Leadership and Personality

PersonalityPersonality

Psychological characteristics

Stable over time and across situations.

A set of characteristics rather than one trait

Makes the person unique and different from others

Personality has two meanings:

The first meaning refers to the impression a person makes on others

The second meaning refers to the underlying , unseen structures and processes inside a person that explain why we behave the way we do.

Personality Traits and LeadershipTraits refer to recurring regularities or trends in a person’s behavior.

The trait approach to personality maintains that people behave the way they do because of the strengths of the traits they possess.

Personality Traits and Leadership (continued)

Personality traits are useful concepts for explaining why people act fairly consistently from one situation to the next.

Knowing how two people differ on a particular personality trait can help us predict more accurately how they will tend to act in a variety of situations.

Personality Traits and Leadership (continued)A leader’s behavior reflects an interaction between his or her personality traits and various situational factors:Weak situationsStrong situations

Personality Traits

Personality Traits: Include tendencies to be enthusiastic, demanding, easy-going, nervous, etc.Each trait can be viewed on a continuum, from low to high.

There is no “wrong” trait, but rather leaders have a complex mix of traits.

Locus of Control The degree to which leaders believe they

control their own fate Internal Locus of Control: Leaders

believe they are responsible for their fate. See their actions as important to achieving

goals

External Locus of Control: Leaders believe outside forces are responsible for their fate. Their actions make little difference in

achieving outcomes

Leaders need an Internal Locus of Control!

Less anxious

Set harder goals

Manage stress well and adapt to change

More considerate of followers and less

likely to use coercive power

Internal CEOs select risky and

innovative strategies

Characteristics of IndividualsCharacteristics of Individualswith Internal Locus of with Internal Locus of ControlControl

Other Traits

Self-esteem Attitudes

Need for achievement Moods

Need for affiliation Job Satisfaction

Need for power Organizational

commitment

Values Perception

The Big Five Model of Personality( Five Factor Model of Personality )Associated with bright-side or positive personality traits.

Research has shown that thousands of traits distill down to five broad personality dimensions:Surgency: interacting with and influencing

others; composed of dominance and sociability

Dependability: persistence at work, reliability, and conformance to instructions; made up of achievement orientation, conformity, organization, and credibility

The Big Five Model of PersonalityAgreeableness: getting along with others;

consists of friendliness, empathy, and popularity

Adjustment: how one reacts to stress and criticism; composed of emotional stability and self-acceptance

Intellectance: how one reacts to new experiences; intellectual curiosity

The Five Factor Model of PersonalityFive Factor Dimensions

Traits Behaviors/Items

Surgency Dominance

Sociability

I like having responsibility for others.

I have a large group of friends.

Agreeableness Empathy

Friendly

I am a sympathetic person.

I am usually in good mood.

Dependability Organization

Credibility

Conformity

Achievement orientation

I usually make “to do” lists.

I practice what I preach.

I rarely get into trouble.

I am a high achiever.

Adjustment Steadiness

Self-acceptance

I remain calm in pressure situations.

I take personal criticism well.

Intellectance I like traveling to foreign countries.

I like new ideas and initiatives.

Big Five ModelAdvantages of the Big Five Model

Most personality researchers currently use one form of the Big Five Model

The model is usefully categorizedIt is a useful heuristic (shortcut)for

categorizing or profiling peopleIt appears to be universally applicable across

cultures

Big Five Model (cont.)Disadvantages of the Big Five Model

Some argue that five factors are not enough to adequately encompass all the different personality traits

The Big Five personality dimensions tend to be fairly heterogeneous internally, which makes them poor predictors of job performance as compared to personality traits.

Dark-side Personality TraitsDark-side personality traits are irritating or

counterproductive behavioral tendencies which interfere with a leader’s ability to form cohesive teams and cause followers to exert less effort towards goal accomplishment.

Dark-Side Personality TraitsArgumentative

Interpersonal insensitivity

Narcissism

Dark-Side Personality Trait, continuedFear of failure

Perfectionism

Impulsivity

Dark-Side Personality TraitsEveryone has at least one dark-side

personality trait.Dark-side traits have bigger influence on

performance for people in leadership versus followership roles.

The dark-side traits are usually only apparent when leaders are not attending to their public image.

Dark-Side Personality TraitsDark-side traits co-vary with social skills and

are difficult to detect in interviews, assessment centers, or with bright-side personality inventories.

The behaviors associated with dark-side personality traits can occur at any leadership level, and many times organizations tolerate these behaviors because the leader is smart, experienced, or possesses unique skills.

Personality TraitsMBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)

Preferences distinguish one personality from another, based on four basic dimensions used to create one of 16 possible psychological stylesExtraversion-and-introversionSensing-and-intuitionThinking-and-feelingJudging-and-perceiving

Personality Traits (cont.)

MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator)Curphy Version

MBTI Sample

Extraversion-and-IntroversionThe extraversion-and-introversion

dimension is fundamentally concerned with where people get their energy. Some leaders are naturally gregarious and outgoing. Their spontaneous sociability makes it easy for them to strike up conversations with anyone about almost anything. Not surprisingly, such extraverts have a breadth of interests and a large circle of acquaintances. They are energized by being around others, but their tendency to “think out loud” and speak whatever is on their mind can sometimes get them into trouble.

Extraversion-and-Introversion (cont.)Other leaders are more comfortable

alone, or with just a few others. Introverts can interact effectively with others, but they are fundamentally both more reserved and more deliberate than extraverts. Introverted leaders prefer to think things through and only announce their final decisions, and followers may have a difficult time understanding the process the leaders used to reach his or her conclusions.

Sensing-and-IntuitionThe sensing-and-intuition dimension is

concerned with how people look at data. Leaders who prefer their sensing mode like facts and details; the focus of information gathering concerns the real, the actual, the literal, the specific, and the present. Hence, sensing leaders tend to be practical, orderly, and down-to-earth decision makers. By contrast, leaders who rely on their intuition look for the big picture beyond particular facts or details; information is most meaningful for its pattern, framework, figurative meaning, and future possibilities. Intuitive leaders tend to be innovative and conceptual (though sometimes impractical), and are more comfortable with their hunches.

Thinking-and-FeelingThe thinking-and-feeling dimension is

concerned with the considerations leaders prefer when making decision. Thinking leaders like to analyze, criticize, and approach decisions impersonally and objectively. They use their heads to adopt a relatively detached stance toward decisions and pay more attention to operational, bottom-line considerations. Feeling leaders naturally empathize and appreciate, and prefer to approach decisions personally and subjectively. They value humaneness and social harmony and use their hearts to weigh the impact of any decision on particular people.

Judging-and-Perceiving The judging-and-perceiving dimension

has to do with the amount of information a leader needs before feeling comfortable making a decision. Judging leaders strive for closure; they like things to be settled and come across as decisive, methodical and organized. Judgers get nervous before decisions are made and only want a minimal amount of information when making decisions. Although they make up their minds quickly, they may not have all relevant facts and as a result make poorer decisions.

Judging-and-Perceiving (cont.) Perceiving leaders like to keep their

options open; they are curious, spontaneous, and flexible. Perceivers prefer to collect as much information as possible before making a decision or a commitment. Perceivers often get nervous after a decision is made, as they may not feel that enough information was collected or data was analyzed.

Implications Implications for leaders and managers

types and preferences: Knowing about preferences can help one understand why people act differently and why working with people with different preferences can be a source of conflict. However, preference types are fairly controversial and sometimes can be misused.

There are no certain personality traits that will guarantee one will be a successful leader or manager

The impact of any personality trait on behavior will vary with the situation.