Running head: RESEARCH PAPER
Employee Personality and Leadership Style
Katherine Ridenhour
Liberty University
BMAL 501
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Abstract
This research paper will focus on how leadership styles and personalities directly impact a
company’s success or failure. Furthermore it will look into how each person within an
organization plays a key role in that outcome. Using various articles throughout the past four
years, research will be conducted to ensure that leadership carries the weight of empowering,
teaching, training and succeeding with their team. If a manager wants to have a successful
company, they have to create buy in from their team, which starts with themselves first. Once a
company has its’ managers buy in, the chain of command should follow all the way down.
Companies that have high success rates often times have a family atmosphere for their
employees and have created an unbreakable team. When an employee has the same passion for
their job that the CEO has, then a company has reached the stage where everyone benefits from
it. This, however, is only possible if each tier of management takes the time to study and get to
know each of their employee’s personality types. When we learn the strengths and weaknesses
of our team, we can better help each person while also helping ourselves.
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Employee Personality and Leadership Style
Leadership has been defined as the “ability to influence the behavior of individuals in the
workplace” (Khalili, 2017). With this definition in mind, a key aspect in any business is its
leadership team. These individuals work together to either make or break a company. Further
more, if a team has successful leadership, they must also have a solid team on the frontlines of
their organization. The companies and organizations that we have today are different than those
from fifty years ago because we have to look at who the new generation is (Ferr-Reed, 2015).
With this new generation come higher expectations for perfection, which means leaders must
look into and invest in their employees.
The key to having a successful business is learning how everyone on your team works, what
makes them thrive and what makes them shut off. Once the team knows and understands each
other, they are able to work along side one another without discouraging or hurting one another
(Stephens, 2017). When everyone is putting all they have into their job, while also paying
attention to and meeting the needs of others, a cohesive organization is built. Companies
succeed because of the organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) they receive, or the amount of
voluntary commitment someone has to their job (Alfonso, Zenasni, Hodzic & Ripoll, 2016).
OCB is cultivated when employees who go above and beyond at their jobs are rewarded and
recognized more than those who do the minimum requirement each day.
In order to have a solid team, research must be done on other’s strengths and weaknesses
within the company so that all employees know how to best work alongside of one another. If
multiple different personality and leadership styles are put together and everyone does not share
the same common goal of the company succeeding, it can break the organization. Teamwork
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comes from different people, with various backgrounds and personalities, working towards a
common goal.
Most companies share common themes that trend in studies on organizational leadership
styles and employee personality. These themes include transformational and transactional
leadership styles. They also include how these leadership styles impact a company, how reward
systems and bonus policies impact employee performance and how each individual personality
plays a role in a company’s overall success. Overall most companies tend to have the same
dynamics, environment and leadership structure.
Personality Types
According to the typological theory each of us are born with a predisposition for certain
personality preferences (Li, Castaño, and Li, 2018). These pairs are extraverted (E) or
introverted (I), sensing (S) or intuitive (N), thinking (T) or feeling (F) and judging (J) or
perceiving (P). Every person has one preference from the following pairs, which is not to say
they do not sometimes lean towards the other, it just means they usually gravitate to one over the
other. The key to understanding others within the workplace is to first understand you. “It is
becoming increasingly common for businesses to incorporate personality tests into workplace
training initiatives and hiring processes” so they can first understand how they personally learn
from, react to and overcome various situations (Lundgren, Kroon and Poell, 2017). Once this is
understood, then leaders can begin to understand their employees and coworkers.
The personality of management directly impacts employees in all aspects of their work. Each
personality type has the capability to be in a management position, however, some will thrive in
that role while others will shutdown or ruin the company. For example, a manager who is an NT,
intuitive and thinker, often sees their employees as tools, not people. They are often times very
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successful at their job because they are not thrown off task easily and they do not give up.
However, their team usually has high turnover and burnout because their needs are not listened
to or met. This type of boss leaves their employees to fend for themselves and will dismiss their
questioning as incompetence.
ISTJ’s are detail-oriented leaders who like to remain objective in all decisions and think
through every possible outcome. They often times can lack empathy because of their own
thoughtfulness and have a hard time showing sympathy for others decisions. Famous ISTJ’s
include the first president, George Washington, and founder and owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos.
It is no surprise that Bezos is an ISTJ as his company reflects the honesty and integrity of his
personality type.
