Temperament and leadership …

Every leader leads from their temperament.

The previous three posts have introduced you to the scientific, psychological theory of temperament, explaining how it is our temperament that is the foundational component of the inner person (with character and personality built upon that). That’s because temperament is the God-created, genetic, in-born part of a person that determines how we respond to people, places, and things; in other words, it’s our innate traits with needs and wants.

We also learned that the five basic temperaments express themselves on a spectrum of traits, so two people with the same temperament traits can (and will!) express themselves uniquely. And we learned that temperaments blend, resulting in the science of temperament being more complex than pop psychology often makes it out to be. Finally, we took a brief look at how temperament impacts us practically, especially in our relationships of any kind (including with ourselves and God).

It’s also important to note that temperament will have a great deal to do with our leadership, whether that is in church leadership or marketplace leadership. Let’s look at how each of the five basic temperaments can shape us as leaders:

THE CHOLERIC
With every temperament, there are strengths and weaknesses, and a strength of the Choleric is they were born to lead. In fact, they’re uncomfortable not being in a leadership position, if not the leadership position. The Choleric is a naturally charismatic, dynamic leader who makes decisions quickly and decisively, exhibiting confidence and an assertive leadership style. When a Choleric walks into a room, they will soon “own the room” by quickly taking charge. Cholerics can be very persuasive and are often skilled at influencing and motivating others, and are capable of driving teams toward ambitious goals. If a church or business is looking for a courageous, strong personality to blaze a trail or lead the way, the Choleric may be the leader you’re looking for. Cholerics are often characterized as being highly driven and focused on achieving their goals, often with a clear vision and determination. Cholerics are known for their ability to get things done quickly and effectively, often optimizing processes and finding practical solutions.

However, the Choleric has some potential weaknesses that can make them the leader you want to avoid! The potential weaknesses of the Choleric include possibly being controlling, domineering, micromanaging, too competitive, overly aggressive, overly confident, and manipulative. A great weakness of some Cholerics is seeing people as “tools” to use to accomplish their own objectives. They can be impatient, intolerant, insensitive, short-tempered, and can be prone to workaholic tendencies.

THE MELANCHOLY
The Melancholy is a brilliant leader, often with a capacity to assess, analyze, and visualize to a greater degree than others; simply put, they are strategic thinkers capable of envisioning long-term goals and meticulously executing plans to achieve them. While many people are good at either “seeing the big picture” but weak on identifying the details to turn that vision into reality — or vice versa — the Melancholy is usually adept at both (thus, they often excel at planning and complex problem-solving). Other strengths of the Melancholy in a leadership position can include being detail-oriented and meticulous, analytical and thoughtful, highly organized and disciplined, deep thinkers and reflective, loyal and dedicated, sensitive to others’ needs, creative and artistic, and they usually set high standards and strive for excellence.

All of that from a temperament that is the “poster child” of the introvert!

Of course, the Melancholy who exhibits their temperament weaknesses can be someone who could cause a lot of problems in a leadership position. Potential Melancholy weaknesses include being prone to perfectionism (rather than pursuing excellence), being overly critical of self and others, can easily become pessimistic or negative, tends to worry and play issues over and over in their minds (keeping them alive). The Melancholy can be very sensitive to criticism, will often struggle with indecisiveness (can suffer from procrastination when facing issues and areas unknown to them), can be withdrawn or overly introverted, and often experiences mood swings (if the thoughts are up or positive, the mood will be up or positive; if the thoughts are down or negative, the mood will be down or negative, and the mood can swing quickly).

THE SANGUINE
If you want a leader that would be hard for anyone to dislike, then the Sanguine might be the leader you’re looking for. As the Melancholy is the “poster child” for introversion, the Sanguine is the poster child for extroversion — to say the Sanguine is a “people person” is almost an understatement! Sanguines are leaders who excel in inspiring and motivating teams. Some of the strengths of this temperament in a leadership position include being very enthusiastic and energetic, optimistic and cheerful, has a good sense of humor (and likes sharing it!), adaptable and flexible, persuasive and charismatic, often has excellent communication skills, and enjoys being the center of attention.

But the Sanguine also has some weakness that can impair their leadership, such as: can be easily distracted, is often impulsive and disorganized, struggles with follow-through, can be superficial or inattentive, often seeks constant approval and attention, and can have a tendency to prioritize short-term excitement over long-term goals. The Sanguine may lack depth in relationships (can be shallow), be prone to exaggeration, and they can be forgetful or unreliable.

THE SUPINE
If you want someone with the epitome of a servant’s heart as a leader, you may want someone with the Supine temperament. Some of the potential strengths of a leader with this temperament include being very supportive and nurturing, usually very good listeners, loyal and dependable, compassionate and empathetic, highly team-oriented (usually prioritizing relationships), cooperative and accommodating, gentle and patient, and very encouraging and uplifting.

But the Supine can have some weaknesses that inhibit them from being good leaders. The greatest of these weaknesses is the Supine is the least assertive of all the temperaments; they don’t like (and often aren’t good at) making decisions and taking responsibility by themselves, they need someone they can trust to help them do that. They don’t want to be told what to do or think, they want to “be heard,” but then have someone to share in the carrying out (and consequences) of decisions and responsibilities. Other potential weaknesses include having difficulty asserting themselves, prone to over-accommodating others, reluctant to take initiative, tendency to overly avoid conflict, may struggle with decision-making, can be easily overwhelmed by emotions and overly sensitive to criticism, and may neglect their own needs.

THE PHLEGMATIC
If you want a leader with a sharp mind, is well-balanced and easy-going, the Phlegmatic might be the right fit. As leaders, the Phlegmatic are often characterized as calm, steady, and diplomatic leaders who excel in maintaining stability, analyzing situations objectively, and fostering harmony within teams. Other potential strengths of leaders with a Phlegmatic temperament include being patient and tolerant, good at listening and empathizing, usually reliable and trustworthy, very peace-loving, analytical and very logical, and usually efficient and organized.

However, potential weaknesses of a leader with a Phlegmatic temperament is the Phlegmatic is the most stubborn of all the temperaments, and are marked with having a limited energy reserve – thus, they usually always move at their own pace, which often is slower than others. Other potential weaknesses include a tendency to be passive or indifferent, being reluctant to take initiative, can be indecisive or hesitant, avoids confrontation and assertiveness, and may appear unenthusiastic or unmotivated. The Phlegmatic may also be slow to react or adapt to change (may even be resistant to change), have difficulty expressing emotions openly, and be prone to procrastination.

CONCLUSION
Even the best of leaders who more consistently express their temperament strengths rather than their weaknesses will, from time to time, show some of their temperament weaknesses as well — none of us are perfect! Key is living, and leading, more consistently from our temperament weaknesses rather than those potential weaknesses.

Scotty