The One-Two Personality Punch to Get Ahead

When you’re trying to get others to follow your lead, whether in a social or work situation, it can be hard to know what approach to take. Should you be nice? Should you be assertive?

Mandy is running a small volunteer committee, and there are some headwinds. She has her own notions of what she wants the committee to do, but she’s having trouble persuading the other members to follow her lead. She’s tried every trick she can think of, from flattery to hard persuasion, but so far, no luck.

The Personality Traits that Can Spell Success

According to a new study by Osnabrück University’s Tobias Härtel and colleagues, the five-factor model of personality can help people like Mandy navigate through this awkward situation. The model proposes that personality is organized into five broad dimensions, or sets of traits, that include agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience.

These traits, although not directly observable, are expressed in your behavior. As the authors note, “expressed behaviors that evoke interpersonal impressions take the key role in explaining the mechanisms linking personality traits to social outcomes” (p. 2167). No one needs to peek inside your head to see if you’re highly agreeable (nice); they have to see how you act.

The expression of these traits in behavior should, according to the German research team, play a role in situations where you’re put in a leadership position. If you seem kind and caring, people might want to accede to your will. On the other hand, if you’re too nice, they may see you as weak.

Härtel and colleagues propose that personality’s role in leadership might not be simple. Leading a group involves two aspects

(1) being chosen for the role

(2) being effective in that role.

What helped your appointment as the leader might not help you get what you want out of your members. Do you need to turn down the niceness after all?

Getting One-Two Personality Traits Lined Up

Using a sample of 364 participants, most were students (average age of 24), the Osnabrück team used an innovative method to test the role of personality traits in leadership. Online groups of four to five participants were assigned a group-based task delivered via Zoom. Their assignment was the “Lost on the Moon” task; they had to agree on which 15 items they would need to ensure survival after a crash-landing on the moon (other tasks were also used with a similar premise, such as a crash-landing of an airplane). The entire process took two to three hours.

Participants took turns serving as group leaders, and following task completion, they all evaluated each other and themselves in the leadership role. Before completing the task, they rated their own personality using a standard five-factor measure. The group-based task was recorded, allowing researchers to provide leader ratings of behaviors along the dimensions of task-focused, member-focused, and calm behavior.

Briefly, task-focused ratings included directing the group to its goals, establishing structure, and enforcing efficiency. Ratings of member focus included whether the leader acted supportively, showed appreciation, and empowered others through collaboration. Calmness ratings included showing emotional control, being relaxed in expression and gestures, not interrupting others, seeming assured, and avoiding displays of oversensitivity.

Each round within the experiment was also followed by ratings of leaders on assertiveness, trustworthiness, and ability to stay calm. Participants also rated the leaders in terms of leadership ability (for example, seeming leaderlike and responsible), effectiveness (fostering achievement of group goals), and satisfaction.

The top personality traits that predicted leadership outcomes were extraversion and agreeableness. Group members preferred outgoing leaders, but they felt their group was more effective with an agreeable leader. However, that calmness dimension—not a five-factor trait—was considered in the equation. Not losing your cool when in the middle of a dire situation seems to add another important element to the leadership equation.

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Putting on Your Leadership Hat

The Härtel and team findings suggest that Mandy, who’s already been chosen to be a leader (suggesting she’s extraverted enough), might have to turn on the charm offensive. The qualities that ensure you're chosen for an important role don’t seem to be the same ones that will help you carry out that role. Listen to your members, support their ideas, don’t push your own agenda, and you’ll draw the support of your group.

Then there’s that calmness component. You might be facing an eleventh-hour deadline and panicking that you won’t make it. Don’t let it show. If anything, losing your cool in front of the group would only negate whatever kindness and concern you need to get to your desired outcome.

To sum up, personality plays out in many of our daily interactions. When you need to play well with others, tapping into the dimensions of extraversion and agreeableness will be your most effective and fulfilling strategy.