Personality of a leader

Personality of a leader

Introduction

It is believed by numerous psychologists that there are 5 personality dimensions that exist. These are often referred to as the big 5 traits of personality. Previously, various theorists believed that were more than 5 traits of personality, which also included the 4000 traits of personality of Gordon Allport, 16 factors of personality proposed by Raymond Cattell and the theory of 3 factors proposed by Hans Eysenck. However, various critics highlighted the fact the theory proposed by Cattell was much more complex to be understood easily and Eysenck's theory was thought to be too limited in its scope. Thus, the theory of 5 factors was introduced to easily understand the personality traits amongst humans. The theory actually began with the works and researches conducted by D.W. Fiske (1949). This research was later elaborated by other researchers which included Smoth (1967), Norman (1967(, McCrae & Costa (1987) as well as Goldberg (1981).

Discussion

Each of the 5 traits proposed in the theory are defined below.

Extraversion: features like sociability, excitability, assertiveness, talkativeness as well as a high level expressing emotions.

Agreeableness: the features included in this trait are altruism, kindness, trust, affection, as well as other behaviors which tend to be pro-social.

Conscientiousness: increased level of thoughtfulness, with control over the impulse and behaviors which are directed by goals are the common features of this trait. The people who have higher levels of conscientiousness tend to be much more disciplined as well as organized.

Neuroticism: the people with a high level of Neuroticism are very likely to experience moodiness, sadness, emotional instability, irritability as well as anxiety.

Openness: the functions of this trait are normally known as insight and imagination and the individuals who tend to possess a higher level of this trait are more than likely to develop a broader interest range as compared to others.

These traits of personality tend to differ in an average person and an effective leader. An effective as well as an efficient leader would possess high level of extraversion traits. He would be talkative as this would prove critical when he would want to communicate decision to the lower levels or even when it plans to discuss strategies and issues with the higher levels (Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. 2010). In addition to that, the personality of the leader should be assertive and self confident. If the leader posses this trait, he is very likely to lead the organization as well as his team to success and would find it easier to implement different strategies and policies which have been set up by the management. A leader is also expected to have a high level of agreeableness.

This means that it should be kind to its team members as well as other staff members. In addition to that, it should be able to show affection and should be able to develop a relationship of trust with its employees. This would act as one of the motivating factors for the employees as ...