Temperament is the key to success in supervisory and management jobs. Unless a person has the right temperament for this type of work, the odds are extremely high against success.

Whenever we talk about the work situation and success, that old question always arises. Are leaders born or made?

Leaders are born.

Unless a supervisor or manager is born with the right temperament, they will find directing and guiding others very difficult and stressful. They will usually fail in this type of assignment.

Leaders are also made.

Unless the person with the right temperament is given the knowledge skills and expertise required to do the job, they will find it difficult to succeed in management. It would be easier to run an organisation with a group of supervisors and managers who are natural leaders and lack the skills, knowledge and experience than to run such an organisation with supervisors who have the skills, knowledge and experience but no natural leadership capacity.

Natural leaders soon acquire the knowledge and skills needed to do the job. They acquire this knowledge from experience, reading and study. But if a person doesn’t have the right capacity for leadership there is no way you can give it to them. They will face great stress and ultimate distress by trying to act like a leader on the job.

Is education essential for successful leadership?

Each year many highly educated people with extensive management education are fired from management jobs because they lack the right temperament. On the other hand, some of the most successful business executives are people with limited formal education but who have the right temperament for management.

Text taken from: How to interview and hire productive people, by Jack, Peter & Don McQuaig.

Discover more about the current state of leadership and talent recruitment in the 2016 McQuaig Global Talent Recuitment Report: The Leadership Effect.

To find out how the McQuaig Psychometric System can benefit your organisation, contact us here or call 0203 111 9292.