Title of OB 1 group assignment: Personality of a Leader

Course

PGCHRM 21

Name of the faculty

Dr. I S F Irudayaraj

Subject

Organization Behavior - 1

Submitted by (In case of Group)

Group 3 as per AIS

Group No

Group members

Mr. Santosh Rajput

SID: RH16050

Mr. Junaid Sheikh

SID: RH16114

Ms. Swarna Dadi

SID: RH16041

Submitted by: PGCHRM-21, Marathahalli Centre, Bengaluru

Personality of a Leader

Traits plus motivation equals leadership

The most critical factor of the fall and rise of businesses, schools, and religious groups,
non-profit and military organizations are effectiveness of the organizations leaders. Since
19th century, there have been thousands of books and articles written on leadership.
The studies have discovered that human personality play a vital role in the effectiveness
of the leader and what occupation the leader represents - Parker, D. 2001. Religious
leaders would have a different personality than a surgeon leading a medical team. Even
the religious leaders differ in personalities. Researchers show that the early beliefs
where that a small percentage of individuals are natural leaders and followers and the
rest of the people doing the work - Treybig, 2008.
In the last fifty years the philosophies have changed to the belief that leadership
personalities and skills can be developed. This belief was the beginning of Modern
Leadership and currently lot of work is going on in researching trait analyses of
personalities in relation to leadership. Empirical research suggests that persons
personality characteristics can affect the ability on how the person can be a leader Parker, 2001.
Currently as on today there is a way to test for the personality characteristics and
determine if the individual has the required characteristics or if certain characteristics
need to be developed for the person to be an effective leader. The studies also showed
that the leaders must have credibility, honesty, and trustworthiness as the core
characteristics to be successful leader. Many leaders fail and fall when they vary from the
core characteristics.
The first phase of this assignment will look at two different types of personality test:
MBTI
Big Five Personality Research
MBTI: The MBTI was based on a Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung. He believes that all
people use four basic mental functions that he labeled Sensing (S), Intuition (N), Feeling
(F) and Thinking (T). Isabel Briggs Myers and Katherine Briggs developed a test that
would help identify their Jungian type preference. The purpose of the MBTI test is to
find out peoples personality & character.

Big 5: McCrae and his colleagues have also found that the big five traits are also
remarkably universal. One study that looked at people from more than 50 different
cultures found that the five dimensions could be accurately used to describe personality.
Based on this research, many psychologists now believe that the five personality
dimensions are not only universal; they also have biological origins. Psychology David
Buss has proposed that an evolutionary explanation for these five core personality traits,
suggesting that these personality traits represent the most important qualities that shape
our social landscape.

Limitations of the Big Five-Factor Model

Although the Five-Factor model seems to be a convincing approach of evaluating
leadership abilities based on personality characteristics, a number of conceptual and
utility drawbacks limits its application. This includes but is not limited to unavailability of
agreement between the different aspects that make up the model. For instance, naming
of the elements that make up the five personality factors differ significantly in terms of
defining each factor.
Additionally, these aspects do present a broad and cumbersome situation when it comes
to describing personality when applied in the field of research. This is applicable when
data is collected from the field and researchers have to determine the level of detail that
needs to be applied in such a situation. Narrow and broad aspects have to be defined in
order for the researchers to come up with a more detailed explanation of how
personality traits affect leadership abilities. Lastly, this model has been criticized for its
failure to explain all aspects that relate to human personality because it does not
consider factors such as manipulativeness, honesty, sense of humor, and religiosity
among others.
Narrow vs. Broad Personality Aspects of Predicting Leadership Abilities
In light of the evidence presented in the above analysis, it can be concluded that the application
of the Five-Factor analysis to predict leadership capabilities of individuals failed to provide
sufficient results. Therefore, narrow and broad personality factors can be applied in different
situations to predict leadership abilities of various individuals. Narrow personality traits include
primary factors whereas broad factors include global factors both, which are measured based
on predictive power and utility aspects.
Admittedly, personality has been used for a long time as form of measuring the performance
and behavior of individuals in the workplace scenario. As such, narrow and broad aspects of
personality do have an impact on the ability of leaders to do whatever they feel is right. For this
reason, a number of personality aspects, which determines the level of forcefulness that a
leader will employ, realize his/her goals. In turn, an indication will be established to show how
well a leader is prepared in attending to leadership priorities. The primary factors established
include dominance and social boldness, both of which are very important in determining
leadership skills.
On the other hand, broad factors include those that affect independent leadership abilities such
as openness to change and vigilance. However, they are not so important personality traits that
influence leadership abilities of such individuals as compared to narrow aspects.
As it can be seen from the above discussion, understanding the factors that influence leaders to
do actions that must be done in order to achieve their goals in addition to their independence.
It is useful in getting an overall picture of the nature of abilities in leadership and the
corresponding relationship to personality. Primary factors enable an individual to determine the
qualities that will enable him or her to specify his abilities that will enable him to succeed as a
leader. Additionally, the predictive powers of leaders are often distinguished in terms of broad

