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In 2002, four researchers set out to understand the interplay between personality and leadership. One of the definitive findings of the study was that “Extraversion was the most consistent correlate of leadership.” Specifically, extraverted employees were more likely to emerge as leaders and be perceived as effective — by both managers and managed.
Did you catch that key word there? perceived. Because while we might perceive extraversion as a quality of a good leader, there’s very little evidence that this trait actually gets better results.
Research from Adam Grant shows that in environments of low employee proactivity, extraverted leaders get better results, but in environments of high employee proactivity, introverted leaders get better results.
In other words, engaged employees that take initiative perform better under an introverted manager. Is it silly to point out that most companies today do, in fact, want a culture of engaged employees that take initiative?
The potent power of extraversion becomes particularly befuddling when combined with the intoxicating scent of confidence. In a Stanford study,even after participants were told who the most qualified person was,there was still a roughly 50% chance that they would choose the leader who was less competent, but “taller, louder, or more confident.”
And consistently, the teams led by less competent leaders underperformed, being beaten by both competent leaders and self-managed teams....
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Great read for leaders and communicators.