Introduction
Personality is a thing that defines each individual’s approach to life and determines how they perform in various spheres of life, including education and work. It is valid to say that people are often not completely aware of certain personality traits they have and do not comprehend how those traits can affect their behaviors. Thus, it is useful to undertake personality tests from time to time. This simple procedure may help to get insight into personal strengths and weaknesses, reveal which qualities support you in the attainment of your goals and which hinder the process, and then undertake necessary corrective measures. The Big Five Personality Inventory is one of such tests and it allows evaluating oneself in such core dimensions of personality as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (Vinney, 2018). In the present paper, I will discuss the results of my Big Five Personality Inventory and explain how the received scores reflect my readiness to become a leader.
Summary of Scores
The test revealed that openness and agreeableness are the dominating traits of my personality; they received 85% and 79% respectively. My scores in the dimensions of conscientiousness and extraversion were close to the average and equated to 56% for the former and 53% for the latter. The neuroticism trait was scored the lowest and obtained merely 31% (which is below the average). Overall, these results were not surprising and met my expectations.
Openness and Agreeableness
High scores in openness and agreeableness mean that I am always willing to discover new things and ideas and prefer to find common ground with others and cooperate with them, which is perfect for teamwork. People high in the dimension of openness are creative and imaginative, whereas those high in agreeableness are altruistic, sympathetic, and accommodating (“The five factors,” 2018). According to Hassan, Asad, and Hoshino (2016), these last three qualities are associated with democratic, ethical, and team-oriented leadership styles that focus on cooperation and consideration of others’ needs and interests. In my opinion, creativity and imaginativeness are also important for those leaders who want to foster innovativeness and inspire their team members to approach problem-solving in an unconventional way. However, openness alone may not be enough to achieve this – one should possess charisma and excellent communication skills as well.
Extraversion and Neuroticism
To inspire others to act, a good score in the dimension of extraversion and low scores in neuroticism can become in handy. A low score in neuroticism characterizes me as a carefree, resilient, and optimistic person (“The five factors,” 2018). At the same time, extraverts are friendly, enthusiastic, energetic, and naturally social, which makes them suitable for taking transformational leadership roles (“The five factors,” 2018). Transformational leaders vividly communicate their vision with colleagues and motivate them to challenge their abilities and attain desired goals (Hassan, Asad, & Hoshino, 2016). Although my score in extraversion is not particularly high, I believe that I can become a good transformational leader in the future by enhancing my motivational communication skills further.
Conscientiousness
The same goes for my current position in the dimension of conscientiousness. It is associated with self-determination, ambition, dutifulness, and reliability (“The five factors,” 2018). People with strong conscientiousness are hard-working and goal-oriented, which is important for all leaders whose objective is to drive improvement and growth. I am certain that I can improve my conscientiousness by training willpower and learning how to persist with the realization of long-term plans. I already consider myself a goal-oriented, self-motivated person and a diligent student and professional. However, with the right approach, I will be able to become an even better example to follow for people whom I will lead in the future.
References
- Hassan, H., Asad, S., & Hoshino, Y. (2016). Determinants of leadership style in big five personality dimensions. Universal Journal of Management, 4(4), 161-179.
- The five factors of personality. (2018). Web.
- Vinney, C. (2018). Understanding the big five personality traits. ThoughtCo. Web.