Leadership Development Programme 2012 Module 1 Personality and Leadership

1. Leadership Development Programme 2012Module 1Personality and Leadership

2. The People Challenge

3. The people challenge • Behavioural science research shows that 75 per cent of the population is significantly different from YOU • These people, many of whom are important to your success: • think differently • decide differently • use time differently • work at a different pace • communicate differently • handle emotions differently • manage stress differently • deal with conflicting opinions differently

4. Different approaches to personality • Trait • Permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situation. Considered stable, personality constructs assumed to be innate. It is assumed that each person possesses an amount of each trait, which can be measured. • Behaviourist (social learning) • Describes personality in terms of observed behaviour without reference to what is going on inside the person. They describe the habitual styles of behaviour including the ability to play ‘social roles’

5. Different approaches to personality (cont’d) • Psychoanalytic • Best known psychodynamic theorist Sigmund Freud. He postulates that a person’s actions are energised by a number of biological drives and instincts, usually of a sexual or violent nature. • Humanist • Defines personality as the person’s way of organising his or her behaviour so that it achieves consistency with the ‘self’. Humanist psychologists emphasise the proactivity of the individual as he or she strives to ‘self actualise’, that is, to achieve the highest possible expression of ‘self’.

6. ‘There is an emerging consensus among personality psychologists that an adequate theory of personality must attend to the characteristics of both the person and the environment. Most personality psychologists now recognise the diverse ways in which the person and the environment interact to produce behaviour.” An Introduction to Psychology Atkinson, Atkinson, Smith & Benn

7. Personality • Personality – the characteristic (consistent) patterns of behaviour and ways of thinking that determine a person’s unique way of interacting with the environment

8. Personality – a consensus • Self- a permanent entity at the heart of our experiences • Preferencefor behaving in certain ways • Adaptationto the environment • Probabilitythat someone will act in certain ways • Role- as an actor plays it

9. Personality and Leadership ‘Who we are directly affects how we interact with the world which, in turn, determines the outcomes we achieve.’

10. Personality and leadership • Whowe are directly affectshowwe behave which, in turn, impacts our success as a leader • Our effectiveness as a leader is not so much about what we do, but more abouthowwe do it – how we act, how we communicate, and how we interact with each other personality = behaviour = results ‘Who we are directly affects how we interact with the world which, in turn, determines the outcomes we achieve.’

11. Individual potential- the importance of behaviour Experience Skills Attitudes & Values Interests Knowledge Literacy & Language Education & Training Physical & Health Intelligence Behaviours, Motivating Needs, Drives, & Style Take into consideration all of the information that makes up the wholeperson. This illustration shows how important behaviour is in assessing individual potential.

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