Introduction
It is essential to comprehend how both leaders and their followers perceive traits that shape a person’s ability to influence others productively. People commonly identify five major attributes that describe one’s personality and expected behavioral patterns. Daft (2018) states that these parameters include “an individual’s extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience” (p. 102). By comprehending how these attributes affect one’s performance as a leader, it is possible to select a suitable managerial style that incorporates one’s strengths and weaknesses of character.
Descriptions of Five Personality Dimensions
Extraversion
Each of the five dimensions plays a crucial role in structuring one’s personality and deserves to be analyzed for its impact on one’s behavior, decisions, and relationships. The first parameter is one’s extraversion, which defines one’s sociability and assertiveness during social interactions (Daft, 2018). It is crucial for leaders to exhibit a high level of presence in their community, although it is not determined by the number of their interactions alone. The quality of communication is more important for followers, with introverted leaders commonly appearing as servant leaders in the eyes of their employees (Northouse, 2022).
Agreeableness
Extroversion is perceived as a crucial trait for managers, although both extremes have their applications. In turn, agreeableness refers to one’s compassion and cooperation, serving as a backbone of one’s teamwork capabilities (Daft, 2018). An individual can nurture a positive environment by possessing a sufficient degree of this trait. However, there is a negative connotation behind one’s high level of agreeableness, as it can cause one to be manipulated by others easily (Daft, 2018). A leader is expected to be moderately agreeable yet possesses views that they can extend to others and affect them positively.
Conscientiousness
The next dimension is conscientiousness, which includes an individual’s responsibility and reliability in relationships and at work. This group reveals how people perceive their mistakes and strive to improve their skills (Daft, 2018). Nonetheless, this set of personality traits can impact one’s performance adversely. The burden from many tasks or guilt for their failures may be overwhelming for them to bear (Daft, 2018).
Emotional Stability
However, this notion can be mediated by the next big personality dimension. Emotional stability describes one’s ability to handle their emotions as well as comprehend the emotional status of others (Daft, 2018). These traits highlight whether an individual is calm or neurotic, how well they can handle stress, and how they utilize emotions. A high level of stability allows one to avoid being influenced by others’ agitations and negative responses.
Openness
Finally, one’s openness to experience is the last of the five big dimensions of personality, defining one’s curiosity and breadth of imagination. This notion relates to people’s ability to envision others’ perceptions of a situation and highlights their differences in a positive way (Daft, 2018). This trait focuses on one’s willingness to consider challenging and even foreign points of view, enabling them to accommodate a variety of ideas into their decision-making framework. These dimensions influence people’s performance as leaders, causing them to adopt different managerial styles that suit their character better than others, support varied sets of social skills, and lead to vastly contrasting outcomes.
Personality Attributes of a Leader
While there are five key character traits that define one’s personality, two parameters stand out among them when a person in a managing role is analyzed. Leadership studies focus on two attributes stemming from these dimensions: locus of control and authoritarianism (Daft, 2018). These factors contribute to one’s ability to lead others in an optimal way that considers the goals of a company and the needs of followers.
The first parameter defines the degree of delegation of responsibility that an individual expects to show in their actions and decisions (Daft, 2018). This notion reveals how a manager will perceive their and their followers’ mistakes and determine forces that led to these failures. Simultaneously, one’s affinity toward authoritarianism defines how a person expects their tasks to be carried out. The power to lead others comes with the possibility of sharing it with others in cases where it is feasible (Daft, 2018). Depending on the structure of an organization, managers are expected to choose a suitable level of control that their subordinates require to achieve set objectives efficiently.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one’s personality traits play a pivotal role in their performance in a leadership role due to their impact on relationships and the degree of control that a person can uphold. Each personality dimension focuses on a particular set of qualities that defines a person’s likely direction in decisions and relationships. For a person to have a meaningful impact, they need to choose a position in an organization that will fit their character traits.
There are vital indicators that reveal an efficient leader. One’s locus of control and affinity toward authoritarian practices determine the extent of their leadership capabilities. These aspects create a work environment that a manager sets in their organization, making them paramount in the majority of operations that require varied levels of task delegation and shared responsibilities.
References
Daft, R. L. (2018). The leadership experience (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Northouse, P. G. (2022). Leadership: Theory and practice(9th ed.). SAGE Publications.