1. Leadership & Management
Reading for Lesson 11:
Personality and Reflection as a Leadership Tool

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Personality Traits
Five personality traits impact interpersonal relations and job performance:
Extroversion
Agreeableness:
Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability (Neuroticism)
Openness to Experience
Additionally, self-monitoring of behavior

6. Personality Traits Extroversion Emotional stability
Social, gregarious, assertive, talkative, active
Outgoing person, as opposed to shy, introverted person
Emotional stability
Anxious, depressed, angry, embarrassed, emotional, worried
Person with low emotional stability is often referred to as neurotic or emotionally unstable

7. Personality Traits Agreeableness Conscientiousness
Courteous, flexible, trusting, good-natured, cooperative, forgiving, softhearted and tolerant
Agreeable person is friendly and cooperative
Conscientiousness
Careful, thorough, responsible, organized, purposeful, hardworking, achievement-oriented, and persevering
Generally, the trait implies a dependable person

8. Personality Traits Openness to experience Self-monitoring of behavior
Imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad-minded, intelligent and artistically sensitive
Persons of well-developed intellects
Self-monitoring of behavior
Refers to process of observing and controlling how we are perceived by others
High self-monitors are pragmatic, and even chameleon-like actors—often say what others’ want to hear
Low self-monitors avoid situations requiring them to adopt different outer images—can lead to inflexibility

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. Figure 11-2 goes here

14. Introspection and Reflection
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

15. Introspection and Reflection
Systematic introspection process—questions to ask and examine about yourself:
Establishing your schedule—how do you spend your time?
Establishing your priorities—what are they?
Examining your reliability—do you honor commitments?
Who tells you the news—good and bad?
How long are your meetings—are they short, brisk and to the point?

16. Introspection and Reflection
How well do you listen? Only by listening do you learn what’s going on
Are you feared, distrusted, like, respected or loved?
What is your body language like—are you approachable?
Are you a communicator—do you help your people learn, understand and develop? Do you speak and write well?
Are you a disciplinarian—are you fair and do you follow your own standards?

17. Introspection and Reflection
Do you enjoy your job?
Are you an innovator?
Are you flexible?
Do you maintain physical and intellectual fitness?
Do you deflect or magnify pressure?
Are you tuned in or out of touch?

18. Introspection and Reflection
Are you a delegator?
Are you a non-drinker, drinker or alcoholic?
Are you an optimist or pessimist?
Are you religious? What are your ethics and values?
Are you a writer?
Are you ambitious?
Are you secure or insecure?

19. Introspection and Reflection
Are you a philanderer?
What is your integrity level?
Are you intense or relaxed?
Are you decisive or a “decision ducker”?
How conceptual are you—can you put mission, goals, requirements and responsibilities in a conceptual framework?

20. Introspection and Reflection
The Paul Principle
Gradual obsolescence of leaders as they lose touch with the organization they lead
Become too conservative
Resist innovation and change
Fail to take advantage of technological breakthroughs
Antidote—systematic reading program, attending management training symposia and workshops, interacting with long-range planners, and brainstorming activities with staff can all help defeat the Paul Principle