and narrow personality perspectives. In turn, competencies in different leadership scenarios can
be ascertained by comparing the factors that determine their personality traits.

Conclusion
Personality traits have been employed to predict the extent to which an individual's leadership
abilities can be ascertained. In fact, the issue has been subjected to numerous debates but over
and above all, a consensus that has been agreed upon is that personality traits do predict
leadership abilities. From a managerial point of view, management officials not have a say in the
general performance of an organization but also do play an important role in influencing the
performance of their seniors or subordinates.
Conversely, theories have been put forward to explain ways in which personality traits
influence leadership performance. A good example is the application of the Big Five model or
Five-Factor model as a method of assessing the impacts of personality traits on leadership
performance. This framework has been used to account for reasons as to why individual trait
differences exist. Generally, the dimensions used to construct this model differ in terms of the
dimensions used to describe it but also the nature in which they are constructed. However, the
model failed to consider all personality aspects that make up the general humanity perspectives.
This led to the explanation of personality traits from a narrow and broad perspective.
Additionally, these factors were found to influence leadership abilities of individual using
primary and global factors. Generally, what matters the most is the value of a personality trait
in influencing the personality trait of an individual (Hackman, & Wageman, 2007).

The next phase of this assignment will look at different personal personality traits of a
leader:
Personality trait is simply leaders:

Actions
Attitudes
Behaviors you possess

Personality: An outgoing style - the ability and enjoyment of "working the crowd" is a very
useful skill both for leadership and many other parts of life.
Charisma is often thought of as a trait of many leaders. It is probably the ability of a person to
gain very quickly the attention, respect and trust of others. Famous leaders like Martin Luther
King and John Kennedy is said to have had charisma, it is an effective tool for leaders in certain
situations, but it is difficult to learn.
Personal character of a leader either inspire people to respond to them or undermine efforts
to lead them
A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.
Everything we know by heart enriches us and helps us find ourselves. If it should get in the way
of finding ourselves, it is because we have no personality.

Communications skills: As a leader you must be able to speak effectively in public and in most
cases, you must have good writing skills also. You must be able to communicate in the style or
jargon of the group or organization. Your message must fit your audience. Well-educated
people can understand simple clear information; but those with limited education cannot go the
other way. The old KISS principle (keep it simple stupid) has much utility.
Leaders should possess good communications skills. These traits, truly, are the bottom line of
leadership - with them, successful leadership (and many other types of success) is an open door
- without them, success will be a struggle. Good communication skills help leaders to perform
their role in the best possible manner. One of the examples of poor communication skill is :
The charge of the light brigade: The charge of the light brigade went down in history as an archetypal
leadership blunder. It was caused by poor communication skills of Lord Lucan towards his subordinate Cardigan.
Lucan simply ordered Cardigan to "attack the guns, down the valley".
Obviously this is a vague and indistinct order. And then Cardigan failed to ask the obvious questions: "Specifically,
which guns and down which valley?"
Cardigan pointed out the fact there were numerous enemy positions in the vicinity to which Lord Lucan simply
replied that Cardigan should "Take the ride down there at moderate speed so as not to exhaust the horses".
Cardigan failed to ask the obvious "Down where? Specifically,

