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The April edition of CCL’s Leading Effectively newsletter sure caught my attention:Actually, no, I wasn’t aware of this. In fact, I’m not aware of any research on leadership derailment that deals with personality traits. Competencies, behaviors, skills, IQ, EQ… sure; but not personality traits.
And I was surprised to learn what they were. You may be to. From CCL:
Leadership careers can go off the rails for a number of reasons, preventing executives from achieving their full potential. A recent CCL study found that career derailment is more likely to occur if an executive:
- Is less trusting of people
- Is more conceptual and abstract in his style of thinking
- Tends to reveal personal information about himself
Research studies conducted at CCL since the 1980s have contrasted people who "make it" to the top with people whose leadership careers have stalled. The studies have focused on specific characteristics and behaviors -- rather than personality traits. Over the past 25 years, research has identified the following factors to be indicators of derailment:
- Authoritarian
- Cold
- Aloof
- Arrogant and insensitive to others
- Failing to staff effectively
- Failing to handle conflict
- Failing to build and lead a team
- The inability to think strategically, adapt, grow, learn and develop
- Overly ambitious
- Lacking follow-through or performing poorly
- Lack of preparation to manage outside current function
The new study looked at the personality traits of 279 managers to determine whether any significant connections could be made between personality and career derailment. Using CCL's Benchmarks 360-degree assessment instrument to measure derailment potential and the 16PF Fifth Edition Questionnaire to measure personality, CCL researchers found:
Vigilance -- the tendency to not trust others, perhaps believing that most people have hidden agendas and will not do what they say they will do — is positively correlated to derailment.
Abstractedness -- the tendency to take a conceptual approach to things; in extreme it can appear as daydreaming or absentmindedness — is positively correlated to derailment.
Privateness -- the tendency to keep personal information to oneself -- is negatively correlated to derailment. It is viewed as a predictor of continued career success.
"Understanding how their personality and behaviors may be perceived by others is important for managers and executives who want to continue to grow and succeed in their careers," says CCL's Jean Leslie, an expert in leadership career derailment. "This insight encourages managers to adjust their actions and ideas about leadership in ways that help them to be more effective on the job."
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I’m left wanting to know more about the cause of effect. Why in the world would not sharing personal information about yourself be a predictor of career success as a leader? If anything, I would think that would lead to a perception of being cold, aloof, or arrogant, which are proven derailers.
We can only guess, but you might want to think about taking down those embarrassing Facebook pictures with you and the water bong.
