There are many different personality types and there are many different leadership styles. The United States Air Force, at least at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, gives something similar to the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBPI) to all new inbounds with what’s known as the True Colors Personality test (True Colors Inc., 2015). Through this test we were able to quickly determine different personality types and how we have to change how we communicate in order to most effectively get our points across to different people. The MBPI goes a little more in-depth with various personalities, however, the point is still the same within the business world. However, I’ll only comment on the first portion this week, extrovert’s vs introvert’s.
Most people can easily classify themselves as either being extroverted or introverted; I myself am a rather introverted individual. Apparently, the two personality types do better at different types of leadership styles. Francesca Gino, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, mentioned that introverts tend to be better in teams where followers are more proactive (Harvard Business Review, 2010). In essence, followers will feel like they have more a say in the decisions that they make and leaders are more willing to listen. As the environment becomes more and more complex, introverted leaders may start to become more in demand.
Throughout many different MSLD courses, it seems as if the trend is moving towards self-managed work teams, less bureaucracy, and fewer tiers in the hierarchy. This means leaders need to have a more hands-off approach and trust their followers to get the job done, perfect for those with more introverted tendencies and personalities. However, this is most certainly in the ideal situation where all followers are proactive anyways. In events that they are not, some sort of training may need to be provided.
Some followers need to be lead, or taught, on how to become more proactive. Nick Obolensky perfectly outlines how to do this in his book, Complex Adaptive Leadership (Obolensky, 2010). In essence, you can’t expect a follower to become proactive right away. Depending on what stage they are at, you may need to slowly teach them the skills necessary to get the job done. This can take some time and results won’t be immediate, however, the payback can be well worth the investment.
Discussed were some of the leadership style preferences associated between introverts and extroverts, where the trend seems to be moving as time goes on, and finally a comment on how we can set up an environment that is more suitable for not only proactive followers but for introverted leaders. I think there is a lot to learn, not only towards ourselves as leaders but of other people as well. One of the most important skills, I believe, is being able to determine and diagnose what type of person you’re interacting with and how best to communicate and get each others points across without any problems.
References
Harvard Business Review. (2010, November 12). Can Introverts Lead? Retrieved December 13, 2015, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=filvlODRukw
Obolensky, N. (2010). Complex adaptive leadership (Second Edition ed.). London, UK: Gower/Ashgate.
True Colors Inc. (2015, December 13). True Colors Intl. Retrieved from https://truecolorsintl.com/
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