MODULE 4 - HOW YOUR PERSONALITY STYLE AFFECTS YOUR ABILITY TO LEAD

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

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List of Figures

4.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………2-4

4.2 The Personality Matrix…………………………………………………………………………………………………………4-10

4.3 The Platinum Rule……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10-11

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4 How Your Personality Style Affects Your Ability to

Lead

4.1 Introduction

All of us have a way that we interact with the world. Our habits, behaviours, and personalities all make

us distinct from one another. Sometimes we work in an environment where we find that we are similar

to other people in our preferences, our ideas, and our attitudes. These similarities make for an easy,

comfortable working relationship – not to mention putting us in the position for making some lasting

friendships.

Yet what happens when we work with people who are significantly different from us? They are quiet

when you are talkative. They are outspoken when you are more hesitant to share your opinion. They

laugh easily and tend to share their personal life regularly, while you are more reserved and prefer to

keep your personal life out of the workplace. You work in order to enjoy your life, but they seem to

have a life only in order to work. You want things planned and organized, but they tend to make

changes at the last minute and then you end up frustrated.

Does any of this sound familiar? Unless you’ve only ever worked for yourself, chances are that you can

relate. How do you feel about those other people that don’t share your way of looking at the world?

Do you see them as difficult, strange, or worse? Do they make you uncomfortable or even dread it

when you have to work together? Do you ever change the way you act or speak around these people?

Most of us develop some way of ‘handling’ these different people. We might be polite, we might

ignore them, we might dismiss their opinions, we might be loath to express our own, or we might

even, in the worst case, argue with them on a regular basis and speak badly of them when they aren’t

around. While this is bad enough when this situation exists between you and a co-worker; it can be

disastrous for your entire team when you have this type of interaction between you and someone

that you are trying to lead.

How well do you work with people who are different from you?

What about when you have to lead those people?

What methods have you developed for ‘handling’ those people?

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The methods we’ve all developed for working with others become so natural that you might not even

notice that you’re doing it anymore. Particularly when we are talking about a person that you find it

difficult to supervise, when we find a way of dealing with them that seems to work, we stick to it. Our

patterns of behaviour and our opinions about that other person cease to be a conscious choice – they

become, in our mind, the reality of the situation.

This is an important point – and one you’ll want to make an effort to identify in your own work

situation. Where has your opinion of that other person stopped being an opinion, but instead has

become something that you’re treating as absolute fact? You no longer distinguish between ‘I think

Mark is difficult’ and ‘Mark is difficult.’ Or ‘I find Susan annoying’ and ‘Susan is annoying.’ It is

important to recognize that we have chosen to see this person in a certain way – but at the same time,

that our perception of them as difficult, annoying, condescending, or anything else doesn’t mean that

they are inherently the embodiment of whatever we see in them.

By now you’re certainly saying, ‘but he IS a jerk’ or ‘but she really IS annoying’ – and here comes the

next response that will undoubtedly flow through your mind: ‘everyone thinks so.’ When we get

affirmation of our own opinion from someone else, it reinforces this pattern of seeing our own

perceptions of the person in question as ‘the truth’. The more we have these affirming conversations

about the person we find it hard to supervise, the more we think we are ‘right’ about him or her.

This is perfectly normal human behaviour. But it is also very damaging behaviour when you are trying

to lead. How can you inspire someone when you see them as annoying? How can you get the best

performance from someone when you see them as difficult? So here is another option. It’s an

incredibly powerful tool that, when added to the others we’ve looked at so far, can literally transform

and reinvent relationships.

Understand that each of us views the world through a type of ‘lens’ that is, in part, our personality

style. When you and another person have similar lenses, you are seeing the world in a very similar

way. You will likely find these people easy to lead. You’ll know what will motivate them, what kind of

instruction and guidance they need to perform at their best, and how to communicate with them

when you need to get your point across.

But when you and someone else have very different lenses, or personality styles, everything becomes

a bit more difficult. You both stand behind your lenses, looking at and perceiving the world, but your

perception is very different. So when the other person acts according to what they see or perceive,

and it’s not what you see or perceive and not the actions you would have taken, their actions will seem

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strange (or difficult, or annoying) to you. You could go on forever this way, remaining frustrated and

exasperated trying to lead.

