The Relationship Between Leadership and Personality

The Relationship
Between Leadership and Personality
Andrew J. Marsiglia, PhD, CCP
People that have task-oriented personality types tend to have considerable focus on details. They are not comfortable initiating an action-plan until they are satisfied they have all the necessary facts. On the other hand, people who have relations-oriented personality types tend to have considerable focus on the result and are comfortable initiating an action plan when they have just the essential facts.
Therefore, it is important for a leader to understand personality and accurately adjust leadership style to the management situation.

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August 2005

The Relationship between leadership and Personality
Andrew J. Marsiglia, PhD, CCP
August 2005
People who have task-oriented personality types tend to have considerable focus on details.
They are not comfortable initiating an action-plan until they are satisfied they have all the necessary facts. On the other hand, people who have relations-oriented personality types tend to have considerable focus on the result and are comfortable initiating an action-plan when they have just the essential facts (Blake & Mouton, 1982). Therefore, it is important for a leader to understand personality and accurately adjust leadership style to the management situation. Bass
(1990) states,
Personality theorists tended to regard leadership as a one-way effect: Leaders possess qualities that differentiate them from followers. But these theorists did not acknowledge the extent to which leaders and followers have interactive effects by determining which qualities of followers are of consequence in a situation. (p. 12)
Personality predicted leadership emergence across a variety of people and settings. Lord (1986) states, “In short, personality traits are associated with leadership emergence to a higher degree and more consistently than popular literature indicates” (p. 407). In addition, Barrick and Mount

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