Are You a Type A or Type B Leader?

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

My mother-in-law visited with family in Washington, DC over the weekend and when she came home she was sharing with me how everyone is doing. We ending up talking about her nephew who has worked for the Federal Government for quite a number of years and how she worries about his health due to his stress levels.

She talked about the other things he could do if he could just quit (really, it would be a retirement) that job. But I reminded her that even if he were to retire, he’s not the kind of person who can sit still and would likely find himself doing something else with the same amount of stress. Mom agreed and said it’s because of his Type A personality.

Personality Types

This of course, got me thinking about how having a Type A or Type B personality effects our leadership practice. I find it interesting that most of what has been written about these two personality types tends to focus on those that are Type A, with much of what is written about Type B’s being essentially described as “the opposite of Type A”.

Generally Type A personalities are described as: trying to do more than one thing at a time; having a sense of urgency, so much so that they are always in a hurry and are impatient with delays; generally competitive not only in sport situations, but also in work and social situations; prone to hostility, especially as it relates to the traits listed above. In contrast, those with Type B personalities tend to be seen as patient, easy going to the point of being seen as apathetic.

Type A Leaders

An understanding of these two personality types and which one we tend towards has implications for our leadership practice. I think we tend to see more extreme Type A’s in the workplace so we have more experience with which to understand the Type A leadership styles.

Since Type A’s tend to have high expectations and set high performance goals, these high expectations and goals can then lead to high performance and high quality which puts the Type A individual in a good light. However, the downside is that these high expectations and high performance goals can also lead to conflict, overload and burnout, not just for the individuals but for those around them.

Folks who are Type A have a need to be in control and because of this very often have trouble delegating. In settings where the focus is on empowerment, collaboration and the use of teams, the Type A’s need for control will be in direct conflict in many situations.

Type B Leaders

Those who are Type B personalities tend to do better in situations where delegation, empowerment and use of teams is the focus because they are able to let others help in the decision making process. However, many times leaders who are Type B are seen as weak and ineffective, especially when paired against those who are Type A.

Since Type B’s don’t possess the time urgency that Type A’s do, they can also be seen as waffling as they take their time and therefore allow for additional information to come to light before making decisions. However, this lack of a sense of time urgency can also lead to waiting until the 11th hour to complete work that needs to be done.

Personality Type and Leadership

From a leadership perspective, I think either extreme can be detrimental. This is certainly a case where “everything in moderation” is important. Leaders who are able to take the best characteristics of both types can prove to be effect. For example, recognizing a sense of urgency can be important, provided that it is tempered with patience. Setting high goals and expectations is also important, provided that they are shared goals and folks are empowered to figure out how to accomplish the goals in their own way.

As leaders, when we take the time for Self Reflection we can begin to recognize the characteristics of both personality types in ourselves. Once we can identify these characteristics, we can begin to put more emphasis on the helpful ones and less emphasis on the unhelpful ones. Over time this can move us away from tending towards one or the other and more to the point of the moderation that we seek.

Leader’s Reflection: Those who are either Type A or Type B personalities have characteristics that can be detrimental for leadership situations. However, both personality types have some characteristics that can be helpful leadership qualities. When we are able to take the best characteristics from both types, it can lead to effective leadership.

You also might be interested in:

1. Knowing Our Personality Type
2. How Are You At Self-Monitoring?
3. Characteristics of Flow: A Growth Opportunity
4. If You Are a Leader, You Need to Pay Attention
5. An Introduction to Leader-Member Exchange Theory