From what I see in the organizations where I consult, we must prepare today’s leaders for an uncertain future. For progress to occur in nondestructive ways, we need strong, visionary leaders who can unleash the power of emerging technologies and manage global diversity for the benefit of the common good.
But the way we’ve chosen and developed leaders over the last 50 years will not serve us well in coming decades. Think about it: as we move from a manufacturing society, to a service based society, and in to a knowledge-creative based society, companies need leaders who can engage the workforce, manage people, and inspire collaboration and innovation.
Traditional approaches to leadership development merely scratch the surface. The real issues occur at foundational levels and are remedied only when directly addressed. Don’t get me wrong: Methods and practices are important, but companies benefit only when they delve into leadership personality.
Personality and Style
Researchers have exposed a profound truth: While stock prices, market share and material assets are important, softer factors determine true organizational strength. Employee engagement, job satisfaction and creativity play greater roles in performance, effectiveness and profitability.
Leadership personality and style are the most crucial factors in organizational strength, asserts psychologist and leadership consultant Ron Warren, PhD, in Personality at Work: The Drivers and Derailers of Leadership (McGraw-Hill Education, 2017). Human personality traits have remained constant throughout history, so any progress in leadership training depends on addressing them.
The spectrum of human personality is extremely complex, with experts debating its intricacies and nuances. Dr. Warren cites five behavioral traits that determine whether leaders will be beneficial or detrimental to their organizations. Each includes a pair of opposing behaviors.
5 Behavioral Traits
- Openness to other ideas / cautious or distrusting of other ideas
- Conscientious about their impact / careless about their impact
- Extroverted, people-oriented / introverted, socially uncomfortable
- Agreeable, cooperative / argumentative, confrontational
- Confident, at peace / neurotic, nervous
Every leader is an amalgam of these behaviors, which are demonstrated verbally and non-verbally. Each leader is a unique “personality package,” exhibiting these behaviors along a spectrum. Dr. Warren harnesses the power of these behaviors to identify four key personality dimensions that affect organizational success.
4 Personality Dimensions
- Social intelligence and teamwork (a positive trait)
- Deference (negative)
- Dominance (negative)
- Grit/task mastery (positive)
I’ll be taking a deeper dive into these dimensions in my next post, but in the meantime, I encourage you to consider how leadership personality has impacted your organization. And as always, I’d love to hear from you. You can call me at 561-582-6060, or I can be reached here or on LinkedIn.
