Leading from Personality - for leaders who are brave enough to develop themselves

Summary: Personality-oriented coaching strengthens leaders by developing inner structures, self-regulation and flexible leadership options.

Leadership is not a SMART goal.

Leaders develop genuine competence and strength by working not only on goal achievement but on their personality, mindsets and inner structures — because real effectiveness at work arises from within.

Why personality-oriented coaching is more effective than another toolkit of methods

Maybe you know this situation: you continuously invest in your leadership development, attend seminars, read specialist literature, and expand your toolkit of methods. Some approaches work surprisingly well for you — others feel clumsy, are hardly implementable in everyday life, or don’t have the effect promised. Often the thought arises that you simply need more discipline or must apply the method more consistently. But this is precisely the point where it is worth pausing.

1 | Personality-oriented vs. classic leadership coaching

Classic leadership coaching often assumes that knowledge automatically leads to behavior: if you know how good leadership works, you should be able to implement it. Personality-oriented coaching asks a different, more fundamental question: why is one method easy for you while another barely produces any effect? The answer does not lie in a lack of competence or will, but in the way your personality governs inner processes.

Leaders are not structured the same. They differ in how they make decisions, how they handle pressure, how they plan, reflect or move into action. Methods are never neutral — they address certain inner functional systems. If these systems are readily accessible for you, a method will have an effect. If not, it remains ineffective or generates inner resistance. The personality-oriented coaching for executives in Bochum starts precisely at this point: at the effect of your personality.

2 | The architecture of personality

To understand why certain methods fit you and others do not, it is worth looking at the inner architecture of personality. Because this determines how leading from your own personality can be lived and how natural authority arises. A scientifically grounded basis for this is the PSI model (Personality Systems Interactions) by the motivation psychologist Julius Kuhl. The IMPART model built on this makes these connections tangible for coaching and leadership practice. It describes four central psychological functional systems that govern your thinking, feeling and acting — especially under pressure.

These four functions are present in every person. They differ, however, in how easily accessible they are, how well they interact and which system you prefer to use. This is the key point: methods do not work independently of your personality, but activate particular inner systems. Depending on how available that system is for you, a method will be effective — or not. Your leadership competence therefore expands immediately by recognizing your own preferences. Only then can leadership coaching work: when you develop your leadership personality.

2.1 | How people differ and why they have different effects - the 4 functions of personality

The first function is the intention memory. It supports you in formulating goals, developing plans and consistently implementing intentions. If you are well positioned here, you value clarity, structure and reliability. Goal agreements, action plans or controlling instruments give you orientation and security. At the same time, you may find it difficult to engage in open reflection processes or emotional self-work because these appear less tangible. Emotionally this system is rather sober. Typical emotions are matter-of-factness, seriousness and a feeling of control. Externally, leaders with a strong intention memory appear clear, dependable and sovereign — sometimes also distant or strict. Employees experience you as structured and orientation-giving, but not always as approachable or spontaneous. Methods with clear goal and implementation logic fit well with this system.

A second function is intuitive action control. It enables you to act quickly, make pragmatic decisions and remain capable of action even under time pressure. If this system is strongly developed in you, you are action-oriented, solution-focused and learn best through experience. Longer planning or analysis processes may feel inhibiting or unnecessarily complex. Intuitive action control (IAC) is closely associated with positive activation. Emotions such as enthusiasm, drive, confidence and playfulness dominate here. If this system is readily available to you, you often appear charming, lively, inspiring and motivating externally. You make quick decisions, react flexibly and generate momentum. Employees experience you as energetic and action-strong. At the same time, there is a risk that reflection, sustainability or emotional depth are neglected if the IAC is permanently overdriven.

The third system is the object recognition system. It helps you recognize problems, analyze mistakes and realistically assess risks. With good access to this system you bring clarity to difficult situations, address critical issues and ensure quality. Methods of analysis, critical feedback or problem-solving suit you. At the same time, approaches that are strongly resource- or vision-oriented can trigger skepticism in you if they appear insufficiently substantiated. Moreover, if you are deeply engaged in your work, you may seem less approachable to others, sometimes even serious or upset. This is because positive affect, e.g. joy, must be suppressed in order to detect errors better. The object recognition system is emotionally closely linked to negative affects, particularly worry, anger, skepticism or critical vigilance. These emotions are not “bad” but functional: they help you recognize risks and name problems clearly. Leaders with strong access to this system appear analytical, precise and demanding externally — sometimes also critical, cool or hard to please. Employees appreciate your clarity but can feel inhibited if recognition or confidence are lacking.

