人格じんかく理解りかいに基もとづく人材じんざい育成いくせいとキャリア成功せいこうの本質的ほんしつてき意義いぎ

In modern organizations, despite significant investments in leadership development, coaching, and training programs, it has become clear that many employees are not achieving notable improvements in self-awareness, collaboration skills, or leadership abilities.

The main reason is not a lack of training opportunities, but rather an insufficient understanding of the fundamental mechanisms by which humans grow and adapt—in other words, the role of personality.

In June 2023, psychologist Michael Wilmot and his collaborators conducted a comprehensive examination of the impact of personality on professional success, based on 111 meta-analyses and data from over 2.25 million people.

The conclusion is very clear. In order to aim for success in your career, you must first deeply understand your own personality traits.

Personality affects many areas, including academic performance, relationships, leadership, motivation to learn, happiness, and even physical health.

In particular, personality determines how one pursues goals and how one deals with the difficulties that inevitably arise during the process of growth.

If you try to advance your career while disregarding character, not only will your results be limited, but it will also be difficult to expect any fundamental effectiveness.

Many capacity development programs assume that all participants will grow in the same way if they receive the same training.

However, according to research on personality, ways of regulating emotions, processing information, and approaching goals differ from person to person.

This difference also affects learning styles, responses to feedback, and the ability to recognize problems.

In psychology, personality is regarded as a cybernetic process, that is, a system that self-regulates motivation, attention, and behavior.

For example, people with high conscientiousness tend to value order and persistently pursue long-term goals, while those with high openness place importance on novelty and creativity.

People who are emotionally stable are resilient under pressure and able to make calm, rational decisions.

These characteristics determine whether the experience of skill development leads to growth or to burnout.

From how one faces challenges, to whether feedback is seen as criticism or as a learning opportunity, and even to how problems are handled when they arise, self-awareness is an indispensable starting point for skill development.

In fact, a meta-analysis published in the academic journal Psychological Bulletin shows that personality traits are significant predictors in 14 areas of life, including well-being, social functioning, and organizational performance.

Emotional stability is closely related to resilience, mental health, and stress management, while extraversion is linked to influence and leadership ability. Agreeableness forms the basis for trust, cooperation, and conflict resolution, and openness promotes creativity, learning, and adaptability.

These trends are widely recognized regardless of culture, age, or occupation.

Furthermore, they also explain phenomena such as why some employees are able to achieve results in uncertain environments while others face difficulties, why some groups are cohesive while others are divided, and why leadership potential is not distributed equally.

If you want to develop abilities to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation, understanding these personality traits is essential.

Fortunately, traits such as emotional stability can be developed by forming good habits.

Personality is shaped not only by innate factors, but also by the interaction between biological factors and adaptation to the environment.

The most important finding from recent research is that success rarely depends on a single trait, but is rather the result of multiple traits interacting with each other.

Researchers have identified ten personality profiles associated with successful patterns such as innovation leadership, community building, driving results, and creating stability.

v.（「v.」は日本語でもそのまま「v.」と表記されることが多いですが、文脈によっては「対」「バーサス」などと訳される場合もあります。）

For example, even if both leaders have a high level of commitment, if one has high openness and the other has low openness, the outcomes can be vastly different.

Some people excel in cooperative roles but struggle when independence is required, while others can easily come up with new ideas but are not good at organizing things—these differences in personality traits have a clear impact in the workplace.

To gain a deeper understanding of yourself, using reliable assessment tools can be a practical starting point.

For example, assessments such as “Core Drivers,” the NEO-PI-R based on the Big Five theory, or Assesio’s MAP can help to better understand the characteristic profiles of individuals or organizations.

Understanding your own structural characteristics has far more practical significance than simply knowing whether a particular trait is high or low.

This will help you identify in which situations your natural patterns become strengths, and when additional strategies are needed.

There are still some skeptical views regarding the effectiveness of personality assessments, but if conducted properly, they can provide a common language, clarify developmental goals, predict conflicts, and promote effective communication.

Effective diagnosis focuses on models, subtle differences, and context, highlights blind spots in self-awareness, promotes understanding, and builds trust with others.

Personality data is not a tool for judging others, but for understanding them more deeply.

Understanding others has become a core competency of leadership.

In the current environment, where remote work, cross-functional teams, and constant change are required, the ability to adapt to various styles and build lasting relationships produces better results than leadership that relies solely on intuition.

Personality does not determine destiny, but it shapes the path to growth and success.

People grow not by becoming someone else, but by striving to become a better version of themselves.

People who understand this truth will not go against it, but will build a career that suits their personality.

Teams that understand this work together with deep empathy, and leaders create optimal growth opportunities for each individual.

If an organization wants its employees to grow, it should first support them in better understanding themselves. If individuals want to grow, they need to proactively invest in understanding themselves and those around them.