Understanding Personality Styles in Leadership | Leading Well

Have you ever talked with someone about an experience you both just had and wondered if she was even there? Her description sounds completely different from what you experienced. Moments like that remind us how different people see the world. Welcome to leadership—and personality.

We are beautifully complex beings. Scripture reminds us that God uniquely created each of us for His glory and purposes in the world (2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 2:10). Personality assessments can be helpful, but they never capture the full picture. Your upbringing, experiences, relationships, skills, and emotional intelligence all shape how your personality is expressed and how you lead. The real question for leaders is this: How can we understand personality in a way that helps us lead ourselves and others more effectively? We refer to this as personality intelligence.

Personality Tendencies that Influence Our Leadership

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1. Energy and Engagement

Extroversion and introversion are not about being shy or outgoing. Instead, they describe where people get their energy. Extroverts gain energy from people and activity, while introverts recharge through reflection and quiet focus. Extroverted leaders often process ideas out loud and, if not careful, may overtalk or interrupt others. Introverted leaders prefer to refine ideas internally before sharing them, but that can also lead to decision-making without engaging key stakeholders. Extroverts don’t need less energy—they need more curiosity and focus on learning to be interested before being interesting. Introverts don’t need to be louder—their strength is deep listening and thoughtful insight, but they must guard against leading in isolation.

2. Ideas and Practicalities

Some leaders naturally dream about what could be, generating possibilities and launching into opportunities with a “we’ll figure it out as we go” mindset. Others instinctively focus on practicalities—costs, systems, processes, timelines, and execution. Visionary leaders must remember that even great ideas can frustrate teams if there is no clear path to accomplish them. Learn to build the bridge for those who are executing the fine-tuned details. Detail-oriented leaders, on the other hand, should determine if ideas are provisional or locked in before moving too quickly into the specifics.

3. Decision-Making

Some leaders make decisions primarily through facts, objective analysis, and the results needed to achieve the goal. Others prioritize people, values, and the people or relationships impacted by the decision. Results-driven leaders can unintentionally come across as cold or impersonal with their expectations, causing team members to disengage or just toe the line. Relationship-driven leaders tend to people-please and over-accommodate others, leading to indecision or a lack of clear expectations. A helpful question for any leader is: Is this decision right, and is it right for the people involved?

4. Structure and Planning

Some leaders prefer structure, decisiveness, and settled plans. Others prefer flexibility, keeping options open, and adjusting as they go. The first group values clear plans and firm deadlines, while the latter often speaks in provisional terms and is comfortable moving the goal posts on deadlines and calendared plans. Leaders who prefer structure create clarity and stability but must guard against becoming too rigid, missing opportunities for creativity and ingenuity. Leaders who prefer flexibility encourage adaptability but must be careful not to lose credibility by moving deadlines others are working hard to meet. Planning is important, but adaptability is essential when the unforeseen arises.

Understanding How Your Personality Affects Your Leadership

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Personality is God-given, and our hard-wired tendencies are not wrong. They only become a place for the enemy to sabotage our influence when we don’t yield them to the Spirit of God. Bring your specific tendencies to Jesus. Pray as David did in Psalm 139:23-24. Ask Him to show you where these tendencies honor Him and build trusted relationships. Let Him and close confidants help you see your blind spots and move toward a more faithful expression of your unique leadership style.

You might ask, How do I do this? It’s quite simple. Begin with this question and invite others into the conversation.

“Do you know what it is like to be on the other side of you as a leader?”

As leaders, we are called to complete the work God has entrusted to us. Tasks must get done, but relationships are essential to leadership. Both ministry and marketplace leadership require a healthy rhythm between results and relationships. When we are accidental with any of our tendencies, results or relationships suffer. If our tendencies lean too heavily on one at the demise of the other, either the mission suffers or the culture suffers. Consider your tendencies and reflect on how your personality may be shaping your leadership outcomes. Which of your tendencies are helpful in accomplishing good outcomes, both in results and the relationships with those you lead? Which of your tendencies need further self-awareness and growth? Whom will you invite into this conversation?

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 Want to dive deeper? Sign up for our next women’s ministry leadership webinar: “Introverts and Extroverts” in Ministry on May 14. Plus, learn more about leading groups with different learning styles.

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About Casey Merrifield