Leadership - Personality - general
Personality - general
Likeability
Your personality defines who you are. It is fairly obvious that if you like someone you are much more willing to do things for them.
We often wrap up many characteristics when we say we ‘like’ someone, for example.
Admire and respect
You may appreciate what they have achieved but know little of their true personalities.
Enjoy
You might enjoy someone’s company and presence in the short term but have no insight into their long term and deeper nature.
Interest
You make like an air of mystery about an individual or have a respect for the way they think.
There are many other words (pleasant, cherish, appeal etc) and phrases, for example, ‘have a soft spot for’ or ‘take a shine to’.
However you define your like for someone it has a very large baring on your performance if you are ‘liked’.
That is not to say that you can not be a leader without being liked.
Leadership is about making often unpleasant decisions and we know that the position of leader is often a lonely one.
As a leader you will have a core personality. At times this personality will clash with the personality of others.
You must learn to adapt your behaviours to integrate with other personality types .
There are a few items to remember about personalities.
- There is no such thing as a good or bad personality.
- In the same vain your personality will have its strengths and weaknesses.
- Your true personality will come to the front during stress situations.
Like other areas of leadership ‘know yourself’. If you can understand your own personality well it will allow you to integrate better with others.
Assessing personality
There are many questionnaires available that can shed light on a variety of aspects of your personality and that of others.
Some examples are.
- The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI)
- FIRO-B. Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation – Behaviour.
- OPQ. Occupational Personality Questionnaire.
These are discussed in a little more detail elsewhere [see Myers Briggs Type Indicator, FIRO B and OPQ].
They each have their own advantages and disadvantages.
They can be taken in formal surroundings with professional feedback or online via the internet with less personal feedback.
There are some key reasons for assessing personality when looking at leadership.
- Leadership requires influencing skills and this is difficult to do when either you or the other person is under stress. A knowledge of personality differences will help this process.
- People will judge you on what they see so a good understanding of your own personality is essential.
- The way you manage, motivate and manage change will depend upon your own personality.
- The best leaders have approximately twice the amount of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) than IQ and skills alone.
In terms of your own personality there are 3 key points to think about.
- What exactly is your own personality ‘type’?
- How does it impact on others?
- How will you manage this impact on others?
Exercises
Apart from taking particular tests and filling in questionnaires there are other areas you may wish to investigate that may give you some insight into your personality.
Description
Write a few lines or a paragraph that describes your personality.
Utilise suitable adjectives, for example, structured, committed or intuitive.
Team dynamics
You must not only consider yourself or other individuals but you must think of the team as a living organism.
The whole team will have distinctive behaviour patterns. You may be an introvert and like to consider issues before making a judgement.
If so, you will feel uneasy in a group of people that are more extrovert who throw around ideas openly for discussion.
On the other hand if you are an extrovert you may consider the team lifeless and slow to respond.
Consider the team personality and how you may interact better.
Impact
Consider your personality carefully and how it may impact on individuals within and outside of the team.
How do you react in different situations? Are you happy with one person, relaxed with another and formal with another.
Think about your differing personalities and decide on whether they are appropriate.
You can add another dimension to this by considering what your personality is like at home, at work or while playing sports.
It may be useful to devise your own matrix which you can keep and review at intervals to see how you are progressing.
For example.
Down the rows you could identify a variety of adjectives describing your personality.
These may be cold, angry, friendly, disinterested, shy, forceful etc.
Across the columns you may have scenarios and individuals.
These could be, work, home, sport, children, team member (1), the boss, board member, client etc.
From a large array you may be able to spot a trend in the areas where you always appear to be angry or friendly.
It gives you something to think about.
On occasion it is up to you to choose the most suited personality for the situation.
Effect
Whenever we carry out an action we desire to create a particular effect.
We have an aim behind our actions. For example.
- You may wish to raise the standard of your team.
- Your wish is to clarify an issue.
- There may be a desire to communicate disapproval.
- There could be a desire to show your worth at a time of uncertainty.
- You might wish to convey an open and friendly manner etc.
In order to satisfy yourself that what you aimed for was the effect you created you will need a feedback loop.
You will have an aim, then a behavioural action and then an effect.
Was it the right one?
Constructive feedback can originate from many quarters.
- Your own views on the effect (less useful).
- From a trusted individual at work.
- From a family member or friend.
- Often a new employee, that doesn’t know you very well would be useful.
You may wish to gain feedback in particular ways.
- Get a general view of your personality.
- How did you come across in that particular situation (adaptive personality).
- How did you come across when under stress (fundamental personality).
If you then tell them what you were trying to achieve they may be able to give you some idea whether you achieved your aim.
Is there anything you need to change to get the desired result or modify to improve?