PERSONALITY TYPES AND BUSINESS SUCCESS

 

What factors lead some employees to be more successful in their careers than others? This interesting and important question is just partly answered through prior research. In this thesis the effect of personality on income and job satisfaction is investigated. The “Big Five” personality traits are used for measuring personality, to determine the possible relation with career success. The Big Five personality traits are: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism (Costa and McCrae, 1992). A general consensus amongst organizational behavior scholars is that if an employee is able to recognize his/her own personality he/she can select him/herself in certain jobs which at best suit ones personality. And it is within this regard that, employees who  seem to exhibit  more satisfaction with their jobs tend to  be more beneficial for organizations (Freeman, 1978) (Delfgaauw, 2007) as research attest that there is positive correlation  between job satisfaction and performance. In light of the above , this paper will explore various  successful individuals and how their personality traits have contributed to their  lives and organizations success.

The basic understanding of Big Five personality traits  supported by substantiated evidence from various research in the field of organizational behavior has indicated that personality factors affect ones business and can be a strategic plan for the growth of the business.The results show that conscientious workers report higher career success and more neurotic workers report lower career success (Bowels et al, 2001) .  In addition, Agreeable workers report to have a lower income but a higher job satisfaction. Extraverted workers report to have a higher income but no relation with job satisfaction is found. Remarkable is that workers who are more open to experience report to have higher incomes and have less job satisfaction. The relation of some of the personality traits on career success changes when demography-related, human capital related and profession related variables are added. Additionally, it is found that women earn more for the traits openness to experience and neuroticism than men with the same level of these trait. Personality is measured using the Big Five personality traits. The five traits are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. (Goldberg et al, 2006)

 

Openness to experience includes a person’s curiosity and the tendency for seeking and appreciating new experiences and novel ideas. People who score high are inventive and curious (   Goldberg,2008). People who score low are more consistent and cautious. In addition it must be indicated that being openness to experience tend to positively affect the organizational success. For instance in 2021 the developers of WhatsApp confirmed to have sold the , the  app to the company of Michael Zuckerburg owner of the company Facebook which has approximately over 20+ million users globally and accommodate businesses and individuals connectedness. It is in this regard that the founders personality proves to be strategic as it enables the company customer base to be widen and adjusted to increase in its goal of service provision .It can be argued that even there being competition in the field of global  connectedness , the curiosity and a tendency of seeking and experiencing new experiences tend to affect the decision making with regards to trying new ideas leading to innovations that tend to be more influential on the world or global market . While making the product being consumed by almost three quarters of the world’s population at it provides income for the company.

 

In addition another aspect of personality is conscientiousness which indicates the individual’s willingness to follow rules and schedules, persistence, and the extent to which individuals are hardworking, organized, detailed, and dependable, as opposed to lazy, disorganized and unreliable (Delfgaauw,2007),. People who score high are more efficient and organized where low scoring people are more likely to be easy-going and careless. It must be indicated that this applies that leaders that follow rules tend to be safe and progress with business .One may note that it entails adhering to the operating PESTEL environment that involves the political and economic environment as inability to adhere may leads to lawsuits that affect business . Judge et al., (1999) shows that there is a positive relationship between conscientiousness and career success. Conscientiousness is linked with being efficient, hard-working and organized and those aspects proved to have a positive influence on extrinsic career success. Conscientiousness leads to a higher possibility of satisfying work rewards like payment or promotions (extrinsic) and recognition, respect and feelings of personal accomplishments (intrinsic) (Organ and Lingl., 1995).

Moreso, extraversion is another facet of personality which  encompasses the preference for human contact, attention and the wish to inspire other people. People who score high tend to be outgoing and energetic and people who score low are more solitary and reserved. It must be indicated that in line with this personality trait a manager more likely to  establish connections with various people and business associates that enables that effective development and expansion of the  organization. One can note that this best suits or explains Econet Founding CEO , Mr Masiiwa as illustrated that in year 2021 he managed to seal a deal for Econet and become a shareholder of Netflix which is one of the most viewed and folowed movie flix globally. In line with the above it can be argued that oines personality ie extraversion enables one to connect with various business associates and develop the current existing line of business 

Lastly another facet of personality according to the Big Five personality theory is Agreeableness. It must be indicated that this entails willingness to help other people and to act in accordance with other person’s interests. Individuals who score high are more friendly and compassionate where a low score means a more analytical and detached person(Boudreau et al,2001 ) . Andy Jessy the founder of amazon, developed amazon with the main aim of helping people from various areas and locations access the goods and services they need in one place. It must be indicated that by so doing Amazon became the big online shop that at the end of the day and due to the character  of tand personality of the founding director , it became strategic and ncecceitated the growth of the organization into the worlds biggest online shop. On the one hand agreeableness can be rewarded by employers because these people are more likely to give positive response to employers (Salgado, 1997). On the other hand more agreeable people are less likely to claim higher wages and more likely to get overruled by others. This is the reason that people who are more agreeable are more likely to have lower incomes and also have less joy in their work (Johnson, 1997; Judge et al., 1999).

 

Neuroticism indicates adjustment versus emotional stability and addresses the degree to which the individual is insecure, anxious, depressed and emotional rather than calm, self-confident and cool. It must be indicated that people who score high tend to be sensitive and nervous while people who score low are more secure and confident.

 

However, it is important to note that the traits are commonly used by researchers to measure personality in a wide range of social disciplines (Mount and Barrick, 1995). They occur in different cultures and languages which indicates that it is possible to investigate cross country differences (Heine and Buchtel, 2009). Another feature of the traits is that they tend to be stable during adulthood (Costa and McCrae, 1997). Despite the usefulness of the traits, the traits do not fully capture personality thus they ignore aspects like religiosity, sense of humour, honesty and risk-taking. The traits should therefore be viewed as broad factors underlying a number of related personality facets.

 

So in compendium , personality has a role to play in the founding and strategic development and success of the organization. However there are pitfalls when using traits as there are other factors that needs to be payed attention to the likes of the environment such as the PESTEL environment.