But there is another option to continuing to struggle with these type of leadership / subordinate

situations. You can learn about what the world looks like through that other person’s ‘lens.’ In other

words, you can learn to see their personality objectively. When you learn about personality types, you

learn to understand why someone else behaves the way that they do – and – just as important – why

you behave the way that you do.

When you begin to understand personality types, you can start to see the distinction again between

your opinion about the other person and fact. You can understand why that other person rubs you

the wrong way or makes you uncomfortable – but you also will have something you can do about it.

You can consciously choose to do simple things to adapt yourself to another’s personality style when

interacting with them. No, this isn’t just another way of ‘dealing with’ them. It’s a tool that has you

empower them, not dismiss, ignore, or coddle them. If you employ this tool, it’s a way that gives

everyone you lead the chance to fully contribute and to be appreciated for that contribution. When

you employ this tool, it’s as if you can speak to them in their own language – and even better, you can

hear and understand them in their ‘native tongue’.

4.2 The Personality Matrix

Scientists have tried to categorize human behaviour for centuries. There are many models, but for our

purposes, we will use the model developed by Dr. Eileen Russo. Her model uses two dimensions of

personality: expressiveness and assertiveness. Figure 3 shows the interactions of these two

dimensions and the four personality ‘quadrants’ that result.

When our personalities are very different from another person’s personality, we may see them

as difficult, annoying, strange, or any other countless negative adjectives.

In time, we cease to see these adjectives as our opinion – instead, we treat them as fact –

especially if others in our work group agree with us. These opinions then make it difficult – if not

impossible – to lead that person successfully.

The key to leading in this situation is learning about the main differences in personality types so

that you gain insight into why the other person acts the way they do.

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Each personality quadrant represents a basic personality style. People can fall anywhere within each

quadrant, becoming more uniformly one style over the others as they move further from the centre.

Notice that the more assertive styles ‘tell’ others what to do. The less assertive styles ‘ask’ others what

should be done. The more expressive styles tend to show their emotions in their face, speech, and

tone. The less expressive styles will either not express or hide their emotions.

The resulting four basic personality styles are shown in Figure 4.

Low Expressiveness + Low Assertiveness = Systematic

Low Expressiveness + High Assertiveness = Direct

High Expressiveness + High Assertiveness = Spirited

High Expressiveness + Low Assertiveness = Considerate

Figure 4: The Four Basic Personality Styles

In the following sections, we’ll look at the basic characteristics of each personality type and some

things you can do to help you work well with each type.

4.2.1 Direct

People with direct personality styles like to be in charge. They like to take control and get to work –

and they’ll work hard. They look for results, are driven to succeed, and are often competitive. They

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have strong focus and are pragmatic in their outlook. They are assertive, decisive, and have strong

opinions. They aren’t afraid to speak their minds or to make the tough decisions. They don’t want to

analyse things to death – they want to get in, get it done, and get on to the next project.

For other personality styles, direct styles can come off as overbearing, impatient, stubborn, and

autocratic. They may appear as if they don’t want other people’s input, particularly if it’s something

that could slow them down from getting the job done. They may not take the time to listen to others

or to feel that they need to explain anything to anyone else. They sometimes put results ahead of

other people’s feelings. Figure 5 gives you some tips for leading a person with a direct personality

style.

Here’s an example of how not to communicate with a direct style:

Hi George,

Sam came over to my desk this morning to tell me about the sales meeting you had

yesterday. He said it went really well and that the client was impressed. He mentioned

that the client asked you for some data on last quarter’s sales. Did you have a chance to

look for the data yet? Let me know if I can help you get it together. I’d like to have it to

them sometime later this week if possible.

Thanks again, and hope you are having a good Tuesday so far!

Anne

Instead, communicate like this:

George,

Great job on the sales meeting. I’d like you to have the requested data to me by 4pm on

Thursday.

If you need assistance, call me on ext. 325.

