Why Your Perfect Candidate Might Not Be the Best Leader: The Importance of Personality Traits in Business
Debbie Morrison • May 2, 2023

As the business world becomes more competitive, finding the right leaders to guide your organisation through times of uncertainty can be a challenging task. In the business world, it is common for executives to focus their attention on a candidate's experience when filling leadership roles. However, this emphasis on experience is a myth that needs to be debunked. Personality traits play a critical role in determining the success of business leadership. 


Many companies prioritise experience when it comes to selecting their executives. However, recent studies show that personality traits are a more accurate predictor of success in leadership roles than experience alone. In this article, we discuss the personality traits that executives should look for in future leaders and explore why candidates that look perfect on paper are not necessarily the best leaders.



The Importance of Personality Traits in Business Leadership

When it comes to business leadership, personality traits are key to success. In fact, according to a study by Hogan Assessments, a leading personality assessment company, personality is the most important factor in determining whether someone will be successful in a leadership role. This is because personality traits such as emotional intelligence, adaptability, and integrity are critical to effective leadership.


Emotional intelligence, in particular, is a crucial personality trait for leaders. It involves the ability to recognize and manage one's own emotions and the emotions of others. Leaders who possess high emotional intelligence are more effective at communicating, collaborating, and resolving conflicts. They are also better at inspiring and motivating their teams. In fact, according to a study conducted by Korn Ferry, executives with high emotional intelligence (EI) generate significantly higher business results than those with lower EI. The study found that companies with higher EI leaders had 13% higher annual revenue than those with lower EI leaders. Additionally, companies with higher EI leaders had 50% higher levels of employee engagement and were 22% more likely to have lower employee turnover rates. These results indicate that leaders with high EI not only have a positive impact on the bottom line but also on the overall performance and culture of the organisation.


The Flawed Assumption of Perfect Candidates

Despite the importance of personality traits in leadership, many companies still prioritise experience when selecting their executives. They look for candidates who have the right credentials, education, and work history, assuming that these qualifications are enough to ensure success in the role.


However, this approach is flawed. The truth is that experience alone does not guarantee success in a leadership role. In fact, research shows that leaders who are high in certain personality traits but lack experience can be just as successful as those with more experience.


One reason for this is that experience can be limiting. Leaders who have spent their entire careers in a particular industry or role may struggle to adapt to new challenges and opportunities. They may be more set in their ways and less open to new ideas and approaches. 


Consider the case of Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO of Theranos, a medical testing company that collapsed amid fraud allegations. Holmes was a highly educated and accomplished executive, with degrees from Stanford University and a successful company that garnered significant media attention. However, her personality traits, including overconfidence and a lack of transparency, were ultimately responsible for the downfall of her company.


Perhaps controversial, Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc. is an example of a leader whose single-minded focus and strong personality traits compensated for a lack of business experience. Jobs had a tumultuous career, with significant setbacks and challenges along the way. However, his personality traits, including his creativity, passion, and vision, were critical to his success as a leader. Jobs' leadership style was undeniably unconventional, but it was effective in creating an innovative culture and driving the company's growth.


Whilst these examples might point to the extremes, they do serve to highlight the point that more than experience alone is needed to determine a candidate's potential for effective leadership. It’s another reason why the perfect candidate is a myth. It's simply impossible to predict how someone will perform in a leadership role based on their past experience alone. A candidate may have all the right qualifications on paper but may not possess the personality traits needed to be an effective leader. 


Instead, executives should consider a candidate's personality traits and how they align with the organisation's culture and values.



Key Personality Traits to Look for in Executive Leaders

So, what personality traits should executives look for when selecting their leaders? There are several traits that are critical for effective leadership, including:


Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand and manage one's emotions and those of others. Leaders with high EI are better able to connect with their team members, understand their perspectives, and inspire them to achieve their goals. Research has shown that EI is a strong predictor of leadership effectiveness, and executives should prioritise this trait when selecting their leaders.


Integrity

Integrity is another key personality trait for leaders. Leaders who are honest, ethical, and transparent inspire trust and loyalty among their teams. They are also more likely to make decisions that are in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders. In fact, a study by the Institute of Business Ethics found that companies with a strong ethical culture outperformed their peers by 10.6%.


Resilience

The ability to bounce back from setbacks and challenges is vital in today's business arena. Leaders who are resilient are better equipped to handle stress, navigate change, and inspire their team members to do the same. Resilient leaders can also maintain a positive attitude in the face of adversity, which can be a powerful motivator for their teams.


Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. Leaders who are empathetic are better able to connect with their team members on a personal level, which can foster loyalty, motivation, and engagement. Empathetic leaders also tend to be better at conflict resolution and problem-solving, as they are more likely to consider multiple perspectives and find creative solutions that benefit everyone.


Adaptability

Another important personality trait for leaders is adaptability. In today's fast-paced business world, leaders need to be able to adapt quickly to changes in the marketplace and the industry. They need to be able to pivot their strategies when necessary and make tough decisions under pressure. Leaders who are adaptable are better equipped to navigate uncertainty and lead their teams through change.


