Leadership Styles & Personality Types - How They Propel Your Health Care Leadership Career

Learn how leadership styles and personality types correlate to set the tone for your leadership role

How many times have you been told you need to improve your leadership style or personality type to advance in your career? Probably not many – these are not skills or tasks that you learn in college or tech schools. You will not hear about many organizations that focus on leadership styles or personalities in new hire orientation or during your department meetings. So why is this an important component of your career? How can you apply a leadership style to conflict management, or a personality type to analyzing budgets and productivity reports? And how on earth do the two combine to create a master mix of career success? A good understanding of these two critical aspects of leadership – and success as a leader, puts you in the driver seat for your career.

Personality Types – the Basics

The Internet is loaded with personality tests that provide a basic understanding of what makes you tick. Are you an extrovert or introvert? Do you like leading the team, or being the center of attention? Maybe you prefer blending in or following the crowd. Some extroverts like structure and checklists, while others like spur of the moment action. Introverts are the “quiet types” who curl up with a good book instead of heading to the club; other introverts like to analyze just about everything before deciding on anything. Interestingly, many people are a combination of personality components, but one strong beacon of personality bursts through to shine the light on a person’s true self.

I had the distinct pleasure of attending a direct sales conference with Dr. Robert Rohm as the keynote speaker. The conference was full of teams from around the nation, and Dr. Rohm’s focus on personality types gave us incredible insight on how our personality types are hard-wired, and his hilarious descriptions of personality types were exact matches for all 250 of us. He pinpointed how each personality relates to certain behaviors and interactions with other people. The four categories – dominant (D) – the get it done, checklist person; inspiring (I) – the fun and outgoing, creative, and influential person; supportive (S) – the quiet, stay at home type, and cautious (C) – the analytical and careful person (Rohm, 2016), lined up with how we approach work and task accomplishment, and how we interact with co-workers and family. I am the “I” personality – outgoing, creative, love being the center of attention, and I like to interject humor into just about everything I can think of – even budget and department meetings.

Okay…personality types – fine, where is this taking me? Quite far! If you can figure out – down to the microscopic level – what your personality type is, you are on the path to determining how you can identify other’s personality types.

When you understand your own personality type, you will understand why you behave a certain way, or approach certain tasks. The first step is finding the right personality test to determine where you fall into the personality spectrum. As a leader, you also need to understand the other personality types, and that puts your car on the road. Now you can understand how other people tick.

Still not getting it?

If you are a get it done, checklist leader, you expect the same from your employees. What if your team is full of people who are constantly trying to have fun? Are you going to get the same level of productivity out of these people? Or will your personalities clash and create conflict?

Think about your spouse or partner; what kinds of conflicts do you encounter? Think about how your personalities tie in…now you are clicking. Your personalities drive behavior – and different behaviors drive conflict or create harmony.

Figure out your personality type – understand the other personality types – and then you can start working on your leadership style.

Leadership Styles – the Basics

Most leaders do not sit and contemplate this question: Hmm…what leadership style am I going to apply during our department meeting this morning? I think the autocratic style is prudent…our numbers are down, and the managers need to get it together! That is it – today, I’m autocratic!

Certainly not what you would consider before walking into a meeting, is it?

Leadership styles correlate with personality types more than you might think. An autocratic leader wants to get things done without any feedback from the team or other individuals, whereas an authoritative leader wants the same, but creates a clear vision for employees with clear expectations. Both leader styles focus on the goal, but each style has a different approach with people. Both styles correlate with the dominant (D) or cautious (C) personality types – the driven or calculating individuals who get things done.

Conversely, the democratic or coaching styles line up with the inspiring (I) or supportive (S) personality types, as these leaders look for opinions and feedback, and guide others to think. These leadership styles lend themselves to someone who wants to engage in team development or productive conversation. The “life of the party” personality or “shy and quiet” type are shoe-ins for leadership styles that coincide with people-centered action and inspiration.

What leadership style fits with your personality type? Are you a dominant, authoritative leader? Or an inspiring, democratic leader?

Want a twist?

You can adjust your leadership style based on a situation. You can also adjust your behavior as a leader based on an employee’s personality.

Your personality is…well, your personality. Your personality guides how you lead others. If you are a driven, get it done person, and you work with someone who is quiet and introverted, you need to understand how they may react in a conflict, or communicate when they are stressed. If you are the analytical type of director, and your manager is the high-spirited and inspiring personality, you may wish to deliver constructive feedback with a positive flair instead of the straight facts. This is how leaders build trust and grow within their own leadership style.

Interacting with people based on their personality type is one step towards building influence and trust with a team. This ties in with understanding your leadership style, and how to apply that style to the different personalities in your department. Adjusting your leadership style comes from understanding personalities, which starts with knowing your own personality.

The Master Mix

Health care leadership is challenging and rewarding. Leaders have a responsibility to maintain high levels of excellence in performance, productivity, financial management, quality, and patient satisfaction – and employee engagement and satisfaction. It is a tall order, but those who choose this path understand the daily demands and can face the drama with their head held high.

What is the master mix?

Leadership styles and personality types.

The foundational knowledge you gain as a leader of these two simple components of your role are critical. They are not job requirements or tasks. They are not formulas to plug into your fiscal year volume projections. They do not affect your Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores.

They do, however, affect how you communicate with your team, provide guidance and inspiration, how you engage in task management, and how you manage conflict.

Figure out what your personality type is; pinpoint your leadership style. Understand the different personality types – and memorize the personality types of your team and comprehend how they might react to other personality types.

Focus on your leadership style, and understand how you can fluctuate between different styles, based on the demand of a task, the deadline of a project, or the nuances of a sensitive situation.

This master mix of understanding leadership styles and personality types is the start of your journey as a health care leader. Add a little bit of spice, and you are well on your way to spinning your own mix of success.

Reference:

Rohm, R.A. (2016). Retrieved from www.robertrohm.com