Personality Types and Leadership

Abstract

This article will examine the relationship between personality types and leadership, exploring the ways that personality traits can influence the leadership style and effectiveness of an individual. This is highly related to project management since every team within an organization, e.g. a team of people working together on a project or an interdisciplinary team within the organization, requires a good leader. There are a few leadership styles a team leader can use to his or her advantage, but a leadership style should be compatible with the type of person the leader is and align with their values.

Leadership styles have been in constant development throughout the years and it is interesting to connect them to the sixteen personality types, defined by Myers-Briggs. Personality traits play a significant role in shaping individual behavior, including the behavior of leaders. A review of the current literature suggests that some personality traits are commonly associated with successful leaders, such as extroversion, emotional intelligence, and openness to experience.

Extroversion, which refers to outgoing and sociable behavior, is often linked to leadership effectiveness as it allows leaders to build strong relationships with their followers. Emotional intelligence, or the ability to understand and manage emotions, is also seen as an important personality trait for leaders as it allows them to effectively handle complex situations and respond to the needs of their followers. Additionally, openness to experience, or a willingness to try new things and embrace change, can lead to innovative leadership strategies that can drive organizational success.

It is important to note that the relationship between personality and leadership is complex and not always straightforward. While personality can influence a leader's behavior and decision-making, situational and organizational factors also play a critical role in determining leadership effectiveness.It is also important to note, that effective leadership does not only depend on personality traits, but also other factors that reach beyond, such as experience, training, and other situational factors, that will not be taking into an account in this article.

Personality types, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI):

The history of personality types (MBTI)

In the 1940s, Kathrine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, developed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It was based on the work of a Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung, who developed a model of eight combinations of psychological types. Briggs and Myers were interested in understanding people‘s natural inclinations and preferences, as they believed it could help individuals choose their right career, find fulfilling relationships, and improve their communications with other people.

The MBTI is based on the idea that there are four basic differentiations of personality: Extraversion (E) vs Introversion (I), Sensing (S) vs Intuition (N), Thinking (T) vs Feeling (F), and Judging (J) vs Perceiving (P). These differentiations form sixteen possible personality types, which are each represented by a four-letter code (e.g. INFJ, ESTP). Initially, the MBTI was used in the workplace, as Briggs and Myers believed that it could help companies better understand their employees and improve their team dynamics. Today, the MBTI is used in a variety of settings,, including career counseling, personal development and relationship counseling. However, the test is not is not without controversy, as some psychologists have criticized its validity and reliability. Some have even argued that it oversimplifies complex human behavior.

MBTI personality types:

Extroversion (E) vs Introversion (I)

Energy is one of the biggest part of what Carl Jung focused on in his studies, but he examined where peoples complementary attitudes or orientations of energy laid.

Extraverted people have their energy flow out to the objects and the people in their environment. They tend to be outgoing, assertive, and get energized by social interactions. Often, they rely on their environment for stimulation and guidance and are eager to interact with the outer world. Extraverts are often sociable, enjoy group activities, and are more likely to think out loud.

Introverts however, tend to be reserved, and reflective. Their energy is drawn from the environment toward inner experience and reflection. They often get their energy from spending time by themselves and prefer to spend time alone or in small groups., while introverts prefer quiet environments and are more likely to think before they speak.

Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)

There are two types of how people perceive their experiences and their surroundings, by sensing or by intuition. Sensing refers to establishing what already is, and bringing awareness to what is happening in the present moment. People who are sensors tend to focus on the concrete, observable data, and details. Intuition refers to the perception of possibilities, the perception of the unconscious. People who are more intuitive than sensing may become more imaginative, theoretical, and creative, since focusing on abstract ideas and concepts comes easy to them. To conclude, sensors prefer tasks that are practical and familiar, while intuitives prefer tasks that are novel and creative.

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)

How people use their judgment can also be divided into two main groups: thinking and feeling. Those that naturally gravitate towards being a thinker, are the people that come to a decision by connecting the dots very logically. Their thinking relies on cause and effect principles, and tend to be both objective and impersonal, in relation to their decision making. Persons who are more thinking than feeling are generally objective, have analytical inclination, and prioritize logic and objective criterias in their decision making.

On the other hand, those who are more on the feeling side of the spectrum, rely much more on relative values and is more subjective. It relies on the understanfding of both the personal values, as well as the group values. People who are more feelers than thinkers, try more to understand people and take their feeling into an account when making a decision. Typically, they prioritize empathy, harmony, and subjective values in their decision making.

Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

Orientations to the outer world, or attitudes, can also be divided into two categories: judging and perceiving attitude. An individual with a judging attitude tends to be concerned with decision making, wants closure, and organization. For people with a judging attitude, their perception tends to be shut off as soon as they have observed enough to make a decision. Judging people might find it difficult to cope with ambiguity or uncertainty.

Person with a perceiving attitude is often open, curious and interested. Their outer behavior usually seems to be spontaneous, and they are open to what is new and changeable. They tend to be flexible, adaptable, and prefer to keep their options open, and may have it difficult to stick to a plan or make decisions quickly.

Leadership styles

Different leadership styles

A leadership style implies to how leaders develop their strategy, implement their plans, communicate with their team members, and respond to changes. It can differ in methods, the leaders characteristics, and their behaviour in relation to their facilitation, their motivation to their team members, and how they essentially manage their teams. It is shaped by variable factors, such as the leaders personality, their skills, their values, and of course their experience.

The six most common leadership styles

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is one of the most prominent leadership style.

The leader ensures that the transformation takes place when the required behavior is performed as a whole. He takes control of the situation, communicates with the group and creates a common vision for the team members. By creating unity, develop bonds, create energy, and installing passion, he makes sure that his team will succeed.

This leadership style has faced a lot of criticisms because it revolves around motivation and morality, for not being ethical, since it’s based on emotional factors not rational, and The characteristics of a successful transformational leader, is that the leader needs to be creative, have good communication skills and represent a change. He needs to have emotional endurance, be charismatic and carry a mindset of lifelong learning.

Delegative Leadership

- Focus on delegating initiative to team members

- Known as one of the least intrusive forms of leaderships, and is very hand-off leadership style

- Leaders who adopt this style have trust and rely on the employees to do their job, they don’t micromanage or get too involved in giving either feedback or guidance

- Leaders with this leadership style allow their employees to use their creativity, resources, and experience to help them reach their milestones/goals

- Can be a successful strategy if the team members take responsibility for their work and are competent

- This leadership style can lead to disagreements among employees/team members and may create a split or divide a group

- Can be a difficulty or the team members to understand who is ultimately in charge and responsible for outcomes

Authoritative Leadership

- Leaders with this leadership styles consider themselves as mentors, and are often referred to as visionaries

- Emphasizes a ‘follow me’ approach

- Motivate and inspire the people around them

- Provide an overall direction and give guidance, feedback, and motivation to their team members

- This leadership style relies on getting to know each team member, and allows the leader to provide both feedback and guidance on a personalized level

- Leaders need to be adaptable, especially when their team grows

- Very hands-on leadership styles, and leaders must be careful not to micromanage

Transactional Leadership

Transactional leadership style is a leadership style that relies on rewards and punishments, and is best described as a transaction between the employees and the organization. A transactional leader uses various methods and exhibits various behaviors to achieve specific goal, that are based on that rewards will have a positive impact on the team members and punishments will have a negative impact. The leader puts a clear emphasize on structure, and decides on the teams rewards and punishments. Every employee has a role or a responsibility, and the team works together towards their reward.

Multiple studies have shown that there is a positive association between transactional leadership and follower’s trust in their leader, as well as job satisfaction.

Participative Leadership

Participative leadership is democratic leadership style. Where team members are participating within the decision-making process. It is widely accepted as one of the main approaches to leadership and has many advantages in comparison to other leadership styles, one of them being efficient usage of HR and meeting their members psychological needs. Participative leaders are encouraged to listen to their members and involve them in the process of making decisions. It requires them to be inclusive, utilize good communication skills and be able to share their powers and/or responsibility with their team members. The leaders benefit from the knowledge, skills, and experience from all of their team members while not giving up their responsibility. It encourages collaboration through accountability of each member, which leads to a collective effort to identify problems and develop solutions. This leadership can be complicated where teams are more decentralized, for example if the team works remotely or virtually.

Servant Leadership

A servant leadership style puts the needs of others first, focuses on human values, and emphasizes on creating strong relationships with the people around you, enabling them to reach their full potential. It is considered the leadership model of both the present and the future, being all about ethical decision making. Some main features of a servant leader is being a good listener, having empathy with its members, treating people well, being both generally and personally aware, preferring persuading others instead of using force, pursuing dreams instead of short-term goals, and preferring serving its members rather than being served. This enables the members to feel empowered to suggest new solutions and results in improved communication between all parties.

