Leadership TraitsPersonalities & Emotions

Personalities

Personality•How would you define personality?

•The Sum total ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others.

Personality Determinants• Heredity:

▫Those factors determined at conception. ▫Physical stature, facial attractiveness, gender,

temperament, muscle composition and reflexes.• Environment:

▫Culture in which we are raised; ▫Our early conditioning; ▫Norms amongst family, friends and social groups

• Situation: ▫Influences the effects of heredity and

environment on personality.

Personality Traits•Enduring characteristics that describe an

individual’ behavior▫Examples:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)•A personality test that taps four

characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types▫Extroverted or Introverted (E or I)▫Sensing or Intuitive (S or N)▫Thinking or Feeling (T or F)▫Perceiving or Judging (P or J)

Key Terms on Personality•Self-Esteem

▫Individuals’ degree of liking or disliking themselves

•Self-Monitoring▫A personality trait that measures an

individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors

Personality Types•Type A

▫Aggressive involvement in chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time and, if necessary, against the opposing efforts of other things or other people

Type A’s•Are always moving, walking, and eating

rapidly•Feel impatient with the rate at which

most events take place•Strive to think or do two more things at

once•Cannot cope with leisure time•Are obsessed with numbers, measuring

their success in terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire

Type B’s•Never suffer from a sense of time urgency

with its accompanying impatience•Feel no need to display or discuss either

their achievements or accomplishments unless such exposure is demanded by the situation

•Play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their superiority at any cost

•Can relax without guilt

Role Play•In groups of 2-3 create a short play where you

highlight the differences between Type A and Type B personalities.

•Here are an examples or possible roles (You do not have to choose these however):▫Teacher▫Student Type A ▫Student Type B

•You will have up to 3 minutes to act out this play

Emotions

Emotions• Three terms closely intertwined

▫Affect, emotions, and moods• Affect:

▫A broad range of feelings that people experience▫Encompasses emotions & moods

• Emotions▫Intense feelings that are directed at someone or

something• Moods

▫Feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus

Emotional Labor•A situation in which an employee expresses

organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions

•Past examples…▫A flight attendant cheerful▫Funeral counselors sad▫Doctors emotionally neutral

•Present examples▫Courteous with co-workers▫Leaders giving speeches to draw on emotion

Felt vs. Displayed Emotions•Felt emotions:

▫An individual’s actual emotions•Displayed emotions:

▫Emotions that are organizationally required and considered appropriate in a given job

Gender and Emotions•Are women more “in touch” with their

feelings than men?

•Evidence does confirm differences between men and women when it comes to emotional reactions and ability to read other.

Evidence of Gender Differences•Women

▫Show greater emotional expression than men▫Experience emotions more intensely▫Report more comfort in expressing emotions▫Better at reading nonverbal and

paralinguistic cues than men.▫Display more frequent expressions of both

positive and negative emotions but…▫Anger

What explains these differencesThere are three suggestions:

1. Different ways genders have been socialized

Men=tough and brave…Women =nurturing Accounts for perception that women are

generally warmer and friendlier than men2. Women may have more innate ability to

read others and present their emotions than men

3. Women may have a greater need for social approval and, thus, a higher propensity to show positive emotions

Emotions and application •Emotional intelligence

▫An assortment of non-cognitive skills, capabilities, and competencies that influence a person’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures.

Emotional Intelligence Cont.▫Composed of five dimensions:

1. Self-awareness – Being aware of what your feeling

2. Self-management – The ability to manage one’s own emotions and impulses

3. Self-motivation – The ability to persist in the face of setbacks and failures

4. Empathy – The ability to sense how others are feeling

5. Social skills – The ability to handle the emotions of others

How do emotions play a role in…•Decision Making •Motivation•Leadership•Interpersonal Conflict•Deviant Workplace Behaviors

▫Employee Deviance: Voluntary actions that violate established norms and that threaten the organization, its members, or both.

Questions for Review1. What is emotional labor and why is it

important to understanding OB?▫ A situation in which an employee expresses

organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions

2. What is emotional intelligence and why is it important?

▫ An assortment of non-cognitive skills, capabilities, and competencies that influence a person’s ability to succeed in coping with environmental demands and pressures.

Critical Thinking1. What can managers do to manage

emotions?

2. Give some examples of situations in which the overt expression of emotions might enhance job performance.