The Elite Leaders: PsychTests Releases Study on Leadership Qualities That Differentiate the Best from the Rest
PsychTests.com reveals the skills and personality characteristics that make or break leaders.
Montreal, Canada, April 03, 2011 --(PR.com)-- PsychTests.com, one of the web's foremost source of personality, career, and IQ assessments has gone on a search for greatness. Their study on leadership potential reveals key traits that turn a special few into pack leaders.
In July 1974, TIME® Magazine asked a group of businessmen, historians, military men and writers one question: Who were history's great leaders? Among the elite listed were Marcus Aurelius, Winston Churchill, George Washington, Jesus, Martin Luther King, and Buddha. What made these men great leaders, according to those asked, were qualities like moral character, imagination, foresight, zeal, and fearlessness. They were confident leaders who brought out the same sense of self-assurance in others, often by actions, but sometimes with their words alone. Even notorious leaders in history had the amazing ability to convince masses of people to follow them, albeit to great catastrophe.
After comparing people rated as excellent leaders to those who were considered of "poor" quality with their Leadership Skills Test, Psychtests discovered that there were some very distinct lines in the sand. Excellent leaders outscored their less successful peers in leadership positions on every factor assessed on the test. The biggest differences (of 10 points or more) were found for traits/skills like Goal Setting (score of 85 for excellent leaders, 68 for poor leaders, on a scale from 0 to 100), Motivating others (score of 87 for excellent leaders, 76 for poor leaders), Coaching (score of 83 for excellent leaders, 73 for poor leaders), Problem Solving (score of 72 for excellent leaders, 62 for poor leaders), Vision (score of 79 for excellent leaders, 61 for poor leaders), Setting an Example (score of 83 for excellent leaders, 71 for poor leaders), Agreeableness (score of 70 for excellent leaders, 53 for poor leaders), Conscientiousness (score of 89 for excellent leaders, 74 for poor leaders), Open-mindedness (score of 85 for excellent leaders, 73 for poor leaders), Extroversion (score of 75 for excellent leaders, 58 for poor leaders), and Emotional Stability (score of 74 for excellent leaders, 52 for poor leaders).
"The importance of demeanor, in terms of extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability was interesting to see," points out Dr. Jerabek, President of the company. "This isn't to say that the "strong silent" types cannot be effective as leaders. But those who can embolden with their words and who are charismatic can appeal to the masses more and draw people in. This is what made leaders like JFK and Martin Luther King so endearing to those who followed them - and what also tends to differentiate great managers and CEOs from the rest."
Although there wasn't a great deal of difference in Psychtests' statistics between excellent male and female leaders, women were shown to be slightly more likely to value giving feedback to subordinates, while men were slightly more open-minded and emotionally steady.
Other interesting tidbits from Psychtests' study:
Those rated as excellent leaders tended to strongly believe that…
- Part of being a good leader is the ability to harness the strengths of others to do the best possible job.
- It's important to clearly state the goals that employees should be working towards.
- Employees should be praised after a job well done.
- Leaders should constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve their own performance.
- Delegation is necessary in order for a leader to perform well.
- Maximum efficiency is achieved when a leader helps people to motivate themselves.
"It's important for companies to recognize that management and leadership are distinct, and that in order to bring out the best in employees, a person must have the business know-how of a manager but the finesse of a leader," emphasizes Dr. Jerabek. "Good leaders are in a class of their own with a very distinct personality profile, and the strong differences we've seen in our study really bring that point home."
Those who wish to use the Leadership Skills Test for HR purposes can go to http://corporate.PsychTests.com/solutions/hr_testing
Those who wish to take a condensed version of the assessment can go to http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/2152
About PsychTests AIM Inc:
PsychTests AIM Inc. originally appeared on the internet scene in 1996. Since its inception, it has become a pre-eminent provider of psychological assessment products and services to human resource personnel, therapists, academics, researchers and a host of other professionals around the world. PsychTests AIM Inc. staff is comprised of a dedicated team of psychologists, test developers, researchers, statisticians, writers, and artificial intelligence experts. The company's research division, Plumeus Inc., is supported in part by Research and Development Tax Credit awarded by Industry Canada.
