Markman - Habits of leadership: how your key personality traits determine the habits you have--and those you can develop--to be an outstanding manager

Habits of Leadership

How Your Key Personality Traits Determine the Habits You Haveand Those You Can Developto Be an Outstanding Manager

Art Markman, PhD

A Perigee Book

A PERIGEE BOOK

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HABITS OF LEADERSHIP

Copyright 2013 by Art Markman, PhD

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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First edition: February 2013

ISBN: 978-1-101-61995-7

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

C ONTENTS

P ROLOGUE

Is there any way to tell that you have made a good paper airplane? You fold up some paper, throw it, and hope it goes in the direction you intended. Whether that plane succeeds depends both on the features you give it when you crease the paper and the conditions when you let it fly. Even a beautifully executed plane may be buffeted by a sudden wind or caught in a low-hanging tree branch.

The same thing is true with leadership. Good leaders are determined both by the characteristics they have and the circumstances that face them.

If you were going to study paper airplanes, you might learn something about aerodynamics and try to match the properties of the plane to the expected conditions in your backyard when you get ready to throw it. And if you learn enough, you will able to predict which designs will create the most successful planes. That might make you a hit with the kids in the neighborhood, though it is unlikely to win you fame and glory.

Is it possible to predict who is going to be a good leader? This is not an idle question. A good leader can enhance the performance of everyone within an organization, whereas a bad leader can demoralize a group and cause an exodus of talent.

It isnt always obvious who is going to be a good leader. Consider two women, N and EDC. (The reason I use these abbreviations for their names will become clear as I get deeper into specific personality characteristics that drive habits.)

Both women are bright and talented.

N has always been a star. Even in high school, everyone knew what N was doing. She was clearly a young woman on the move. As an adult, N is extraordinarily engaging when you meet her. She exudes confidence in her abilities. She makes witty conversation and brims with interesting ideas. People look up to N and hang on her opinions. In the hallways at work, you can often hear people repeating things that N has said. It is no surprise that when Ns department was looking for a new manager, her name was high on the list of candidates. In many ways, Ns promotion was the culmination of things she had worked for her whole life. Yet, despite her clear intelligence and her ability to get people to see her as a leader, Ns department struggled under her direction. One big problem was that N was far more interested in her own opinions than in those of the people she worked with. She consulted others primarily as a way of validating that her own ideas were the right ones. As a result, the people working for her did not share their true opinions, and eventually they stopped sharing information with each other as well. The department missed out on a number of opportunities when one member of a group was not aware of projects that other group members were working on. Ultimately, Ns tenure as a leader was disappointing.

EDC is similar to N in many respects. In school, she was academically successful. She often took responsibility in school organizations and ran for student government. There were times that she rubbed people the wrong way, but generally she was quite personable. She could be counted on to liven up a party. These characteristics remained as she became an adult. EDC likes to meet other people and to talk to them. She is as comfortable being the center of attention at work as she is in her personal life. As a result, she is often selected to bring a groups ideas to the attention of upper-level management in her company. Although she talks comfortably with others, not everybody gets along with her well. In particular, she has a tendency to tell people what she is thinking, even when they dont want to hear it. EDC is the one to whom people go when there is a task that has to be completed on time because she is seen as organized and reliable. EDC is highly respected by her peers, and so she was quickly tapped for management within the company. Unlike N, she has risen through the ranks of management. At every level, EDC gets things done and inspires the people around her to bring their own work to new heights. She solves small problems before they become big ones. In short, EDC is a star.

So, what is the difference between N and EDC? Many of their most obvious behaviors are quite similar. Both speak well in public, take a visible role within their group, and garner the respect of their colleagues. Indeed, if anything, EDC comes off as more abrasive than N and, as a result, is respected but not always liked. So why is EDC a much more effective leader than N?

Answering that question is the main topic of this book.

Each behavior we see in ourselves and in others reflects a set of habits we have developed over the course of a lifetime. These habits incorporate both a persons natural preferences for how to act and the behaviors that are learned for those situations. This collection of habits plays an important role in peoples success in the responsibilities they take on at work and at home.

This book has three parts. In Part I, I explore the ways people differ from each other, focusing on core elements of their personality. Along the way, you will uncover these elements of your own personality with an easy-to-use personality profiler. After you take stock of your personality characteristics, I will help you interpret the results. In Part II, I examine the implications of the personality dimensions for two types of leadership: management and innovation. Finally, in Part III, I discuss ways to overcome your current negative habits, to accentuate your strengths, and to improve your leadership effectiveness.

Part I

The Ways People Differ

Over the next few days, take a look around your office. Notice what your co-workers are doing and how they interact with each other. It is pretty clear that the people around you differ in lots of ways. There are obvious physical differences in height, weight, and age. There are broad differences in how fast people think. Some of your colleagues are always quick with a comeback, whereas others take a while before they think of something to say.

The differences among people in the way they act and think determine what we call their personality . Personality focuses on differences because the similarities across people in their behavior is what we think of as basic human nature. Every normal person who grows up in a typical environment learns to speak at least one language. So we dont think of language using as an aspect of someones personality. That is just part of being human.