New study: Personality is key in hiring effective leaders

A new study from Michigan State University found that the personality characteristics that get you promoted to a leader aren’t necessarily the qualities that make you a good one.

The study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, found that a number of characteristics are important for effective leadership including achievement motivation, order, self-discipline and optimism.

However, the employees who tend to become leaders are often not the people with the characteristics to be successful in those roles. For example, people who are assertive are more likely to become leaders. However, assertiveness was not associated with effective leadership.

“Leadership can have a substantial impact on organizational effectiveness and employee morale. Therefore, it is important that organizations know what to look for when hiring leaders or helping current employees develop into leadership roles,” said Christopher Nye, co-author of the study and professor in MSU’s Department of Psychology.

The study also found that the characteristics of effective leaders varied across different types of leaders. For example, the personality characteristics that led to success for student leaders were different than the characteristics for lower-level or upper-level managers.

The researchers conducted a meta-analysis, which is a study of studies. They gathered all the studies that had examined the relationship between personality characteristics and leader effectiveness or becoming a leader. The researchers then aggregated the results of these studies to examine the personality characteristics that were most relevant for these outcomes.

“Our findings suggest that organizations may want to re-evaluate the way that they select their leaders to only focus on those personality characteristics that are linked to success,” said Nye. “I hope that the results of this study will help organizations to more effectively hire or develop successful leaders in the future.”

This study was first authored by Nathan Baker, assistant professor at Wright State University and psychology doctoral alumni from Michigan State University. The article was also selected as an Editor’s Choice article by the Journal of Applied Psychology for its societal relevance and practical impact.