Why Many Leaders Are Driver Personality: Pros & Cons #Leadership

How often have managers and team members complained about the leader being a driver personality? Too often to count! Although driver personality types have many positive traits, non-drivers often don’t like working for them. Yet many leaders have the driver personality type. Why do so many people choose them to be the leaders?



Driver Personality: Image is the word finish, a line, and below it the word start.

Why Many Leaders Are the Driver Personality. Image by Anne Ilike via Flickr Creative Commons License.

Image by Anne Ilike via Flickr Creative Commons License.


Reasons Why Many Leaders Are the Driver Personality Type


    They …

  1. Are good at getting things started and reaching the finish line.

  2. Come across in interviews as results oriented.

  3. Seem confident in any situation.

  4. Offer ideas and help immediately.

  5. Switch gears well and see alternatives to reaching goals.

  6. Don’t get stuck in details.

  7. Detour when necessary but not at other times.

  8. Less likely to let personal conflicts impact reaching the end goals.

  9. They show others they see the finish line from the very start!


Pros & Cons

Pros to Leaders Having Driver Personality Type

  • Their comfort and skill making decisions when every piece of information is not available is exceptional. They don’t get stuck.

  • Their ability to combine lots of details into one important big picture is outstanding.

  • They can inspire and enthuse others when all seems bleak.

  • They live at the finish line all the way through.


The Cons of Driver Leaders

  • Despite the pros noted above, they often come across as too demanding.

  • Many appear unfeeling to other’s struggles.

  • Their sense of what it takes to deliver results is sometimes skewed.

  • Some push instead of inspiring those they lead.

  • They often assume that everyone is as passionate about getting to the finish line as they are. Yet, passion can isolate when it isn’t shared. Employees feel disconnected not inspired.


Tips When Selecting & Hiring Leaders

Beyond seeing the nine behaviors noted above, look for leaders’ ability to relate to others. Modern leadership requires great people skills and an ability to inspire and lead morale. Other personality types can be great leaders too. The key is to find those people who combine decision-making skills with great listening and engaging other’s talents.



Your Turn: What has been your experience dealing w/ driver type leaders?



From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

Related Posts:
Tangible People Skills to Work w/ Driver Personality Leaders
Deeper People Skills to Avoid Being Arrogant

©2023 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.


Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.


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