The results of my Big Five personality traits assessment were quite surprising. I scored 31% in openness to experience, 19% in conscientiousness, 8% in extraversion, 3% in agreeableness, and 63% in neuroticism (Appendix A). All results are in percentiles; for instance, 69% of respondents of the same age were more open to new experiences than me. Considering this, I was among the most skeptical, reserved, and cold people within my age group. In my opinion, low agreeableness and extraversion would be especially harmful to cooperation with my team members. In the worst-case scenario, I would be completely unable to analyze feedback from my team, as I would harshly criticize their ideas and suggestions.
I was particularly surprised with a low result in conscientiousness. As far as I understand, a low conscientiousness score means that I am a flexible and spontaneous person who hates rules. However, I felt this result was inaccurate, as, in reality, I keep my promises, follow my duties, and complete my assignments. In addition, I am mindful of deadlines since I do not like letting people down. Finally, I was surprised to see such low scores in agreeableness and extraversion. I tend to be logical, critical, and reserved, but I did not realize the magnitude of these traits in my personality.
If I were a leader, my style would be heavily impacted by low agreeableness and extraversion. Goleman et al. (2002) defined six emotional leadership styles based on the specific situational needs and type of subordinates (as cited in De Juan Jordán et al., 2018, p. 211). According to this classification, I would be a pacesetting and commanding leader, who sets high standards, leads by example, and demands quick task completion through precise instructions (De Juan Jordán et al., 2018). Overall, I would not be thrilled about working under such a demanding and aggressive leader.
In conclusion, I would like to claim that a leader must be aware of the impact produced by their personality and leadership style. According to De Juan Jordán et al. (2018), a leader’s position at the top of the team or organization often changes their performance and course of action. As such, leadership style directly affects the performance of the followers. A suitable leadership style would likely improve their well-being and effectiveness. At the same time, the wrong style and a leader’s inability to adapt would result in a miserable workplace atmosphere and poor productivity.
Reference
De Juan Jordán, H., Palacios-Marqués, D., & Devece, C. (2018). Leadership styles and entrepreneurship. In A. T. Porcar & D. R. Soriano (Eds.), Inside the mind of the entrepreneur: Cognition, personality traits, intention, and gender behavior (pp. 207-218). Springer.