Source: (https://corporatecoachgroup.com/blog/communication-skills-for-managers-and-leaders)

Persistence: As a leader you should keep trying - most social changes, large and small, is and
should be slow. Major changes in values and beliefs often occur between generations. It is
unusual for major social changes to occur in less than a few years or even decades. Changes in
the educational system often take several decades. If change occurs too fast, people become
uncertain about what is "right," good or appropriate. They lose their sense of security.
Something as simple as a small change in curriculum of the local school system may take years.
But if the idea is good, the results may last decades and effect many people. Also realize that in
historical perspective, the changes you are working toward are small and incremental. Be
prepared for change to occur in education. Leadership in major projects will require a large
among of stamina and perseverance.
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more
common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a
proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and
determination alone are omnipotent. -- Calvin Coolidge

Patience: Leaders have to be patient. There are times when leaders will need to relax and wait

for events or time to pass. Many new ideas will become accepted after people have had time to
think about them. Most people who are angry or excited about a proposed change will cool
down with time. Patience is a hard attribute for many young and not so young to learn. Most
things, especially if they are worthwhile, do not happen quickly. Self-discipline is an essential
trait for leadership.
Patience and persistence are essential twins for getting things done. Always remember it takes
time, time for leadership, and time for change. Patience and persistence are very difficult traits
for the young.

Perceptive: A leader is sensitive to other people's wants and needs and to changes in these
wants and needs. Genuine interest in another person will often develop a sense of trust by that
person. A gifted politician is one who can carefully always perceive the current mood of his
constituents. The ability to listen is an essential skill of a good leader. You must stay in touch
with your supporters. If the group is large or unorganized, this is very difficult to do because of
the lack of accurate feedback.
If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For
man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through' narrow chinks of his cavern.
William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Honesty and trustworthy: A leader needs to be honest both now and in the future. Most
people will believe and follow someone they trust. Openness and candor are characteristics
that most people appreciate. There are a few people who will take advantage of such traits, but
the vast majority will appreciate them. In leadership, honesty is an important virtue, as leaders
serve as role models for their subordinates. Honesty consist of different aspects of moral
character. It is a combination of positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness,
and straightforwardness. These characteristics create trust, which is critical to leaders in all
positions.
The age-old Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is a good
standard to follow both today and tomorrow.
Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important
matters Albert Einstein

Encouraging: "Strokes" - almost all people like praise and compliments. Almost everyone likes
to be recognized especially if they have worked hard on the project. It may be possible to give
too many kind words, but it is very difficult to do so especially if they are given in a sincere
manner. If you, a leader, are working with a committee or other team, make absolutely sure
that everyone is given full public recognition. If you don't, your support the next time is likely to
be much less.
The folk saying: "praise in public and criticize in private" is very effective. But the praise should
be deserved; a person can quickly develop a reputation as overly "smoothie."
Mistakes and errors must be dealt with as quickly as possible. If the errors are part of the public
record, then your responses should be public also. However, you should take the public blame.
Do not point to some supporter or employee and say: "it was all their fault." If you do, your
career as a leader will be short!
Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a
bit of praise or encouragement - and we will make the goal. - Robert Collier

Positive orientation: The future should always be seen as bright and optimistic. Tomorrow

will be better than today. Norman Vincent Peale in his bestselling book of fifty years ago, The
Power of Positive Thinking, contributed to a deeply held American belief about what the future
will be like. Problems are not "problems", but opportunities. Simultaneously, we want our
leaders to be honest and realistic. So in dismal situations, the statements of optimism must be
tempered. If there are no easy answers, say so. You must be open and honest.