The fourth system is the extension memory. It gives you access to your values, to meaning connections and to a holistic view of yourself and others. If this system is well available, you lead authentically, empathetically and purposefully. You make decisions in line with your inner stance and can provide orientation. Strongly structured, numbers- or performance-focused methods may feel constraining to you. The extension memory is emotionally characterized by calm, connectedness, trust and inner congruence. If this system is easily accessible, you appear as a leader who is authentic, empathetic and meaningful. Your presence is often experienced as calm, clear and orienting. Employees feel seen and taken seriously. At the same time, you may find it difficult to set clear boundaries or enforce decisions quickly in highly dynamic or strongly performance-oriented contexts.

3 | Personality-oriented coaching works

Personality-oriented coaching does not aim to categorize you into a type or to fit you to an ideal image of leadership. Rather, it is about expanding your inner flexibility: making blocked functional systems accessible again, balancing overdrives and developing new options of choice in your own leadership behavior. At the IMPART Institute in Osnabrück I learned from Prof. Julius Kuhl and thus significantly deepened my skills as a coach and leader with the personality-oriented approach.

Development in this understanding does not mean becoming someone else. Development means being able to use more of yourself. You expand your repertoire without denying your personality. Methods are not replaced by this, but only become truly effective — because they are based on an inner fit. This expands your emotional intelligence and stress resilience. Because only those who learn the right way to deal with themselves are resilient in leadership.

Leadership competence and team development naturally go hand in hand: strong leaders understand and promote the different personalities of their team better and more effectively.

3.1 | The first step is willingness

Leadership does not begin with the next technique but with yourself. Therefore it takes courage to engage with yourself and to be reflected by a psychologically trained leadership coach, to dive into a personal joint process to leadership through authentic leading that gives more than just tools. If you understand how your personality steers leadership, you make more conscious decisions, lead more coherently and remain capable of action even under pressure. Personality-oriented coaching creates the foundation for leadership that not only works but sustains. And above all, you carry yourself with greater mental strength, inner clarity and outer presence.

4 | Why this emotional perspective is so decisive

Leadership always has an emotional effect — regardless of how factual, rational or methodical it is intended to be. Every decision, every intervention, every conversation activates emotional processes in you and in others. Enthusiasm, security, pressure, trust or resistance do not arise by chance but as a direct consequence of your inner steering. Whoever considers leadership exclusively on the behavioral level overlooks a central factor of effect.

The outward effect is not a question of image, staging or personal style. It does not arise from how you want to appear, but from which inner systems are active in a situation. Whether you are perceived as charming, strict, calm, critical or inspiring is the result of this inner dynamics — especially under stress. That is precisely why purely technique-oriented leadership approaches often fall short.

Emotional effects like charm, strictness, serenity or criticism are not character traits in the sense of "that’s just how I am." They are systemically explainable and therefore changeable. A leader does not appear strict because they are “strict,” but because certain functional systems dominate and others are not sufficiently accessible. This distinction is relieving — and opens development possibilities.

4.1 | Reframing typical leadership dilemmas

Many leaders experience leadership as a permanent field of tension: between pressure and relationship, between pace and depth, between clarity and empathy. These dilemmas are rarely resolved by the "right" method because they are not either-or questions. They rather reflect inner dynamics: depending on the active functional system, assertiveness, analysis, action or relationship dominate. Personality-oriented coaching helps to stop experiencing these tensions as contradictions and instead as conscious options. Leaders gain the ability to switch situationally between pressure and relationship, pace and reflection — without tearing themselves apart internally or losing authenticity. Learning flexibility is therefore the key!

This is precisely where personality-oriented coaching as individual leadership training unfolds its special effect. It does not aim to train you into a new behavior or to "polish" your external presence. Instead, it supports you in expanding your inner control capability. You learn to consciously switch between different emotional effects — appropriate to the situation, authentic and without compromising yourself. Leadership thus becomes not more arbitrary but clearer, more coherent and effective in the long term.

5 | Conclusion

Effective leadership is not created by more methods but by inner fit. Personality-oriented coaching starts where leadership is actually governed: in self-regulation, in dealing with emotions and in inner flexibility. Whoever understands their personality better can lead more consciously, remain coherent under pressure and vary their effect deliberately.

In the creative and practice-oriented leadership development in Bochum and online I am happy to work with personalities, whether experienced or at the beginning of their career. Because real development begins where people are not optimized but understood — and leadership no longer has to be acted but arises from inner congruence. I look forward to meeting you in a no-obligation initial consultation.