The Role of Traits, Motives, and Charisma in Leadership

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The Role of Traits, Motives, and Charisma in
Leadership
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Learning Objectives

• Describe the trait theory of leadership
• Nature vs. nurture view of leadership
• Describe the role of charisma in leadership
• Understand how charisma and transformational
  leadership are related

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Trait (or Universal) Theory of Leadership

• Certain personality traits and other individual
  attributes are associated with effective
  leadership across many situations
• If we have these traits and attributes, then we
  will be successful as leaders
• Requires that we measure individuals on these
  attributes in some way

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Individual Attributes

• Account for 30-50 of the differences in an
  individuals behavior
• Examples
• Personality traits
• Cognitive, emotional, and physical competencies
• Motives
• Values and attitudes
• Skills and knowledge
• Demographic variables

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What is personality?

• Definition
• Set of unique traits and other mental
  characteristics that give consistency to an
  individual's behavior across situations and time
• Source Nature vs. Nurture?
• What twin studies reveal
• The role of genes
• The role of environment, including culture
• Gene X Environment interactions

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Personality Development

• Does personality change across the life span?
• Are there windows of opportunity for
  personality change?

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General Personality Traits of Effective Leaders
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Task-Related Personality Traits of Leaders
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How do we measure personality traits?

• 1. Observation
• 2. Projective tests such as inkblots and TAT's
• 3. Validated paper and pencil (or computerized)
  tests and inventories

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Just look at the picture briefly (10-15 seconds)
and write the story it suggests.
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Just look at the picture briefly (10-15 seconds)
and write the story it suggests.
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Problems in personality measurement

• People must give reliable and truthful answers
• People must understand the language used
• Responses may be affected by mood
• People may have multiple identities across
  situations and find it difficult to self-assess
  their "real" personality

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So, Lets do some self assessment!
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Locus of control

• Definition the extent to which one believes
  that the things that happen to them are under
  their own or others control
• Spheres of control personal, interpersonal, or
  sociopolitical
• Has effects on Motivation, leadership, job
  selection and design, stress, and change
• Cultural differences may determine locus of
  control

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Locus of Control Internals

• Believe their own abilities and efforts control
  the things that happen to them
• Are independent, like to participate in
  decisions, are involved in work, adjust to work
  and handle job stress well, like to influence
  others, are future rather than present oriented,
  are achievement oriented, and may chafe under too
  many rules, restrictions, and rigidity

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Locus of Control Externals

• Believe that others, situations, and fate control
  what happens to them.
• They prefer structure, do not like to work
  independently, have few expectations based on
  past successes or failures, and are susceptible
  to influence attempts by others

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Means and Ranges of Scores on Locus of Control
Class Personal Interpersonal Sociopolitical
Mean Range Mean Range Mean
Range N EMBA III 59 43-69 54
38-64 48 38-68 21 KMBA 2000 54
32-68 53 24-64 39 22-55 18 KMBA
2001 54 34-66 54 38-65 40 24-66
23 KMBA 2002 53 32-65 47
34-64 40 30-56 18 KMBA 2003 54 41-62 50
38-63 39 26-50 24 PMBA 2002
58 46-65 51 32-62 40
20-54 25 NUWC 2002 55 40-64 55
45-62 40 27-54 10 NUWC 2003 58 46-67 53
36-65 41 14-57 23 NAVY 2003
51 28-61 54 43-62 38 24-49 13 PMBA 2004
56 41-66 52 34-64 41 24-58 26 MGT 402
2004 56 45-63 53 40-69 41 23-53 21 MGT
402 2005 54 34-68 55 37-67 41
23-52 32 WMS 301 2005 54 47-66 50 37-62 48
37-70 14 MGT 402 2006
59 49-81 55 37-85 42 28-67 22 AVERAGE
55 53 41
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Machiavellianism

• Degree to which one uses deceit, lying, and
  compromising ethics to attain ones own self
  interest strong believers in the end justifies
  the means
• High Machs
• Have lots of self confidence and self esteem
• Are cool and calculating
• Try to manipulate ambiguous situations to control
  them
• Do not let feelings and loyalty to get in the way
  of obtaining own ends

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Machiavellianism

• Differences between locus of control
  (interpersonal sphere) and Machiavellianism
• They are positively related, but internals use
  legitimate methods of influence while high
  Machs use duplicitous techniques

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Means (Ranges) of Machiavellian Scores
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Kolb McIntyre Learning Style

• Measures the ways people prefer to learn
• Why important?
• Determines how we train others and help them to
  change and adapt
• Helps us understand why "some people never learn
• May be linked to other dispositional variables
  risk taking, being creative, emotionality
• Helps us see there are variable ways to determine
  the "truth"

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CE
Sensing
Horizontal arrow Information evaluation
Introversion
Divergers
Accommodators
RO
AE
Extraversion
Assimilators
Convergers
Vertical arrow Information gathering
AC
Intuition
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Big Five Personality Variables

