Jill Geisler: Do you have the personality of a leader?

Hello. I’m an ENFJ. I’m also a Parrot/Eagle.

If you’ve taken various personality assessments, you know that those terms suggest I’m an empathetic, intuitive extrovert who’s imaginative, influential and inspirational.^a

Am I happy with that description? Sure. But does it mean I am a good leader? Maybe. Maybe not.

That’s because you can’t predict someone’s leadership skills or success from a personality profile alone. Such instruments can be helpful and informative. I have used them in many workshops, but never to determine whether people are leadership material.

The real value of personality assessment instruments

I think the best thing such assessments do is to help people understand the range of differences among perfectly normal people and to see the benefit of that diversity. They remind us that, even if we’re successful leaders, there are folks with personality profiles different from ours who lead just as well — or even better.

Personality assessments ask questions, take our replies, look for patterns and sort them into categories. If you say you enjoy public speaking and are energized by interactions with people, your profile will tell you you’re an extrovert.

Chances are you knew that already and have been told that by people in your life going back to the elementary school teachers who told your parents you were quite a chatterbox in class.

Does being outgoing and sociable make you a good leader?  Perhaps.  Freely and actively engaging with your team members may make them feel valued. Working the room at a conference may come easily to you as an extrovert. You may be known for giving pep talks to the troops on a moment’s notice. Of course, the value of all this depends on what you say and how you say it.)

Leadership transcends personality types

Just remember: There are plenty of introverted managers who forge strong one-on-one relationships with employees. There’s a greater chance their “default setting” is listening, which makes people feel valued. In addition, I know plenty of introverted individuals who can command the attention of everyone in the room. I’ve co-taught seminars with them. But unlike extroverts, who often are happy to hang around and chat about how things went, introverts tend to prefer a little quiet time.

Whether we were effective depended on our teaching skills — not our personality types.

How best to use personality assessments

I think you see where I’m going here. Our personality preferences are real. But they are preferences – not immutable traits. We can leverage them, and we can adapt them.

That’s why a personality test can’t predict whether you’re a good leader. But it can help you understand where your preferences help you or hold you back, especially when preferences are taken to extremes.

If you’re a big picture thinker, you could miss small details. If you’re empathetic, you may avoid giving negative feedback, leaving problems unsolved. If you’re a planner, you may be inflexible about changes. If you’re serendipitous and flexible, you may delay decisions and slow down the workflow.

Those are the insights that a personality assessment can bring us if it’s done well. And that means doing it with a facilitator who makes it clear that:

• There is no “winning” type for leadership
• There are benefits and drawbacks to every style, with the trick being to leverage strengths and mitigate challenges
• No one should assume they are “hard-wired” and can’t adapt (I tell groups that our personality profiles explain us, but don’t excuse us.)
• No one should be stereotyped based on the assessment because there’s so much more to all of us that than the instruments cover
• Personality assessments should not be used for hiring or promotion decisions
• Leaders should be alert to the danger favoring folks who remind them of themselves, given our human bias to be drawn to people whose personalities are like ours^b

A true focus for success

If there’s no ideal personality type for leadership, what else should managers focus on to succeed?

I’d suggest the following three “A’s” of leadership, which transcend personalities.

1 Authority. This doesn’t mean intimidating people or saying, “Do it because I said so.” It’s about being comfortable as a leader. You know your stuff and share your knowledge. You are the calm in the storm and unflappable under stress. You project confidence in your decision-making, even when it’s a tough call. Your values are clear, and your actions bear them out. You have the courage of your convictions.

2 Approachability. People feel good about their interactions with you, whether you initiated the contact or they sought you out. You put people at ease. When they share information with you, they feel heard. You aren’t distracted, terse or impatient. You focus on them and listen. While you’re serious about the work and your goals, you don’t take yourself too seriously. Your authority is enriched by a healthy measure of humility. You’re not afraid to admit a mistake.

3 Authenticity. While you’re adaptable, you’re also consistent. People never have to wonder which version of you will show up today. You’re the same person with your troops as you are with your bosses. You’re self-aware, knowing your strengths, preferences and challenges. If you’re a morning person, you let people know it’s why you schedule early meetings and avoid them at day’s end. If you have a “hot button” — like people being late for meetings — you make it clear up front. If your family, faith, sports teams or hobbies are your passion, you wear that on your sleeve with pride. And you encourage others to do the same.

These three traits of leaders are more important measures than personality profiles because in a personality assessment, the source of all the input is you. Your ideas, your perceptions, your preferences. You get back what you told it.

But the real test of leadership isn’t how you describe yourself. It’s what your team sees, says and values about you.  

Footnotes

a. The two personality assessments represented by the terms are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the DiSC assessment, respectively.
b. See also “How to mesh employee personality types to foster a successful workplace,” hfm, February 2020.