Leadership & Management
Discussion for Lesson 11:
Personality and Reflection as a
Leadership Tool
Lesson 11
Reading Objectives
1. The student will comprehend and distinguish
personality traits and psychological types.
2. The student will know his/her psychological type and
describe the implications for his/her relationships and
leadership performance.
3. The student will comprehend why introspection and
reflection are valuable tools for a leader.
Lesson 11
Reading Objectives
4. The student will comprehend the Paul
Principle and how to avoid it.
5. The student will apply reflection and
introspection to better understand their strengths
and weaknesses as a leader.
Lesson 11
Discussion Objectives
1. The student will know their psychological type
and describe the implications for their
relationships and leadership performance.
2. The student will apply reflection and
introspection to better understand their strengths
and weaknesses as a leader.
Psychological Types

Psychological types help define cognitive styles
i.e. mental processes used to perceive and
make judgments from information.
 Knowledge of these cognitive styles can help
you relate better to people because you better
appreciate how they make decisions.
 According to Psychiatrist Carl Jung, how people
gather and evaluate information determines their
cognitive style.
Psychological Types
Gathering Information

Sensation type Individuals
 Prefer routine and
order
 Search for precise
details
 Prefer to work with
established facts

Intuitive type Individuals
 Prefer overall
perspective – “big
picture”
 Enjoy solving
problems
 Dislike routine
 Prefer to look for
possibilities
Psychological Types
Evaluating Information

Feeling type individuals
 Need to conform
 Adapt to others’
wishes
 Avoid problems that
may cause
disagreement

Thinking type Individuals
 Rely on reason and
intellect
 Downplay emotion in
problem solving and
decision making
Psychological Types
 Cognitive
Styles—two dimensions of
information gathering and evaluation are
combined to produce a four-way
classification of cognitive styles:




Sensation/Thinking
Intuitive/Thinking
Sensation/Feeling
Intuitive/Feeling
Introspection and Reflection
 Introspection


Enables leader to realize gaps between who
they are, who they think they are and who
they are perceived to be.
The introspection process should be
accomplished systematically and should be
done regularly with the help of an executive
assistant, trusted friend or spouse.
Introspection and Reflection (Cont.)

Questions to ask yourself:
- Establish a schedule – how do you spend your time?
- Establish you priorities – what are they?
- Examine your reliability – do you honor commitments?
- Who tells you the news – good or bad?
- How long are your meetings – are they short & to the
point?
- How well do you listen?
- Are you feared/distrusted or respected/liked?
Introspection and Reflection (Cont.)

Does your body language promote teamwork?
 Are you a communicator – do you help your people learn
and develop?
 Do you speak and write well?
 Are you a reader?
 Are you a disciplinarian – are you fair and consistent?
 Do you enjoy your job?
 Are you an innovator?
 Do you maintain mental and physical fitness?
 Do you deflect or magnify pressure?
 Are you tuned-in or out-of-touch?
Introspection and Reflection (Cont.)











Are you a delegator?
Are you a non-drinker, drinker or alcoholic?
Are you an optimist or pessimist?
What are your ethics and values – based upon what?
Are you ambitious?
Are you secure or insecure?
Are you a philanderer?
What is your integrity level?
Are you intense of relaxed?
Are you decisive or indecisive?
Are you conceptual – can you translate goals into a conceptual
framework?
Introspection and Reflection
Establishing
Establishing
your schedule— your priorities—
how do you
what are they?
spend your
time?
Examining your
reliability—do
you honor
How well do you
listen? Only by
listening do you
learn what’s
going on.
Examining your
reliability—do
you honor
commitments?
Are you feared,
distrusted, like,
respected or
loved?
commitments?
How long are
your meetings—
are they short,
brisk and to the
point?
Are you a
communicator—
do you help
people develop?
Speaking &
writing ability?
Introspection and Reflection
Are you a
disciplinarian?
Do you enjoy
your job?
Are you an
innovator?
Are you
physically and
intellectual
fitness?
Do you deflect or Are you tuned
magnify
in or out of
pressure?
touch?
Are you an
innovator?
Are you a
delegator?
Are you a nondrinker, drinker
or alcoholic?
Are you
religious? What
are your ethics
and values?
Are you an
optimist or
pessimist?
Are you
flexible?
Introspection and Reflection
Are you a
writer?
Are you
ambitious?
Are you secure Are you a
or insecure?
philanderer?
What is your
integrity level?
What is your
integrity level?
Are you
intense or
relaxed?
Can you put
mission, goals,
requirements,
responsibilities
in a conceptual
framework?
Are you
decisive?
Personality Traits

Personality traits impact interpersonal relations
and job performance:
- Extroversion
- Introversion
- Conscientiousness
- Agreeableness
- Emotional Stability
- Openness to Experience

Self-Monitoring is critical to success
Personality Traits (Cont.)
 Extroversion
- Social, gregarious, assertive
- Values input from external sources
 Introversion
- Reflective, thoughtful, innovative
- Values internally derived solutions
 Emotional Stability
- Often referred to as “Neurotic”
Personality Traits (Cont.)

Agreeableness
- Courteous, flexible, trusting
- Friendly and cooperative
 Conscientiousness
- Careful, thorough, organized
- Dependable and tolerant
 Openness to Experience
- Imaginative, curious, innovative
- Well-Developed intellects
Self-Monitoring Behavior
 The
process of evaluating and controlling
how we are perceived by others
- High Self-Monitors are pragmatic,
sometimes, Chameleon-like characters who may
say what others want to hear.
- Low Self-Monitors avoid situations that
require them to adapt – may appear inflexible.
Paul Principle


Peter Principle; one’s highest level of incompetence
- Antidote is meticulous preparation
Paul Principle; gradual obsolescence of leaders as they
lose touch with the organizations they lead:
- Become overly risk-averse
- Resist change
- Fail to take advantage of technological advances
- Antidote is engagement; professional reading program
training symposia, team-building, etc. to re-connect with
staff.
Next Class
 The
Power of Perception
 Read:

Leadership & Management, Chapter 12
Summary

Knowing the different personality types and how
each may react to various situations can be a
critical component of effective leadership.
 An accurate assessment and clear
understanding of your own personality traits is
an important prerequisite to understanding
others.
 The reflective leader is able to analyze
leadership situations in light of what he/she
already knows.
Questions?
???