Thank you,

Anne

See the difference? The first one is too personal-sounding and doesn’t give a solid result or

outcome for the direct style to strive for. The second one still communicates approval and offers

assistance but communicates a specific request in a quick, direct manner. If it seems curt to you,

don’t worry – the direct style person will appreciate it.

• Get to the point quickly – don’t bore them with lots of background information

• Appeal to their sense of wanting to have excellent results if you need to make a

change

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• Give them chances to excel and compete, when possible

• Communicate in short, direct sentences with a specific call to action or request

• Be on time and end on time

• Don’t promise what you aren’t certain you can deliver

• Don’t give or ask for information about personal issues unless they initiate it

• Give specific, measurable outcomes for them to strive towards

• Tell the truth – don’t sugar-coat it

Figure 5: Tips for Leading a Direct Personality Style

4.2.2 Spirited

The spirited personalities are the ‘dreamers’ of the group. They can be like the Pied Piper,

generating enthusiasm and excitement about an idea or project. They are persuasive, visionary

types who are passionate about whatever they are working on and will throw themselves into

their work with abandon. They prefer to multitask in order to avoid getting bored or stymied.

They aren’t afraid to take risks and can often convince others to do the same.

Spirited styles, while great at getting a project started, are not always that great at getting it

finished. They prefer the big picture to getting down to the details of a task and paying attention

to minutiae. It’s difficult to keep their attention for long since they prefer to do multiple things

at once. Time management may be a problem for spirited people, as they may have a problem

determining exactly how long a project will take to complete and so they can tend to commit

to more work than they are truly capable of doing. They may have a hard time listening to

others, particularly if what the other person says might rain on their parade. Figure 6 gives

suggestions for leading a spirited person.

• Allow time for brainstorming and let them express their ideas freely

• Explain ahead of time how much time will be allowed for discussion

• Praise them in front of other people

• Communicate by showing an interest in their ideas but redirecting them to the

practical

• Understand that they may exaggerate

• Establish timetables with specific steps so your expectations are clear

• Set milestone deadlines in order to help them stay on task for the final deadline

• Challenge them to break down their ‘big ideas’ into specific outcomes and steps

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• Provide discipline in the sense of making it clear what will happen if they succeed

and if they fail.

Figure 6: Tips for Leading a Spirited Personality Style

Communicating with a spirited person can be difficult for those who are not expressive by nature.

Spirited people love to entertain others with their emotion-rich tales, which other personality styles

may not find interesting – or might even find annoying. Yet their enthusiasm, natural ability to come

up with new ideas, and their passion about their work are valuable qualities that you can learn to

harness by planning for times when they are allowed to shine. Make time for team lunches or other

gatherings. If they have a new idea, be sure to give them credit for it – and even better, allow them to

be the one to teach the rest of the team about it. Regular coaching on time-management will probably

be required, so work out a system for doing so that doesn’t embarrass them in front of their

colleagues.

4.2.3 Systematic

Systematic personality types are the analysts among us. They are willing and able to plow through

piles of data and still be hungry for more. They excel at identifying and managing details, and logic is

their best friend. They are consistent, rational, precise, and are usually very disciplined. They make

decisions based on research and analysis rather than feelings. They have patience and are deliberate

in their work style. They are business-oriented and not normally apt to share anything about

themselves on a personal level. They like predictable processes and precise directions. They stick to

the book, and want others to do the same. They value fairness and playing by the rules, no matter

what.

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However, systematics can sometimes have a hard time making decisions because of the overload of

information they have compiled. They will always want more time for more details, and may get

bogged-down in one particular area or on one point instead of seeing the entire picture as a whole.

They may fear change and upsets in their usual routine. They may not be able to recognize when rules

need to be bent or exceptions need to be made to the rules or policies. Others may see them as cold

and uninterested, particularly those who are expressive. They do not do well with conflict, as they

tend to prefer avoidance rather than confrontation. They may shut down communication as a way of

dealing with discomfort or disappointment. Several strategies for leading systematic styles are listed

in Figure 7.