The advantage of being a servant leader includes valuing people by treating them like goals instead of vehicles, contribute to human development, and improves performance by guiding its employees and improving them. The disadvantages are that there is a similarity with the transformational leadership approach, it fails in goal-oriented systems, damages the hierarchical order, and some employees might not respond to this approach, and it might even harm some.

Importance of knowing your leadership style

- When understood its easier to understand how it will effect other persons in your team/organization

- Helps one identify their strengths and which skills to develop

Discussion

Benefits from knowing your personality type:

Knowing their own personality type and those of their team members can benefit a leader in several ways:

Better self-awareness:

By understanding their own personality type, a leader can gain insights into their natural strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies. This self-awareness can help them better understand how their leadership style may be perceived by others, and identify areas for improvement. Understanding the role of their natural personality tendencies can help them identify the most suitable leadership style, that enhances their organic strengths and empowers them as a leader.

Improved communication:

Knowing the personality types of team members can help a leader communicate more effectively with their members and assessing difficult topics. For example, a leader may adjust their communication style to better suit the preferences of an introverted team member, or frame a message differently towards a team member who prioritizes feelings over logic. Also, it can assist a leader when considering how they should communicate changes towards someone who prefers judgment or perceiving, as well as giving information differently to members depending on their tendencies to sensing or intuition.

More effective teamwork:

Understanding the personality types of team members can also help a leader build more cohesive and productive teams. By balancing different preferences and perspectives, a leader can help team members work more effectively together and capitalize on their individual strengths.

Enhanced decision-making:

Leaders can use their understanding of their own and their team members' personality types to make more informed decisions. For example, a leader who is naturally more thinker than feeling, may benefit from seeking out input from a "feeling" type before making a decision that could impact team morale.

By understanding personality types, a leader can better connect with their team members, create a more positive work environment, and ultimately drive better business results. However, it's important to note that personality type is just one factor in effective leadership, and leaders should also consider other factors such as skills, experience, and organizational culture.

Connecting MBTI personality types and leadership styles:

By connecting the personality traits to a leadership style that could benefit the organic tendencies within themselves, the leader could enhance their natural skillset through organic leadership.

Evaluating them together:

Transformational leadership

Compared to the Myers-Briggs personality traits, it can be seen that most likely the transformational leader is an extrovert that can bring the energy up and motivate their team members and being more comfortable with social interactions, likely someone who perceives its surroundings by intuition, by seeing the possibilities rather than the concrete and being more imaginative and creative. Likely, this leader has more feeling than thinking in their judgment, being capable to make people feel heard and seen, and tuning with its members emotions with ease. Finally, this leader most likely has a perceiving attitude, with a behavior that seems spontaneous and open to what is new and changeable.

Delegative leadership

Authorative leadership

Transactional leadership

Compared to the Myers-Briggs personality traits, it can be seen that most likely is someone who perceives its surroundings by sensing, by focusing more on the concrete facts and observable data. Likely, this leader likely has more thinking than feeling in their judgement, being capable to make objective and impersonal decisions, and being analytical and logical.

Participative leadership

When evaluating what Myers-Briggs personality traits would make the leader more inclined to this leadership style, the participative leader is more likely to have extraversion traits, being more comfortable with social interactions and foster a collaborative mindset. Likely, this leader has a preference for perceiving their surroundings with intuition, being more creative and imaginative. This leader might be more feeling than thinking in their judgement, being more empathetic and in tune with the emotions of their team members. Finally, the leader is likely to have a perceiving attitude, seeming more spontaneous and open to new ideas.

Servant leadership

Compared to the Myers-Briggs personality traits, it can be seen that most likely someone who perceives its surroundings by intuition, by seeing the possibilities rather than the concrete and being more imaginative and creative. Likely, this leader has more feeling than thinking in their judgement, being capable to make people feel heard and seen, and being more empathetic. Finally, this leader most likely has a judging attitude, being more organized and systematic, which might assist in creating structure within their leadership approach.

Key references

Kroeger, Otto and Thuesen, Janet M. (1989) The 16 Sixteen Personality Types That Determine How We Live, Love, and Work. Dell Publishing.

Dulewics, Victor and Higgs, Malcolm. (2004). Assessing leadership styles and organisational context. Henley Management College, Greenlands, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, UK.