Introduction
Leadership depends on the personal qualities of the leader. Trait theory
The Big Five
The Big Five traits have been found to be relevant to many aspects of life, such as subjective well-being (e.g., DeNeve and Cooper 1998) and even longevity (Friedman et al. 1995). They also provide a valuable taxonomy for the study of leadership (Judge et al. 2002).
- Neuroticism refers to the tendency to experience the world as stressful, threatening and uncertain.
- Extraversion refers to the tendency to be sociable, assertive, active, and to experience positive affects, such as energy and zeal.
- Openness to Experience is the disposition to be imaginative, nonconforming, unconventional, and autonomous.
- Agreeableness refers to the tendency to be trusting, compliant, caring, and gentle.
- Conscientiousness refers to the tendency to be responsible, organized, hard-working, goal-directed, and to adhere to norms and rules.
Relation to leadership
Leadership effectiveness refers to a leader’s performance in influencing and guiding the activities of his or her unit toward achievement of its goals (Stogdill 1950).
Leadership emergence refers to whether (or to what degree) an individual is viewed as a leader by others, who typically have only limited information about that individual’s performance (Hogan, Curphy, and Hogan 1994).
Leadership effectiveness and emergence represent two levels of analysis. Leadership emergence is a within-group phenomenon. In contrast, leadership effectiveness represents a between-groups phenomenon.
Regarding these two constructs and personality trais, the meta-analysis of Judge et al. (2002) shows that:
- The Big Five typology is a fruitful basis for examining the dispositional predictors of leadership.
- Extraversion is the most important trait of leaders and effective leadership.
- Extraversion is more strongly related to leader emergence than to leader effectiveness.
- Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience were the strongest and most consistent correlates of leadership.
- Conscientiousness ist more strongly related to leader emergence than to leadership effectiveness.
- Agreeableness was the least relevant trait.
- Neuroticism failed to emerge as a significant predictor of leadership.
- Overall, the traits are better predictors in situations in which individuals have only limited opportunity to observe leadership behaviors (i.e., student samples).
However, the results may simply indicate a close correspondence between the way we see peoples personalities and our stereotypical conceptions of the characteristics of leaders.
Emergence of traits
Traits have a genetic source and are the result of adaptive processes Judge, Piccolo, and Kosalka (2009).
- Compared to differences in genes, differences in environment appear to play a smaller role in the variability of socially desirable (e.g., exercise, altruism) and undesirable (e.g., drug use, crime) behaviors
- “Leaders are born”, as identical twins raised apart show striking similarities in the emergence of leadership personalities
- 50% of personality is heritable (that doesn’t mean 50% is environmental)
“Asking how much a particular individual’s attitudes or traits are due to heredity versus the environment is nonsensical, just like asking whether a leaky basement is caused more by the crack in the foundation or the water outside.” Olson et al. (2001, pp. 845–846)
The Leader Trait Emergence Effectiveness (LTEE) model
Socioanalytic theory holds that individuals possess three primary motives:
- getting along (communion, cooperation),
- getting ahead (agency, competing), and
- providing meaning (transformational, purpose).
The motives are closely linked to personality, such that agreeable individuals are motivated to get along with others, and conscientious and extraverted individuals are motivated to get ahead.
However, whether traits are related to leader emergence and leadership effectiveness may depend on the context and the adaptive processes. As adaptive and coordination problems increase, so does the importance of leadership. There is little need for prudent, courageous and flexible leadership when the collective faces little conflict from within or without.
Trait paradoxes
| Trait | Bride Side | Dark Side |
|---|---|---|
| Extraversion | Greater leadership emergence; higher job and life satisfaction | More impulsive (deviant) behaviors; more accidents |
| Agreeableness | Higher subjective well-being; lower interpersonal conflict; lower turnover | Lower career success; less capable of conflict; more lenient in giving ratings |
| Conscientiousness | Stronger job performance; higher leadership effectiveness; lower deviance | Reduced adaptability; lower learning in initial stages of skill acquisition |
| Emotional stability | High job/life satisfaction; better job performance; effective leadership; retention | Poorer ability to detect risks and danger; more risky behaviors |
| Openness | Higher creativity; greater leadership effectiveness; greater adaptability | More accidents and counterproductive; rebelliousness; lower commitment |
Emotional intelligence
Intelligence is the most “successful” trait in social and applied psychology (Judge, Piccolo, and Kosalka 2009).
Goleman (2004) argues that it is not IQ (intelligence, a trait), but emotional intelligence that sets apart great leaders.
Emotional intelligence is a group of five skills that enable the best leaders to maximize their own and their followers’ performance:
- Self-awareness—knowing one’s strenghts, weaknesses, drives, values, and impact on others
- Self-regulation—controlling or redirecting disruptive impulses and moods
- Motivation—relishing achievements for its own sake
- Empathy—understanding other people’s emotional makeup and treating them according to their emotional reactions
- Social skill—building rapport with others to move them in decired directions
Group work
Read Goleman (2004) and summarize the characteristics of one skill.
Find an example, discuss its importance as well as pathways to strengthen it.
Also discuss if the skill is gaining importance in the digital era and why (not).
Conclusion
It is fortunate, then, that emotional intelligence can be learned. Goleman (2004)
Learning might mean here being able to deal efficiently with our personality traits that have a genetic source.
Homework
Read Lavine (2014) and answer following questions:
- What is ambidexterity, what is behavioral complexity?
- Why does a complex world require behavioral complexity?
- Which leadership paradoxes are identified by the CVF? Can you give specific examples for each?
- How do the paradoxes relate to the specifics of the digital era?