ESTJ’s are decisive leaders, they are practical and once their mind is made up about a
decision there is no swaying them. These managers are often referred to as steamrollers because
they do not take the time to consider their employee’s thoughts or feelings. They are fantastic at
meeting deadlines and company goals but they may sacrifice their team along the way. Three of
our former presidents and Hilary Clinton are famous ESTJ’s.
ISFJ’s are thoughtful leaders that most employees’ want to have. They are compassionate and
thoughtful, while also meeting their goals and deadlines. They have a hard time prioritizing
goals but they are good at motivating their team to meet them. Famous ISFJ’s include rapper and
fashion designer Kanye West as well as former president George H.W. Bush.
ESFJ’s are motivated and empathetic leaders, they often put everyone else’s needs above their
own. They often have a hard time with planning and long-term goals as they are focused so
much on their team. Famous ESFJ’s include Sarah Palin and Bill Clinton, both of whom are
politicians and focus primarily on the good of their people.
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ISTP’s are not typically leaders because they prefer to work alone instead of in a group. They
often times do not have loyalty to any one organization and often times take the express way of
doing things so they do not waste time on the redundant things. Not surprisingly, Steve Jobs, the
creator of Apple Inc. is an ISTP. This is shown through every Apple product, in that none have
fancy designs or unnecessary items on them. They are sleek, top of the line quality and
aesthetically pleasing for users.
ESTP’s are fun managers to have because they are highly motivational and know how to keep
their employees motivated and goal centered, however, they are often very blunt about their
thoughts and opinions. They lack the planning skills that are often necessary in leadership roles
and will dive headfirst into an idea once they have it. Famous ESTP’s include Donald Trump
and George Bush, neither of which is shocking as they both display every aspect of their
personality type. ISFP’s have difficulty in the leadership role because they struggle with
structure, deadlines and the day-to-day tasks that come with leadership. They also have a hard
time thinking through things logically and putting their needs aside to meet the needs of the
organization and will only accept leadership roles in organizations that align with their personal
beliefs. Famous ISFP’s include Michael Jackson and Brad Pitt.
ESFP’s live in the moment and love new, exciting opportunities. They do not like long-term
obligations and tend to do things on a whim instead of thinking through everything. Majority of
actors and singers are ESFP’s, including Miley Cyrus and Leonardo DiCaprio. This is not
surprising as their personality types like being entertainment and the center of attention.
INTJ’s easily motivate those around them with their determination and confidence. These
leaders tend to work best when they are surrounded by different leadership styles that can help to
compensate their desire to be in the background. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is a well
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known INTJ who took his introvert tendencies and created a social media platform for those who
want to stay connected to friends without having to interact with them.
ENTJ’s are often times steamrollers when it comes to their fellow employees emotions and
needs because they are so focused on their own goals. They want to succeed and will focus on
nothing else than their company’s success. This can be beneficial to those in higher management
because their goals and expectations are being met, however, it can destroy the confidence of
those below them. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Corporation, is a poster model of ENTJ’s
personality’s as he stopped at nothing to reinvent the way we used technology.
INTP’s are leaders that most organizations like because they allow their employees to make
decisions and resolve issues internally if at all possible. They appreciate research and knowledge
from their teammates and want each answer or resolution to be a learning experience. Because
of their hands-off approach, these leaders will leave positions that require them to work closely
with those around them or micromanage their team. INTP’s include Albert Einstein and Google
founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. A closer look into Google’s headquarters and work
environment shows that INTP’s are capable of success while still remaining hands-off and
allowing their employees a safe, fun place to work.
ENTP’s are visionaries who are constantly looking for new things to try within their
organization and team. They will plan team bonding for their employees and see to it that risks
are taken within their company. Famous ENTP’s include former president Barack Obama,
Benjamin Franklin and many artists. This personality type has a wide-range of skill sets but all
of its people are enthusiastic about their career or company.
INFJ’s, like ENTP’s, are visionaries but they are also humanitarians. Unlike ENTP’s
however, they are perfectionists and do not look for risks to take. Instead they play out every
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possible outcome of a decision before making it. They tend to over work themselves and can
cause burnout within their team by demanding too much from their employees. They are also
known for compassion fatigue, which is burnout, psychological and physiological responses to
prolonged chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors and secondary traumatic stress (Kelly
and Todd, 2017).
ENFJ’s do not make good managers because they do not like conflict and have a hard time
giving their employees feedback. They are highly motivational, however, and go to great lengths
to care about their team’s needs. They have no problem working long hours or pulling overtime
to get a project done, but want the same from their staff. Oprah Winfrey is a good example of
this, she is a great leader, but would not be someone you would want as your manager because
she tries to see the hows and whys behind every person’s actions.
