How does a manager's personality and values affects his Job performance ?
Answers (5)
Michael B
General Manager at Friendlys Ice Cream
Best Answers in: Business Development (1), Organizational Development (1)
There are a thousand ways, but I would question whether or not the goal for an effective manager would be to NOT allow his/her personality or values to affect job performance unless the personalty traits or values were in keeping with the companies systems, policies, procedures, and vision.
The personality is directly linked with the performance of the managers. Higher the level, more important the personality is. There are 3 factors which affect the performance of the managers:
- skills ( technical, which come with determination and willing to learn: attending courses, reading, see what others do, work side by side with your team)
- knowledge (experience in industry which comes with time if time is properly exploited)
- abilities (things that one can not get a diploma in, but come with your personality and just need to be nurtured: leadership, communication, decisiveness, etc)
The balance changes in the chain of management. While for first line management skills is the main factor that affects your performance, higher you get on the ladder more important your abilities and personality get!
There may not be right or wrong personalities for a leader, as every has their strengths which can be exploited and their weaknesses which, once acknowledged, can be minimized.
An interesting classification of personalities from the leadership point of view can be found at the suggested link.
However, there is no black and white, everyone of us may find themselves in all of those personalities (at different levels). A good manager may need to be in different moments an achiever - to be success driven, a mediator - to be able to get the max out of the team, an observer - to be aware of the realities around him/her, a "boss" to push his team when required and so on.
I hope this helps.
Adi
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Todd S
Dynamic IT and Business Professional
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Mattew,
I feel both of these 2 traits affect a manager's performance quite a bit, but of the 2, his or her values carries more weight.
Personalities are as different as fingerprints and someone's personality will not mesh well with everybody elses and we all know that and can properly deal with that (re: the 'manager has quirks.')
Values, however, are more cut and dry and tie in somewhat to one's ethics, which doesn't allow much leeway. If a manager's value system is skewed far from others, it will be very difficult for the manager to properly do his/her job and have others follow.
So I feel that personality differences are a given and are not a barrier or hindrance for a manager to perform well. Value differences (especially key ones like honesty and repect) are not so lenient and can greatly impact a manager's ability to manage others.
Mark H
Associate Partner at Edwards Executive Search
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Mattew:
I must be the dissenting voice. When we hire a person whether a manager, an executive, or an entry level person we hire the "whole" person.
For so many years we have listened to this crap about leaving your "personal" stuff at home. You don't, period.
I am a big believer in hiring whole people whose values and personality are congruent with your own (the organization), if you don't you will spend hours and days trying to stuff them in a box called compliance.
I have created a model called Moving from Compliance to Commitment and written a book called Managing Whole People about my thirty year journey in working with people from various aspects.
I would also reccommend you vist the website of my colleague Joseph Skursky of Market Leader Solutions. Joseph has a model he calls Hire Hard, Manage Easy.
If you try to fight your values and personality every day you will be both exhausted and ineffective. I also reccommend Marcus Buckingham's books on this topic.
Links:
Mark H also suggests this expert on this topic:
In one sense a manager is paid to do the job and act and behave in such a way that goes with the job and company policies. What the job is and which behaviors are required should be very clear.
A person considering a job as a manager then needs to assess his/her own personality, preferences and values and as if they want to do the job as required. If not look elsewhere.
A manager and his/her manager need to have conversations to ensure that there is a match between the required behaviors and what the manager wants to do. If there is a mismatch, then that will impact job performance and they need to handle that and maybe consider separation from that particular job.