Contact:
Ilona Jerabek, Ph.D., President
PsychTests AIM Inc.
http://testyourself.psychtests.com/
1-888-855-6975
ilona@psychtests.com
###
In July 1974, TIME® Magazine asked a group of businessmen, historians, military men and writers one question: Who were history's great leaders? Among the elite listed were Marcus Aurelius, Winston Churchill, George Washington, Jesus, Martin Luther King, and Buddha. What made these men great leaders, according to those asked, were qualities like moral character, imagination, foresight, zeal, and fearlessness. They were confident leaders who brought out the same sense of self-assurance in others, often by actions, but sometimes with their words alone. Even notorious leaders in history had the amazing ability to convince masses of people to follow them, albeit to great catastrophe.
After comparing people rated as excellent leaders to those who were considered of "poor" quality with their Leadership Skills Test, Psychtests discovered that there were some very distinct lines in the sand. Excellent leaders outscored their less successful peers in leadership positions on every factor assessed on the test. The biggest differences (of 10 points or more) were found for traits/skills like Goal Setting (score of 85 for excellent leaders, 68 for poor leaders, on a scale from 0 to 100), Motivating others (score of 87 for excellent leaders, 76 for poor leaders), Coaching (score of 83 for excellent leaders, 73 for poor leaders), Problem Solving (score of 72 for excellent leaders, 62 for poor leaders), Vision (score of 79 for excellent leaders, 61 for poor leaders), Setting an Example (score of 83 for excellent leaders, 71 for poor leaders), Agreeableness (score of 70 for excellent leaders, 53 for poor leaders), Conscientiousness (score of 89 for excellent leaders, 74 for poor leaders), Open-mindedness (score of 85 for excellent leaders, 73 for poor leaders), Extroversion (score of 75 for excellent leaders, 58 for poor leaders), and Emotional Stability (score of 74 for excellent leaders, 52 for poor leaders).
"The importance of demeanor, in terms of extroversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability was interesting to see," points out Dr. Jerabek, President of the company. "This isn't to say that the "strong silent" types cannot be effective as leaders. But those who can embolden with their words and who are charismatic can appeal to the masses more and draw people in. This is what made leaders like JFK and Martin Luther King so endearing to those who followed them - and what also tends to differentiate great managers and CEOs from the rest."
Although there wasn't a great deal of difference in Psychtests' statistics between excellent male and female leaders, women were shown to be slightly more likely to value giving feedback to subordinates, while men were slightly more open-minded and emotionally steady.
Other interesting tidbits from Psychtests' study:
Those rated as excellent leaders tended to strongly believe that…
- Part of being a good leader is the ability to harness the strengths of others to do the best possible job.
- It's important to clearly state the goals that employees should be working towards.
- Employees should be praised after a job well done.
- Leaders should constantly be on the lookout for ways to improve their own performance.
- Delegation is necessary in order for a leader to perform well.
- Maximum efficiency is achieved when a leader helps people to motivate themselves.
"It's important for companies to recognize that management and leadership are distinct, and that in order to bring out the best in employees, a person must have the business know-how of a manager but the finesse of a leader," emphasizes Dr. Jerabek. "Good leaders are in a class of their own with a very distinct personality profile, and the strong differences we've seen in our study really bring that point home."
Those who wish to use the Leadership Skills Test for HR purposes can go to http://corporate.PsychTests.com/solutions/hr_testing
Those who wish to take a condensed version of the assessment can go to http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/2152
About PsychTests AIM Inc:
PsychTests AIM Inc. originally appeared on the internet scene in 1996. Since its inception, it has become a pre-eminent provider of psychological assessment products and services to human resource personnel, therapists, academics, researchers and a host of other professionals around the world. PsychTests AIM Inc. staff is comprised of a dedicated team of psychologists, test developers, researchers, statisticians, writers, and artificial intelligence experts. The company's research division, Plumeus Inc., is supported in part by Research and Development Tax Credit awarded by Industry Canada.
Contact:
Ilona Jerabek, Ph.D., President
PsychTests AIM Inc.
http://testyourself.psychtests.com/
1-888-855-6975
ilona@psychtests.com
###
Contact
PsychTests AIM Inc.
Ilona Jerabek, PhD
514-745-3189
psychtests.com
toll-free at 1-888-855-6975
Ilona Jerabek, PhD
514-745-3189
psychtests.com
toll-free at 1-888-855-6975
Contact
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