Information Related to "Molding Your Personality for Leadership"
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Everyone knows that leaders come in all different shapes, sizes and
physical conditions. Former U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin
Roosevelt were about as opposite as could be. Lincoln was 6 feet, 4 inches
tall, lean for his height (weighing between 160 and 185 pounds) and physically
strong from outdoor work, while Roosevelt contracted polio at age 39,
a condition that left him paralyzed in both legs for the remainder of
his life.
In spite of their physical differences, both are recognized as great
leaders—Lincoln during the Civil War and Roosevelt as the only
person to be elected to the U.S. presidency four times. So one's physical
condition need not be a detriment to being a successful leader.
But what about a leader's personality? Must one have a particular type of personality to be a successful leader? Are we destined for success or failure based on our innate preferences in processing information and dealing with others?
When I was in high school and college, my instructors advised me and my classmates to read the biographies and autobiographies of famous people. The reasoning was that learning how other leaders thought, responded to challenges and worked with others would provide us a valuable education in how to be successful leaders ourselves. It was good advice at the time and remains good advice today.
In addition to reading biographies and autobiographies of successful people, we can also study various classification systems of personality or temperaments to better understand who we are and how we can better relate to others. Of course, God's Word, the Bible, also has numerous examples of leadership that help us understand God's perspective on this important subject. From my studies, let me share with you some of the keys that I believe are most important.
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