INFP’s are similar to ENTP’s in that they gravitate towards humanitarian jobs. They tend to
make good leaders because their passion motivates their team, but they have a hard time
accepting feedback from others. A good leader is one who can handle criticism from those
around them, which makes an INFP a hard leader to work for. These individuals must have a fun
filled job that is important to them, so it is no surprise that Johnny Depp and J.K. Rowling both
have INFP personalities.
Lastly there are ENFP’s who tend to be motivational leaders, often speakers or CEOs for their
company. They are good at making wise decisions, but often need very organizational people
working closely around them to help keep them on time with goals and ideas. These leaders are
outgoing but still see things from different perspectives and follow their intuition on decision
making. Walk Disney is the perfect ENFP, he created his business from nothing, expanding and
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improving along the way, while empowering and motivating his employees to want his same
passions.
All sixteen of these personality types can be present within one organization, making it hard
for the manager to come up with ideas and goals that reach and satisfy each personality type.
Managers have the capability to impact how much extra an employee puts into their job, whether
that is time, energy or effort, based on how well they meet the needs of their personality. With
this power, it is crucial that leadership know one, that they hold this power for their employees
and two, they learn there teams strengths and weaknesses so they can empower them (Koning
and Kleef, 2015).
Beyond management, if each employee knows their own personal strengths and weaknesses,
and then learns the same of those working closely around them, they can better understand the
hows and whys of other’s actions. Workplace bullying is something that occurs because
employees do not understand the actions of those around them (Nielsen and Knardahl, 2015). If
a person takes the time to get to know the personality differences between themselves and
another, bullying could be a thing of the past within the workplace. Most oftentimes a simple
word can be felt as bullying when in all actuality, that person’s personality is reasoning behind
their words and actions.
Leadership Styles
Just like with personality styles, there are different types of leadership styles. These can be
easily understood when broken down by each side of the brain. The left-brain thinkers are
compared to hedgehogs while the right-brain thinkers are compared to foxes. The foxes are the
big picture individuals who are risk takers and idea driven while the hedgehogs are specialists,
logical, planners and detail-oriented (Mauri, 2017).
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The two need each other to help balance out the workplace and this is true of any
environment. Just like different personality types being needed, each organization needs
different leadership styles. All hedgehogs and no foxes mean no decisions are made and no one
can take a risk, while all foxes mean decisions may be irrational or speedy and end up in failure.
Just like with anything in life, all workplaces need a balance to succeed and this includes a
balance of the different leadership styles.
Research shows that the main leadership styles are transformational leadership, transactional
leadership, directive style, participative style, empowering style and change-oriented leadership
style (Kumar, & Krishnaraj, 2018). Each of these has their own strengths and weaknesses, and
work best in different work environments. Transformational leaders focus on future needs
instead of the current needs of their employees or themselves (Saeed, Almas, Anis-Ul-Haq, &
Niazi, 2014). Transformational leadership works with and compliments transactional leadership
and most leaders have qualities from both. Transformational leadership is often successful
because it is normally accommodated with some sort of reward or incentive program (Breevaart,
Bakker, Hetland, Demerouti, Oslen, Espevik, 2014). Employees will often put in longer hours
and more passion in their work when they know it will be rewarded in some sort of way.
Transactional leadership focuses on supervision and performance and offers both reward but
also punishment. Whereas transformational leadership focuses on motivating its employees and
creating a better workplace with a common goal and vision, transactional leadership focuses on
numbers and performance of its employees. The reason why each of these works together so
well is because one without the other will cause an organization to fail. All work and no play
creates a hostile work environment and creates burnout within its employees. On the other hand,
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all play and no work leads to no accountability and allows its employees to do whatever they
desire with no repercussions.
Change-oriented leadership is a “specific leadership style in encouraging employee voice
behaviors” (Alyusef and Zhang, 2016). Employees will respond better to their higher-level
management when they are free to express their concerns and can do so without backlash or
punishment. This is the heart of change-oriented leadership and studies have shown over time
that employees will be dedicated to their work when they feel heard and understood.
All three of these leadership styles can work together to create a harmonious work
environment when they are used in conjunction to personality assessments and proper ethics and
morals. With the ever changing dynamic of the workplace, it is imperative that management
knows their personality type, their strengths and weaknesses and their leadership style. That way
when changes arise they can adapt well, without having to be set back or thrown off guard. With
any organization there are going to be ups and downs, changes and curveballs, but with the
proper training, leadership and organization, any company can survive.
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