Leadership analysis is the art of breaking down a leader into basic psychological components for study and use by academics and practitioners. Good leadership analysis is not reductionist, but rather takes into consideration the overall person in the context of the times, society and culture from which they come. Leadership analysis is traditionally housed in political psychology departments and utilizes the tools of psychology to achieve political ends by exploiting the psyche in the case of practitioners, or to gain knowledge about the building blocks of leadership and individuals in the case of academics. The distinction between the two is not made frivolously; in fact, while academics and practitioners both engage in the overarching act of analyzing leaders, they go about it quite differently. Applied analysts make great use of the psychobiography, while academics tend to analyze transcriptions in search of traits and character clues.
Applied analysis
In keeping with the goals of psychology (describe, explain, predict, control), a psychobiography is first a description of an individual's life, an explanation or analysis in psychological terms of how the events shaped the individual, and an if/then predictor (if conducting an applied analysis) of the actions the individual might take if given the right situation, leaving the control/change up to the policy-maker requesting the analysis. An if/then predictor is used because no analyst will be able to know the environment that acts upon the individual to the extent of proper analysis. One of the most influential government analysts is Jerrold Post, founder of CIA's Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior. Post's analytical paradigm is below. His background, like many of the earliest applied analysts, was in psychiatry, which utilizes qualitative methods for analysis.
Important theorists in psychobiography include Gordon Allport, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Urie Bronfenbrenner, Carl Jung, Albert Bandura, John Bowlby.
These methods focus primarily psychoanalytic, personality, and developmental theories including the influence of role models, early experiences, heroes and mentors, as well as ego defenses (known more commonly as defense mechanisms), personality types, belief systems, information processing styles, and cognitive factors. The important thing to note about leadership analysis is the consistency of the individual's belief systems, rather than small fluctuations.
Personality types (and personality disorders) play a large part in aiding with analysis, as they are often associated with specific cognitive beliefs and processes. For example, extreme narcissists lack empathy, conscience, and will do anything to accomplish personal goals. Lack of accomplishment is usually taken extremely badly and narcissists have low self-esteem. Narcissists have trouble learning from others because they know everything. Leaders who are narcissists make their people give great shows affirming their righteous leadership, demand praise from others, and employ “yes men”, or sycophants.
Other common personality types of leaders are obsessive-compulsive, which makes for a hardworking leader with great organizational skills, but also one afraid to make decisions for fear of making a mistake, excessively contentious, and lacking in social grace, and the paranoid; a hypersensitive, easily slighted leader who see the world as full of enemies and will rarely negotiate. Paranoid leaders fall prey to projecting their beliefs (ego defense) on those around them and are therefore largely autonomous and independent. Their enemies are always coordinated and rational actors intent on the paranoid's destruction.
In line with developmental psychology, life stages are a particularly important part of analysis, especially during the mid-thirties (when most leaders of coups emerge), or in old age, when leaders, especially narcissists, feel the reins of power slipping and either try to consolidate power, as did Deng Xiaoping, or give it up, as did Charles de Gaulle.
