Some History

I can too easily answer that question for myself – I’m a farmer, but then again, I am in the business of relationship marketing and a social worker at heart, so it makes sense. First off, let’s cover a little history. Let’s go way back – when we were nomadic people, yes, years back, like 10,000 years ago – and we were definitely by far hunters – finding our dinner, killing our dinner and moving on when the dinner had been depleted. Then we started to cultivate a bit more – agriculture started to take shape, and we slowly started working the land and planting gardens. We started adapting to the farming culture.

Then the concept of hunting versus farming was put along side with the origin of ADHD with the writings of Thom Harmann. His point of view was that medicating a child that might be better at hunting (i.e – easily distracted because they notice small movements in the brush) – the whole thought of scan, scan and pounce – so they can sit quietly at school teaching the ways of “farming” doesn’t make much sense at all. The farmer, when relating it to ADHD and a child, are the ones who are extremely good at endless hours of homework and projects, but just don’t ask them to switch gears very fast, which can be troublesome in our fast-paced and ever-changing world.

In the Business World

I can tell you, the whole hunter mentality I see alive and well in many entrepreneurs I meet. Are they ADHD/ADD? Many of my entrepreneur friends may not have been diagnosed with it, but they do joke about it!

So, let’s dive into what I view as the definitions and some pros and cons of each – now remember, these are my definitions:

Hunter – someone who is engaged in new business development – finding opportunities to push their feet and entire bodies in the door and making that sale. They take quick action and are not too concerned at building a lasting relationship as they need to fill their pipeline and get sales in the door. They prowl for the next sale then move on.

Characteristics: take charge, vision, aggressive, prospector, competitive, always be closing, pitcher, entrepreneurial spirit

Pros: great for start-up companies as they need business NOW; usually A-type personalities who get things done and can be laser-focus and accomplish incredible results in a short amount of time

Cons: usually are more focused on themselves instead of others as they want the sell now or they are moving on; always trying to sell; may not listen to find out the real issues with clients; usually no follow-up (on both ideas or prospects); mentality of one and done in many cases
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