• Focus on facts instead of opinions

• Try to be accurate and precise in your communication with them

• Give logical reasons for what you are doing and what you are asking them to do

• Allow time for the research and analysis phase of a project

• Set timeframes around when analysis should be done and the next phase should start

• Give them time to check facts and reflect on what they learn

• Be organized and prepared when you meet with them

• Avoid personal topics in your interactions

• When conflicts arise, focus on facts and figures over personalities and feelings

Figure 7: Tips for Leading a Systematic Personality Style

4.2.4 Considerate

The final personality style is considerate. These are the people-pleasers in your group. They are natural

team workers, preferring to work with and support others than to work alone. They are excellent

listeners, and seek to connect with others on a personal level. If there is conflict of any kind, they will

work to mediate it. They will want everyone to have their turn, to have their say, and to be appreciated

for their contribution. They are natural counsellors, natural trainers or mentors, and they enjoy

helping others. They will encourage others to brainstorm and speak their minds, even if they aren’t

inclined to do so themselves.

Of course, niceness can have its downsides as well. Considerate personality styles won’t always stand

up for themselves, or point out mistakes that others might have made. They will worry more about

other people’s feelings in decision-making rather than the facts. They can be overly emotional and

take decisions personally that were not at all personal. They tend to avoid uncomfortable situations

such as change or conflict and may do what it takes to be included in the group rather than what is

the best decision for a project. Others may take advantage of them, as considerate people will often

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agree to take on more than their share of work in a project in order to make others happy. See Figure

8 for advice on leading a considerate personality style.

• Express a sincere interest in their feelings, thoughts, and personal life

• Foster trust in your relationship with them

• Reassure them that they are doing a good job, and correct them gently when they are not

• Try to move at a relaxed pace, giving them time to process changes

• Monitor their workload to ensure they haven’t taken on more work than they should

• Encourage them to ask questions and to share their opinion

• Let them know that you appreciate their help

• Give them opportunities to help others with projects or learning new tasks

• Help them identify goals that they can stretch for, but be certain they are achievable

Figure 8: Tips for Leading a Considerate Personality Style

One particular challenge in leading a considerate personality style is walking the line between being

sensitive to their feelings and coddling them. You do not need to treat them with kid gloves, but you

should be aware that they need to feel accepted and approved of in order to do their best work. If you

take the time to learn about them on a personal level and show that you remember details about

them, you will go a long way towards earning their loyalty.

4.3 The Platinum Rule

All of the knowledge you now have about personality styles is only useful if you take what you know

and you apply it in the workplace. You’ve got some tips for leading the specific personality styles, but

there is one last tip that can help you in any situation and with anyone that you may work with. It’s

called the platinum rule.

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You’ve certainly heard of the golden rule: treat others the way that you would like to be treated. The

problem with the golden rule is that it assumes that everyone wants to be treated – and wants to

work – in the same way. If this were true, you could just lead someone else the way that you would

want to be led. By now, you should understand that this won’t work for leading everyone – only for

those who are similar to you in personality style.

So what’s the best strategy? It’s called the platinum rule: treat others the way that they would have

you treat them. All of the information you’ve learned in this chapter can be summed up by this one

rule. If you look back at all the tips provided for each personality style, that’s really all they are: specific

ways to treat each style which are most comfortable for each one. If you can speak to someone in

their style, give them what they need to work to their best capacity, and help them meet challenges

in a way that empowers them, how could you fail to lead them?

If your first reaction to this is that it would be hard work, you’re right – at first. It will require being

conscious of the way you communicate with your team, figuring out what kind of support they each

need from you, and intentionally delivering it to them in the easiest way for each of them to digest.

But just like the characteristics discussed in Chapter Two, once you see the response in the people you

lead and the surge in the quality of their work, you will be happy to put in the extra effort. Eventually,

you will find that you can adapt to the needs of each team member with more and more ease, and

that you are more successful as a leader the more adept that you become.

We’ve all heard the golden rule:

Treat others the way that you would like to be treated.

But successful leaders understand and employ the platinum rule:

Treat others the way that they would have you treat them.