Using the Keirsey temperament test to develop personal leadership beliefs

¶ … Personal leadership beliefs: Overview

Leadership: current knowledge

Teamwork is an essential aspect of optimizing organizational performance. According to the Keirsey Temperament test, I have an intuitive ability to facilitate teamwork and create a team atmosphere that can optimize organizational performance. Interpersonal and communication skills are some of the most important leadership qualities when doing business today. Exercising leadership in a diverse environment requires understanding how people's different value orientations impact organizational behavior. I believe that my Idealist (NF) and Intuitive Feeler orientation gives me the required patience and understanding to create a leadership environment where all the contributions, of every member of the organization, are valued. My style is that of a participatory managerial approach that strives to draw forth the skills of all organizational members.

Leadership skills

Media and public relations have become especially important in today's economy, and I believe that my communication skills make me ideally suited for the demands of today's business environment. Good listening is a skill: so is being able to say the same things in different ways to appeal to different types of people.

Even though many corporate workplaces are quite segmented, departments such as it and marketing must engage in more joint efforts than ever before. I have always enjoyed being a part of multidisciplinary teams and acting as a liaison with other companies and departments. Teaching, diplomacy, and negotiating are all skills which I -- and a good leader -- must possess in abundance, just as much as traditional leadership capacities of managing, delegating, and exercising authority. Authority in modern organizations no longer exists in a top-down fashion.

Disposition towards leadership

On an ethical orientation test, I was characterized as an 'organizational person,' who puts the value and goals of the organization ahead of personal values. Once upon a time, I suppose, this type of orientation was seen as antithetical to strong leadership. However, now I believe that this type of disposition is an asset. Instead of stressing personal advancement, I strive to create a common mission and goal for those with whom I work. I have long understood that no person is an 'island.' Every leader is dependant upon others to realize organizational goals, and a leader who places the needs of him or herself above that of the organization is no leader at all.

Of course, even the most popular and congenial leader cannot lose sight of his or her values: someone who is overly yielding will not be respected. But I am strong as well as supportive: I try to use the need to put aside personality conflicts and accomplish the task at hand as a way of keeping team members highly focused. In this sense, my desire to be an organizational cheerleader can work to my advantage.

Those whom I supervise know I prefer to lead through dispensing praise, not with sanctions. I am always quick to note peoples' different accomplishments, and when there is a problem, my approach is 'how do we fix this,' rather than to ask 'who is to blame.' I believe that making people want to please you is more effective than leading through fear: I take a genuine interest in subordinate's professional development. Showing that you care about team member's growth and advancement beyond their immediate relevance to the project creates stronger organizational bonds and makes employees more willing to make sacrifices when necessary. Investing in workers through education and showing sensitivity to individual needs ultimately makes for a stronger organization.

Leadership attributes

Intuitive, feeling leaders like myself are often praised for having a vivid imagination, are unique problem solvers, and convey a strong sense of integrity According to the Keirsey Temperament test they can seem even 'seductive' or mysterious because they are not traditionally extroverted like 'in your face' leadership types. This can make individuals want to please intuitive types of leaders, particularly as these types of leaders are willing to give praise to others, as well as seek personal recognition. However, a quality that I manifest that is sometimes not conducive to leadership is that I wish to stifle conflict: it is essential to allow disagreement and discussion, while preventing conflicts from becoming fully-fledged wars. Ideally, conflicts should be productive.

Given that my leadership style is classified as being an "integrating leader" I show a high level of concern about cementing relationships and meeting organizational goals. When I set goals, they are not simply for myself, but are intended to make the organization and those involved in working relationships grow and change for the better. I am a good and fair negotiator by nature, but not a hard-nosed one: I seek to create ties, rather than foster dissention, and believe that the aim of negotiation is problem-solving.

Methods of coping with the demands of leadership

I am fortunate in that some of the aspects of demonstrating leadership, such as speaking in public, come naturally to me. I work well in a group, and am comfortable both giving and taking advice. I think that the areas I need to work on are one-on-one communication strategies: apologizing to someone, making eye contact, and giving direct orders can be difficult, I think because of my discomfort with personal conflict.

The way I cope with such situations is to play to my strengths as a leader: when giving criticism, I always focus on the task at hand, not upon the person, and sometimes using a prop, such as a chart, a memo, or a computer screen on which both the subordinate and myself can focus can lessen the difficulty of making eye contact in a one-on-one fashion.