How does the personality of the leader and team members affect group performance?

What is an indispensable element of modern public and private organizations? It’s surely teamwork. Good teamwork means that a group of people with different, often contrary traits, skills and experiences jointly strive to achieve an agreed result through cooperation, constant communication and support

In this regard, the personality of the leader and individual group members – plays a special role. Today, we’ll explain what is the personality of the leader, look at its features and present the most common types you can encounter. We also consider how exactly it affects the performance of the group.

What is personality?

Personality is most often understood as a multidimensional and enduring set of psychological traits, behaviors, emotions and thoughts that characterize the way an individual perceives and reacts to the world (including oneself and other people). It is one of the main categories studied by psychologists – because it forms the basis for understanding how people function, behave and integrate with others.

Notably, researchers indicate that it is shaped by biological (genetics) and environmental (upbringing, culture, life experiences, etc.) interactions. You can study personality through various methods, such as interviews, observations or special tests (commonly applied to diagnose disorders, but can help in career counseling and personal development).

The Big Five – the most popular theory about human behavior

Several theories have been developed in the domain of personality, but the most popular is the so-called Big-Five (The Model of Big-Five Personality) describing 5 basic dimensions:

• Extraversion – refers to the level of extroversion or introversion. Extroverted people are sociable, energetic and like to be in the company of others, while introverted people are more self-centered and like to spend time alone (which does not mean that they are also shy or have difficulties in interpersonal relationships),
• Neuroticism – distinguishing individuals by their level of emotional stability or instability. People with low neuroticism are more emotionally stable and cope better with stress, while those with high neuroticism may be more prone to anxiety and emotional fluctuations.
• Agreeableness – people are more cooperative and willing to compromise, while aggressive people tend to show self-confidence and a tendency to compete,
• Conscientiousness – conscientious people tend to be more responsible and thorough in their tasks, while less conscientious people can be more chaotic and impulsive.
• Openness to experience – refers to the level of openness to new ideas, creativity and interest in art and culture. Open-minded people are more curious about the world and are usually more willing to have a variety of experiences.

Why is the personality of the leader important?

There is no doubt that a team leader or manager plays a key role in the quest to ensure the highest possible level of performance of inferiors – tasks include motivating members, supporting them or taking care of their development. What role does the leader’s personality play in this area? The most essential aspects related to this are presented below:

1. Team building and creating a positive atmosphere – empathetic, agreeable and extroverted leaders have a greater ability to create teams that are self-motivated and work well together, which usually also leads to increased productivity.
2. Motivating performance – through charisma, a leader can inspire expected results (translating into performance).
3. Team conflicts – problems of various kinds are inevitable, but a leader’s personality can influence how conflicts are resolved (e.g., by encouraging constructive discussion).
4. Communication – leaders who can clearly and effectively communicate their goals and expectations ensure a better understanding of the role of individuals in the team, which improves coordination within assigned tasks, also leading to better performance.

Does the personality of the team members also matter?

A leader’s personality plays a key role in nurturing group performance, but it is the diversity of traits in a team that brings the best benefits – different viewpoints, experiences, thoughts and skills lead to creative solutions or more thoughtful decisions.

What’s more, the traits and behaviors of individuals affect interactions with each other, i.e. group dynamics, communication or cooperation in the tasks at hand, among other things, which does not go unnoticed in the overall atmosphere of the team, and thus also the efficiency achieved. It is worth remembering that discovering the distinguishing characteristics of team members can help to assign each of them appropriate roles and tasks – to ensure the highest possible efficiency.

Personality of the leader and team members – summary

Naturally, we have to recognize that the personality of the leader and group members is not the only factor that affects the performance of the entire team. What also matters are the goals set, the resources available and the prevailing organizational culture, among others. However, the element in question can play a major role in determining how well a team will cooperate and achieve its goals.

Thus, an appropriate match between the personality of the leader and others and the role they are expected to fill in the team, as well as effective diversity management in this regard, can prove useful for companies operating in different industries. Supervisors and HR departments that hire new people and monitor the performance of a given group should therefore definitely take this aspect into account.

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