Locus of Control and Your Business

Locus of control is a term in psychology which refers to a person’s belief about what causes the good or bad results in their life, either in general or in a specific area such as health or academics. It can either be internal (meaning the person believes that they control themself and their life) or external (meaning they believe that their environment, some higher power, or other people control their decisions and their life). Understanding of the concept was developed by Julian B. Rotter in 1954 as an important aspect of personality. - Wikipedia

For some time, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of one’s Locus of Control.  Particularly in the differences in how people respond and act in the world, depending on if their locus of control is internal or external.

The most useful thing to know about Locus of Control is that it  seems to directly correlate with happiness, success, and the potential meaning that one can contribute to the world. (more)

Some basic observations about individuals and their Locus of Control:

External Locus of Control:

• The individual wonders why (x) happens to them.
• The individual’s emotions are dictated by their surroundings and surrounding events.
• The individual automatically responds to what happens around them, and are often in situations they don’t want to be a part of.

Internal Locus of Control:

• The individual wonders how they can affect the world.
• The individual’s emotions are dictated by how they chose to have them.
• The individual chooses how to responds to what happens around them, and often creates the situations they wish to be a part of.

But…the idea occurred to me, could the idea of Locus of Control be applied to the personality of a business?

The Locus of Control of a Business

Let’s look at the above situations and replace “individual” with “business.”

External Locus of Control:

• The business wonders why (x) happens to them.
• The business’s emotions and decisions are dictated by their surroundings and surrounding events.
• The business automatically responds to what happens around them, and are often in situations they don’t want to be a part of.

Internal Locus of Control:

• The business wonders how they can affect the world.
• The business’s emotions and decisions are dictated by how they chose to have them.
• The business chooses how to responds to what happens around them, and often creates the situations they wish to be a part of.

Where is your business’s Locus of Control?

If you’re not sure, look at the conversations you’ve had recently.  Responding to tight financial times is prudent – but are conversations around the water cooler and in meetings blaming your limited success on these external factors?  Or are you looking at what opportunities now exist that didn’t before, where your business can excel and capitalize?