Psychobiographic outline
Part 1: Psychobiographic Discussion: The Development of the Individual in the Context of the Nation's History (use parallel time lines with one indicating key events in the life of the subject, the second indicating key events in the nation's history. By moving these lines parallel, a visual representation is created of the impact of historical events on individual development)
Cultural and historical background. Describe constraints of the political culture on the role of the leader Family origins and early years Family constellations- grandparents, parents, siblings; relationships- family politics Heroes and models Education and Socialization Climate in country Student years, examples of leadership Professional career Mentors Early career Successes and failures The subject as leader Key events Crises Key political relationships, influences Family and friends
Part II: Personality General personal description Appearance and personal characteristics (include description of lifestyle, work/personal life balance, working hours, hobbies, recreation) Health (include energy level, drinking, drug use) Intellectual capacity and style Intelligence Judgment Knowledge Cognitive complexity Emotional reactions Moods, mood variability Impulse and impulse control Drives and character structure Identify personality types (if possible) Psychodynamics Self-concept/self-esteem Basic identification Neurotic conflicts Reality (sense of/testing/adaption to) Ego defense mechanisms Conscience and scruples Psychological drives, needs, motives (discriminate to degree possible among drive for power, for achievement, for affiliation) Motivation for seeking leadership role (to wield power, to occupy seat of power, to achieve place in history) Interpersonal relationships Identify key relationships and characterize nature of relationships Inner circle, including unofficial advisors "kitchen cabinet" Superiors Political subordinates Political allies, domestic and international Political rivalries, international adversaries
Part III. Worldview Perceptions of political reality (include cultural influences/biases) Core beliefs (include concept of leadership, power) Political philosophy, ideology, goals, and policy views (domestic, foreign, and economic policy views and view of U.S. Include discussion of which issues most interest the leader, in which issue areas his or her experience lies, and which issues are particularly salient for the leader's political psychology). Note that not all leaders have a core political philosophy or body of governing political ideas. Nationalism and identification with country
Part IV. Leadership System General characteristics (include discussion of the role expectations- both general public and elite- placed on the individual, emphasizing the leader's political and cultural determinants and skill in fulfilling them) How subject defines his or her role Relationship with public Oratorical skill and rhetoric Strategy and tactics- goal-directed behavior Decision making and decision implementation style Strategic decision making Crisis decision making How does leader use staff/inner circle? Does the leader vet decisions or use them only for information? How collegial? Does the leader surround himself or herself with sycophants or choose strong self-confident subordinates? Dealing with formal and informal negotiating style
Part V. Outlook Note particularly political behavior closely related to personality issues. Relate personality to key issues, emphasizing in which direction the psychological factors point. Estimate drives, values, and characteristics that are the most influential. Attempt to predict how the individual will interact with other political figures, including opposition leaders and other key foreign leaders
Academic analysis In contrast to applied analysts, academic analysts generally come from the fields of social psychology and political science and take a quantitative methodology when conducting analysis, usually consisting in part of trait theory (openness, contentiousness, extroversion, etc.) and/or character study (central to individual's functioning, observable, stable patterns of behavior, present across circumstances). In addition, quantitative measures such as verbal styles, grammatical choices, and scales for achievement, affiliation, and power provide room for analysis.
Verbal categories Sources that are analyzed for verbal styles are general public data that has been cross-checked, legitimized, and filtered for representation of the individual as much as possible. Verbal style is preferred to be off the cuff, both to ensure lack of third party input and to put the individual in what is deemed a stressful situation.
Verbal categories include qualifiers (“I believe”), retractors (“but”, “nevertheless”), I/We, me, negatives (“nothing”, “never”, “not”), explainers (“because” “therefore”), feeling expressions (“I like”), direct references (“your question”), nonpersonal references (“Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine”), and expressions. The scores are based on occurrences/1000 words.
These scores can tell about the traits of the individual. Many qualifiers suggest a lack of decisiveness, use of retractors indicate an individual who will reconsider, use of retractors and negatives indicates a large amount of impulsivity, a combination of using I, me, explainers, negatives, and qualifiers, suggest anxiousness (and a less likely change of being the leader of a country), moodiness is identified by high I/we ratio, direct references, expression of feelings, and adverbial intensifiers. Other traits include an angry disposition, evidenced by high negatives, rhetorical questions, and direct references. Impulsive speakers use negatives more than any other group, controlling speakers use low qualifiers, steer the conversation, and use very few feelings. Histrionic individuals use adverbial intensifiers and exaggeration. Passivity is categorized by the extensive use of me. Domineering individuals use many qualifiers, retractors, and explainers as well as interruptions. Familiar behavior (establish report) is not surprising, evidenced by the use of first names and high direct references. A resilient speaker will lose their verbal style during a crisis and then afterward resume it.
Motivation assessments