Vision

Vision is the ability to see the big picture and articulate a compelling future for the organisation. Leaders with a strong vision are better able to inspire their team members and align them around a shared purpose. A clear and compelling vision can also help guide decision-making and prioritise resources, which is critical for achieving long-term success.


Examples of Successful Leaders with Strong Personality Traits


The importance of personality traits in leadership is vital in the consumer goods and food and beverage industries in particular, where innovation, creativity and a consumer-centric approach are critical to success. In these industries, companies are constantly adapting to changing consumer trends and tastes. Leaders who are adaptable, creative, and customer-focused are more likely to succeed.

Whilst there are countless examples of successful leaders who have demonstrated the importance of personality traits in effective leadership. Here are just a few examples:


Indra Nooyi, Former CEO of PepsiCo

One example of this is PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, who is widely regarded as one of the most successful and innovative leaders in the food and beverage industry. Nooyi, who stepped down from her role in 2018, was known for her focus on customer needs, her ability to anticipate and respond to industry trends, and her commitment to sustainability, health, and wellness, as well as her commitment to diversity and inclusion.

 

Under Nooyi's leadership, PepsiCo launched new products and brands, such as Gatorade and Quaker Oats, and expanded into new markets, such as China and India. Nooyi's approach to leadership was rooted in her personality traits, such as her strong emotional intelligence, her ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders, her commitment to ethical leadership and her ability to adapt her leadership style to suit the cultural and organisational context. Under her leadership, PepsiCo's revenue doubled, and the company's stock price increased by 78%.


Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever

Another example is Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever. Polman, who stepped down from his role in 2018, was known for his focus on sustainable business practices and his ability to drive growth while also reducing the company's environmental impact.


Polman's passion for sustainability, his ability to inspire and motivate his teams, and his commitment to transparency and integrity underpinned his leadership style and how he used his personality to drive positive business outcomes. Under Polman's leadership, Unilever launched its Sustainable Living Plan. Guided by Polman’s leadership, Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan has shown impressive results. According to the company's 2020 Sustainability Report, Unilever has:

  • Reduced greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 62% since 2008, and is on track to meet its target of being carbon positive by 2030
  • Sourced 62% of its agricultural raw materials sustainably, and aims to achieve 100% by 2023
  • Helped over 1 billion people improve their health and hygiene through initiatives such as Lifebuoy soap's hand-washing campaigns
  • Achieved a 35% reduction in waste per consumer use since 2010, and is committed to ensuring that 100% of its plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.



Selecting Leaders Based on Personality Traits

So how can companies select leaders based on personality traits? 

One approach is to partner with an executive search firm and use personality assessments to evaluate candidates' personality traits and identify those that are best suited for the role.


Personality assessments can provide valuable insights into candidates' strengths and weaknesses, their leadership style, and their potential for growth and development. They can also help companies identify candidates who may not have the most experience but possess the right personality traits and potential for success in the role.


It's important to note, however, that personality assessments should not be used as the sole basis for selecting leaders. They should be used in combination with other factors, such as experience, skills, and values, to ensure that candidates are a good fit for the role and the company culture.


Personality traits are critical for effective business leadership. While experience and qualifications are important, they are not sufficient on their own to determine a candidate's potential for leadership success. Executives must prioritise personality traits such as emotional intelligence, resilience, empathy, adaptability, and vision when selecting their leaders. By doing so, they can build a strong leadership team that is equipped to navigate challenges, inspire their teams, and drive the organisation's success.


It's time to debunk the myth of the perfect candidate and focus on the traits that matter most for effective leadership. By doing so, executives can ensure that their organisations are led by individuals who are not only qualified but also possess the personality traits necessary to drive long-term success.