A motto you might want to try: "Pessimism breeds negativity. Optimism breeds opportunity."

People based: Leadership must be of, by and for the people. The only reason for leadership
should be for the benefit of the people. The current tendency is to look for the benefits to an
individual and not to the larger group. One reason why many so-called leaders are distrusted
today is that they are seen as self-serving - primarily interested in their own benefits

Practical: A leader must realize that pleasing all of the people all of the time is not possible. A
leader must be practical in decisions made catering to the majority, perceptive enough to
realize when the majority is right and strong enough to take action without the support of the
majority when the majority is wrong. At the same time you must be strong enough to stand by
your convictions and accept the criticisms - valid and invalid - which are sure to come.
Again, practical and possible are twins that have considerable interrelationships.

Progressive: An effective leader will move the group forward. Incorporating new strategies in
leadership and communications is important. Sometimes progress may mean maintaining the
current situation. It depends upon the group's needs and desires.

Realistic: A leader must realize that pleasing all of the people all of the time is not possible. A
leader must be practical in decisions made catering to the majority, perceptive enough to
realize when the majority is right and strong enough to take action without the support of the
majority when the majority is wrong. At the same time you must be strong enough to stand by
your convictions and accept the criticisms - valid and invalid - which are sure to come.
Again, practical and possible are twins that have considerable interrelationships.

Functional Knowledge: A leader must be knowledgeable about his or her goals, the variety of
means for reaching the goals, the needs necessary to meet the goals and about the people in
the group. An effective leader must be both organized and prepared. Many leaders have opened
their mouths and inserted their foot and suddenly found that they were no longer regarded as
leaders.
A more modern folk saying is that "you should not have your mouth in gear while your mind is
in neutral."

Networking: Even the best leaders cannot tackle most leadership jobs alone. They need to
have and to motivate followers to become involved in getting the job done. They must trust
other people to get a job done and they must be able to delegate. A similar trait is the ability to
network - to build linkages of friends and acquaintances that may be able to provide needed
assistance at some future time. A classic study by James Coleman many years ago showed that
who you knew was one of the most important things that influenced life successes.
A robust leadership network helps provide access to people, information and resources, says
Curt Grayson, author of Leadership Networking: Connect, Collaborate, Create. It goes
beyond knowing or linking to lots of different people. It is about being able to use those
connections wisely to solve problems and create opportunities.

The final phase of this assignment will look at different leadership approaches:

Approaches of Leadership
The above mentioned traits of leadership are the outcome of leadership style. Leadership style
has developed over time. It has evolved from an autocratic and directive leadership to a more
participative and democratic approach.
Leadership style is more about the characteristics behavior of a leader when he or she directs,
motivates, guides and mange a group of people. Every individual will have their own style of
leading. However, researchers over time have and studied and identified few most prominent
leadership frameworks.

1) Autocratic leadership or authoritative leadership approach: This type of leadership is

based on authority. It is about the command by the leader and control over his
followers. It is controlling, bossy, and dictatorial by nature. This type of a leadership
approach is applicable to situation where there is very less time for group decision
making or when the leader is the most knowledgeable person in the group. Though
autocratic leadership can be beneficial, at times it can be problematic. This approach
also lacks creative contribution as leaders tend to overlook the knowledge and
expertise that group members might bring to the situation.

2) Democratic or Participative leadership: This style is considered as one of the most

effective leadership. This approach encourages group to participate in the decisionmaking process. Researchers suggest that democratic leaders possess trait of honesty,
courage, creativity and intelligence. This approach is the best when the group members
are skilled and knowledgeable.

3) Delegative or Laissez- faire leadership: This approach is dependent by nature. Leader

usually are usually withdrawn, uninvolved and provides no guidance to the group
member. This approach lacks ownership as many a times leader blames the group for
any failure.

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Thank You

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