Slide1: Personality and Leadership Donelson R. Forsyth


Slide2: Everyone is unique But everyone is similar, too, in some ways.


What is “Personality” : Personality ...a distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behavior, thoughts, motives, and emotions that characterizes an individual. The word personality comes from the Latin 'persona', meaning 'mask'. What is 'Personality'


Slide4: Levels of Personality Analysis Every human being is…


Slide5: The traits and mechanisms of personality that are typical of our species and are possessed by everyone or nearly everyone Human Nature Level The Need to Belong The Primal Need for a Leader


Slide6: Ways in which each person is like some other people; dimensions of variation among people Individual Differences Level Introverted Extraverted


Slide7: Every individual has personal and unique qualities not shared by any other person in the world Individual Uniqueness Level Consider a leader….what do these levels of analysis tell us about him or her and the way he or she leads?


What can personality tell us about leaders and leadership?: leadership emergence leadership methods and style leadership effectiveness followers’ reactions to leaders leaders’ reactions to leading What can personality tell us about leaders and leadership?


Questions to Consider: Questions to Consider Does Personality Influence….. who becomes a leader?


Trait theories of leadership: Trait theories of leadership Early explanations of leadership studied the 'traits' of great leaders 'Great man' theories (Gandhi, Lincoln, Napoleon) Belief that people were born with these traits and only the great people possessed them


Slide11: But researchers and reviewers (e.g., Stogdill), when they compared the characteristics of leaders to non-leaders, found few differences. A few characteristics were correlated with leadership, but the relationships were weak.


New Advances and Renewed Interest: Emerging consensus leaders do possess certain qualities that set them apart from other people. As Steve Zaccaro conclude in their chapter 'Leader Traits and Attributes' New Advances and Renewed Interest Better Measures Better Theory Better Methods Better Statistics    Example: Big Five Theory


Big Five Factors and Leadership: Big Five Factors and Leadership Personality  Leadership Emergence


Questions to Consider: Questions to Consider Does Personality Influence…. how one leads, when a leader? Leadership Style


Example: Fiedler’s Contingency Theory : Example: Fiedler’s Contingency Theory Fiedler studied various leaders and organizations Preferred to only study groups with clear indicators of effectiveness/ performance (e.g., teams with win/loss records) Revised and extended model based on data


Personality Variable : Personality Variable Motivational Structure or Leadership Style 'In oversimplified terms, … the leader manages the group in either of two ways. He can: Tell people what to do and how to do it. Or share his leadership responsibilities with his group members and involve them in the planning and execution of the task.' Fielder, Harvard Business Review, p. 116


Slide17: Measuring Motivational Style The Least Preferred Coworker Scale, or LPC scale. Think of the person who you least like to work with


LPC Scale: LPC Scale Think of a person with whom you can work least well. He or she may be someone you work with now or someone you knew in the past. This coworker does not have to be the person you like least but should be the person with whom you had the most difficulty in getting a job done.


Slide19: Pleasant :.8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.: Unpleasant Friendly :.8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.: Unfriendly . . . Insincere :.1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8.: Sincere Kind :.8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1.: Unkind . Low score = Task Motivated (57) High score = Relationship Motivated (63) (If 58-62, 'socioindependent'): ambivalent, mixed motivations, socially independent, not clear


Leadership and Type: Leadership and Type Guardians (SJ) Artisans (SP) Idealists (NF) Rationals (NT) Coordinators Engineers Advocates Mentors Operators Administrators Conservators Entertainers


Questions to Consider: Questions to Consider Does Personality Influence. . . who is effective as a leader?


Example: Fiedler’s Contingency Theory : High LPC leaders most effective in 'moderately' favorable situations Low LPC leaders most effective in very favorable or very unfavorable situations Example: Fiedler’s Contingency Theory


Example 2: Intelligence : Intelligent leaders: Are faster learners. Make better judgments, decisions. Are better at visioning and developing strategies to make their vision a reality. Can develop better solutions to problems. Depends, though, on 'type' of intelligence and situation Example 2: Intelligence


Fiedler’s Cognitive Resources Theory: Fiedler’s Cognitive Resources Theory Why do some highly intelligent leaders behave so poorly? Fiedler’s CRT suggests several factors important to consider: Experience Stress Relations with co-workers Directiveness of leader


Fiedler’s Cognitive Resources Theory: When stress is high, people fall back on experience. If inexperienced, high intelligence is of little help. So, even less intelligent individuals perform well under stress (if experienced). Other factors (e.g., directiveness) also important Implication: Monitor and regulate stress Fiedler’s Cognitive Resources Theory


Other Questions to Consider: Other Questions to Consider Does Personality Influence . . . how people relate to leaders? leadership emergence leadership methods and style leadership effectiveness followers’ reactions to leaders leaders’ reactions to leading


Other Questions to Consider: Other Questions to Consider Does Personality Influence. . . how leaders change over time? leadership emergence leadership methods and style leadership effectiveness followers’ reactions to leaders leaders’ reactions to leading Need for Power!