something that hasn’t been done before. In fact, it energizes them. They also aren’t afraid to fail because they understand that there are inherent risks in doing something new, and know that true innovation involves some flops along the way. They tend to be the “wear a lot of hats” types at an organization: They jump in when needed, but as soon as a problem is solved they’re onto the next thing. (Related: Do You Have What It Takes to Start a Business?)

Almost every business needs a builder to launch it, so if you’re founding a company and think you’re more of a maintainer, you may want to find a builder as your partner. Regardless, you’ll definitely want to hire primarily (if not all) builders while your company gets off the ground. Builders are also great to bring in to fix a business that’s hit a downturn, or to hire as managers of a new product or venture within your company. They tend to be happiest at high-growth, early-stage companies (or in roles that mimic that), and may get bored at once a company gets further along and roles are more siloed and steady. 

Maintainer Personality Traits

Maintainers are best at following existing systems, and often make these processes work even better. They can take the structure builders have created and find ways to streamline systems, polish products and keep the company running at maximum efficiency. Rather than looking for something new to do every day, they feel fulfilled by doing the same thing day after day and knowing they do the best job at it. They’re the ones who will keep the cogs at your company turning for years to come. 

While having a maintainer or two on your team can be valuable from the start—especially for operational roles like COOs or lower-level positions hired to support builders in the day-to-day work—they will be some of the strongest hires as your business starts to stabilize and need more steady management than spaghetti-at-the-wall solutions. 

Are You a Builder or a Maintainer?

You probably already know which you are. But if you’re not sure, ask yourself the following questions:

1. When faced with a problem you don’t know how to solve, you prefer to...

1. Use your judgement to come up with a solution and then adjust if it doesn’t work
2. Talk to others about how they have dealt with this to inform your decision

2. Which mantra rings true to you?

1. Move fast and break things
2. Small steps every day can lead to great things

3. You prefer your responsibilities at work to be:

1. Constantly changing based on the needs of the organization 
2. Very clearly laid out so you know exactly what’s expected

4. You’d rather:

1. Create a new system from the ground up
2. Take an existing system and optimize it

5. When building IKEA furniture, you tend to:

1. Wing it without the manual—you’ll figure it out eventually
2. Follow the instructions

6. You take more pride in:

1. Doing something nobody’s done before
2. Being the absolute best at what you do

7. You’d rather be:

1. A generalist than a specialist
2. A specialist than a generalist

8. Other people tend to describe you as:

1. Bold and visionary
2. Steady and dependable

If you answered mostly “a,” you’re likely a builder; mostly “b” and you’ve probably got more of a maintainer mindset. 

Of course, like all personality traits, this is a spectrum. You may not fall entirely on one side or the other. But knowing which type you lean towards can help you carve a path for yourself that best uses your strengths to help companies succeed. 

I’d love to know: Are you a builder or a maintainer? How has it helped you in the working world?

You Might Also Like:

Why Authenticity is a Key Ingredient to Entrepreneurial Success, and How to Make Sure You Have It

Do You Have This Essential Leadership Trait?

How to Find Your Life Purpose

Let’s Connect! Find me on Twitter (@KaraGoldin), and DM me your burning business questions and/or comments. 

Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of San Francisco–based hint?, a healthy lifestyle brand that produces the leading unsweetened flavored water and a scented sunscreen spray that’s oxybenzone and paraben-free. She is also the founder of The Kara Network (TKN), an online resource for aspiring and thriving business-minded people. Listen to her podcast, Unstoppable, where she interviews founders, entrepreneurs, and disruptors across various industries and keep up with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.