The Quiet Collapse of Australian Vegetable Farming

By John Elliott • June 26, 2025
You don’t hear about it on the nightly news. There’s no breaking story. No panic. No protests. Just rows of vegetables being pulled out of the ground with no plan to replant. Just farmers who no longer believe there’s a future for them here. Just quiet decisions — to sell, to walk away, to stop. And if you ask around the industry, they’ll tell you the same thing: It’s not just one bad season. It’s a slow death by a thousand margins. 1 in 3 growers are preparing to leaveIn September 2024, AUSVEG released a national sentiment report with a statistic that should have set off alarms in every capital city: 34% of Australian vegetable growers were considering exiting the industry in the next 12 months. Another one-third said they’d leave if offered a fair price for their farm. Source: AUSVEG Industry Sentiment Report 2024 (PDF) These aren’t abstract hypotheticals. These are real decisions, already in motion. For many, it’s not about profitability anymore, it’s about survival. This isn’t burnout. It’s entrapment. Behind the numbers are people whose entire identity is tied to a profession that no longer feeds them. Many are asset-rich but cash-poor. They own the land. But the land owns them back. Selling means walking away from decades of history. Staying means bleeding capital, month by month, in a system where working harder delivers less. Every year, input costs rise, fuel, fertiliser, compliance. But the farmgate price doesn’t move. Or worse, it drops. Retail World Magazine reports that even though national vegetable production increased 3% in 2023–24, the total farmgate value fell by $140 million. Growers produced more and earned less. That’s not a market. That’s a trap. What no one wants to say aloud The truth is this: many growers are only staying because they can’t leave. If you’re deep in debt, if your farm is tied to multi-generational ownership, if you’ve invested everything in equipment, infrastructure, or land access, walking away isn’t easy. It’s a last resort. So instead, you stay. You cut your hours. Delay maintenance. Avoid upgrades. Cancel the next round of planting. You wait for something to shift, interest rates, weather, prices and you pretend that waiting is strategy. According to the latest fruitnet.com survey, over 50% of vegetable growers say they’re financially worse off than a year ago. And nearly 40% expect conditions to deteriorate further. This isn’t about optimism or resilience. It’s about dignity and the quiet erosion of it. Supermarkets won’t save them, and they never planned to In the current model, supermarket pricing doesn’t reflect real-world farm economics. Retailers demand year-round consistency, aesthetic perfection, and lower prices. They don’t absorb rising input costs, they externalise them. They offer promotions funded not by their marketing budgets, but by the growers’ margins. Farmers take the risk. Retailers take the profit. And because the power imbalance is so deeply entrenched, there’s no real negotiation, just quiet coercion dressed up as "category planning." Let’s talk about what’s actually broken This isn’t just a market failure. It’s a policy failure. Australia’s horticulture system has been built on: Decades of deregulated wholesale markets Lack of collective bargaining power for growers Retailer consolidation that has created a virtual duopoly Export-focused incentives that bypass smaller domestic producers There’s no meaningful floor price for key produce lines. No national enforcement of fair dealing. No public database that links supermarket shelf price to farmgate return. Which means growers, like James, can be driven into loss-making supply contracts without ever seeing the true economics of their product downstream. But the real silence? It’s from consumers. Here’s what no one wants to admit: We say we care about “buying local.” We say we value the farmer’s role. We share those viral posts about strawberries going unsold or milk prices being unfair. And then we complain about a $4 lettuce. We opt for the cheapest bag of carrots. We walk past the "imperfect" produce bin. We frown at the cost of organic and click “Add to Cart” on whatever’s half price. We’re not just bystanders. We’re part of the equation. What happens when the growers go? At first, very little. Supermarkets will find substitutes. Importers will fill gaps. Large agribusinesses will expand into spaces vacated by smaller players. Prices will stay low, until they don’t. But over time, we’ll notice: Produce that travels further and lasts less. Fewer independent growers at farmer’s markets. Entire regions losing their growing identity. National food security becoming a campaign promise instead of a reality. And when the climate throws something serious at us, drought, flood, global supply shock, we’ll realise how little resilience we’ve preserved. So what do we do? We start by telling the truth. Australia is not food secure. Not if 1 in 3 growers are planning to exit. The market isn’t working. Not when prices rise at the shelf and fall at the farmgate. The solution isn’t scale. It’s fairness, visibility, and rebalancing power. That means: Mandating cost-reflective contracts between retailers and suppliers Enabling collective bargaining rights for growers Building transparent data systems linking production costs to consumer prices Introducing transition finance for smaller producers navigating reform and climate pressure And holding supermarkets publicly accountable for margin extraction But more than anything, it means recognising what we’re losing, before it's gone. Final word If you ate a vegetable today, it likely came from someone who’s considered giving up in the past year. Not because they don’t care. But because caring doesn’t pay. This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about sovereignty, over what we eat, how we grow it, and who gets to stay in the system.  Because the next time you see rows of green stretching to the horizon, you might want to ask: How many of these fields are already planning their last harvest?

Recession Is Coming for FMCG and Most Leaders Are Pretending It’s Not

By John Elliott • June 20, 2025
If you're leading an FMCG or food manufacturing business right now, you're probably still talking about growth. Your board might be chasing headcount approvals. Your marketing team’s pitching a new brand campaign. Your category team’s assuming spend will bounce. But your customer? They’ve already moved on. Quietly. Like they always do. The illusion of resilience FMCG has always felt protected, “essential” by nature. People still eat, wash, shop. It’s easy to assume downturns pass around us, not through us. But this isn’t 2020. Recessions in 2025 won’t look like lockdowns. They’ll look like volume drops that no promo can fix. Shrinking margins on products that no longer carry their premium. Quiet shelf deletions you weren’t warned about. The data’s already there. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, consumer spending is slowing in real terms , even as inflation eases. The Reserve Bank confirmed in May: household consumption remains subdued amid weak real income growth . And over 80% of Australians have cut back on discretionary food spending , according to Finder. They’re still shopping, just not like they used to. A managing director at a national food manufacturer told me recently: “We won a new product listing in April. By July, it was marked for deletion. The velocity wasn’t there, but neither was the shopper. We’d forecasted like 2022 never ended. Rookie mistake.” That one stuck with me. Because I’ve heard it before, just in different words.