Personalities

The Foundation of The Decision Making Process

“If we were stone masons we would study stone in detail because that provides our livelihood – Our raw material is people and we must study them closely.  The first step of the journey is to understand you.”

By now you should have realized that there is no magic formula for successful leadership. There is no book, seminar or course that can inject the right ingredients into you and your situation to make you a successful leader. Consider those that you believe were successful leaders. Did they all have the same personality traits, education or experience of life? Chances are, there may have been similarities, but each person had to deal with their own unique personal, organizational and industry challenges.

For example, in managing information, a leader can be the center or hub of an organization’s communication wheel or he/she may prefer to sit at the end of a hierarchy that reviews information and simply presents them as options to the leader. These are contrasting styles, but both can be effective in the right situations.

Recognizing this ambiguity about leadership is one of the first steps to putting together a plan for you to achieve successful leadership. Along the way, you will be implementing strategy and using tools that are best suited to making your leadership goals a success.

One tool that can be useful in your leadership plan is considering the importance of personalities in the course of your personal and professional activities. By its very definition, leadership involves providing guidance and direction to followers. Understanding how personalities influence actions, responses, purchasing decisions, etc. can help a leader provide this guidance and direction.

The challenge for a leader is to correctly identify their own personality traits and then those of a client, employee or partner to determine the best course of action for a successful interaction. 

Consider the impact of personalities on a sales meeting: We all know that purchasing decisions are not made solely on the merits of the product.  As successful sales professionals, we are constantly aware that it is our ability to communicate and build rapport with a potential buyer that greatly enhances our ability to close a sale.  Simply stated, if the buyer is uncomfortable with the seller, it reduces the likelihood of closing the sale.

There are several psychological definitions and categories of personality traits.  In addition, research has shown that individuals can possess several traits and be categorized in many categories concurrently.  To evaluate whether this personality information is useful to a leader, it is imperative that he/she recognize his/her dominant traits. The following information may be useful in your quest.

In general, there are four personality types with associated traits.

ANALYTICAL & SUPPORTER:

Will ask many questions; speaks softly; moves slowly; maintains very little eye contact; does not exhibit any hand gestures; patient; cooperative; calm.

DOMINANT & EXPRESSIVE:

Will tell you things; speaks loudly; fast movements; maintains direct eye contact; leans toward you; animated hand gestures; impatient; competitive; excitable; enthusiastic; outwardly; positive.

Next time you meet with a customer, colleague or friend try to determine their personality type. Take notes and compare them to the characteristics mentioned-above. How to deal with these different personalities? Each personality requires a slightly different approach to get the results that you desire. Consider the following recommendations:

ANALYTICAL:

Let them feel they are right; give them facts first; stress the rational and logical facts; observe time constraints; give quick, precise answers.

DOMINANT:

Dress professionally; get right to the point; do not waste time; stress results; ask questions that force attention; change voice inflection to maintain interest; put everything in writing; let them feel they are in control; give them choices.

SUPPORTER:

Be friendly and build rapport quickly; talk emotionally; don't pressure them; take your time; reassure them regularly; allow them to include others in decisions; give them one positive choice; help them justify their decision.

EXPRESSIVE:

Present the "big picture"; talk emotionally; recognize them as being important; put details in writing and explain carefully; reassure them regularly.

Personalities can have a major impact on your leadership style and success. For those of you that find your interaction with others getting difficult or strained, it may be useful for you to consider what course of action will provide the greatest results. Understanding personalities and dealing with the differences may prove to be one of the tools to help you become the successful leader.