• General personality variables that are said to
  cover the most important traits that
  differentiate us from each other
• Extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness,
  openness to experience, and conscientiousness

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Correlations of Traits with Satisfaction,
Leadership, and Motivation
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Research on the Big Five Traits

• Absenteeism Extraversion is positively related
  while conscientiousness is negatively related to
  absenteeism
• No differences found between racial groups, and
  thus less adverse impact when using for selection
  purposes compared to cognitive ability tests

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Research on the Big Five Traits

• Agreeableness
• Needed for jobs requiring teamwork and good
  interpersonal facilitation skills
• However, negatively related to career
  satisfaction
• Extraversion
• Related to positive affectivity and interpersonal
  facilitation
• Positively related to salary levels, promotions,
  and career satisfaction

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Research on the Big Five Traits

• Dark side to conscientiousness
• Not helpful for jobs that require creativity,
  innovation, spontaneity, or quick decision making
  ("analysis paralysis")
• Openness to experience
• Needed for jobs requiring innovation, creativity,
  and spontaneity
• Predictive of cross-cultural sensitivity and
  success in international assignments
• Negatively related to salary levels obtained

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Research on the Big Five Traits

• Emotional Stability (Neuroticism)
• Related to negative affectivity (whiners?)
• Cope poorly with stress
• Negatively related to career satisfaction

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Research on the Big Five Traits European
Samples

• Conscientiousness and emotional stability are
  valid predictors across job criteria and
  occupational groups (police, professionals,
  managers, salespeople, and skilled labor)
• Extraversion positively related to extrinsic
  career success (salary, promotion) more for
  European than US executives
• Neuroticism negatively related to extrinsic
  success more for US than European executives

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Other personality traits

• Dogmatism
• Rigidity and inability to change
• Close-minded
• Authoritarianism
• Rigid adherence to conventional values
• Belief in rigid hierarchies and status systems
• Obeys authority unquestionably
• Prefers highly structured work situations and
  directive leadership

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Why is studying personality important to
leadership?

• Useful in selection, training, motivation,
  communication, and change
• Job/career fit and success
• Affects decision making, problem solving,
  conflict management, managing politics, and
  coping with stress
• Helps us understand how others are different from
  us, despite similar experiences and situations

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Why is studying personality important to
leadership?

• Personality predicts how well we do in terms of
  "contextual performance" (i.e., commitment,
  absenteeism, involvement, dedication,
  interpersonal facilitation)
• Abilities and job experiences predict task
  performance better
• Cultural differences may impact personality may
  determine one's success in managing
  cross-culturally

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Strengths and Limitations of Trait Approach

• Strengths
• Serves as a guide to leader selection
• Can guide individuals in preparing for
  leadership
• Predicts contextual rather than task
  performance

• Limitations
• Identifies many and sometimes contradictory
  traits
• Does not specify how much of a trait or
  characteristic is needed
• Can breed an elitist conception of leadership

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What is charisma?

• Greek divinely inspired gift
• Special quality of leaders whose purposes,
  powers, and extraordinary determination
  differentiate them from others (e.g., heroism,
  magnetism, exemplary character, etc.)

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What do charismatic leaders do?

• Have idealized vision of the future
• Superb communication skills (use stories,
  anecdotes, and non-verbal strategies)
• Inspire trust using faith and hope
• Make people feel capable of achieving goals
• Engage in emotional appeals
• Use drama and unconventional influence approaches
• Incur personal risk and self promote incessantly
• Many create major changes in the situations in
  which they operate

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What are the sources of charisma?

• Personal power sources of leader expertise and
  referent power
• Special knowledge, skills, experience, or
  personal character that attracts followers
• The groups or networks attribution about the
  characteristics of a leader (involves ongoing
  interactions and impression management)

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What are some positive effects of charisma?

• Trust the leader
• Begin to hold beliefs similar to those of the
  leader
• Have affection for the leader
• Identify with and attempt to emulate the leader
• Emotional involvement in goals and mission of
  leader
• Extra-role commitment

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What are some negative effects of charisma?

• Deception, manipulation, and exploitation of
  followers
• Convince followers to take great and sometimes
  deadly risks
• Followers may give up thinking for themselves and
  blindly obey leader
• May lead followers to illegal, unethical, or
  socially irresponsible ends

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What is transformational leadership?

• Processes which bring about major change in
  organizational settings
• Focus followers on system-wide rather than just
  self interest
• Build vision, shared values,and a larger meaning
• Imagine different and better conditions and ways
  to achieve them

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How Transformations Take Place
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How is charisma related to transformational
leadership?

• Many transformational leaders are considered
  charismatic
• But not all charismatic leaders engage in major
  change processes
• Transformational leaders are more concerned than
  charismatic leaders with
• personal development of followers
• empowerment of followers
• innovation and change