Model of a socio-psychological portrait of a manager

Lebedeva Elena Aleksandrovna PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor, Department of Economic Theory and Applied Sociology, Ural State University of Economics 62, 8 Marta str., Sverdlovsk, Yekaterinburg, 620076, Russia 838557@list.ru

The importance of psychological analysis of a manager's personality is due to the need to understand the factors that affect his professional effectiveness and well-being.

Research on the psychology of the personality of rulers, executives, and top managers has a long history, since their role is a key factor influencing the overall success of a commercial or government structure, a local region, an industry, or even a country as a whole ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}.

A modern Russian leader, as a rule, has professional knowledge, skills, and experience, which makes it possible to effectively manage people, resources, and processes. Information about the personality traits of managers at different levels is significant for the real activities of modern managers, leaders in all public spheres of the country: economy, education, politics, science, culture, government, etc.

Studying the personality of a leader helps to understand his individual characteristics, motivation, natural inclinations, management style, etc. Such an analysis allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the leader, as well as identify the potential for the development and improvement of organizational capabilities and abilities.

In psychological science, there is a wide variety of interpretations of the concept of "management", which have different breadth and lexical representation.

We adhere to the view that management involves establishing interaction between the manager and the performers in order to achieve a common goal. We believe that managerial activity is primarily a volitional activity, a conscious action aimed at achieving goals and overcoming obstacles^[7]. The decision–making process is the initial step of volitional activity, the choice of goals and the definition of ways to achieve them.

Managerial activity, in its essence, is a psychological and distributed, joint activity, and therefore should be considered as a psychological and socio-psychological interaction of management subjects: the head and performers.

As we wrote earlier: "management is a special kind of work, the process of influencing the head on the subject or the executive system to achieve a set goal, it is a purposeful "leading by the hand" of subordinates to the success of a common cause"^[7]. It is important to note that psychologically effective management is not limited to manipulating subordinates, but involves unequal but humane cooperation between the head and the performers.

Based on the basic psychological model of personality ^[8] and to systematize numerous psychological parameters, qualities and properties, a generalized description scheme or model of the socio-psychological portrait of the head is proposed.

The empirical research we conducted earlier showed significant differences in a number of psychological parameters of the control group and managers. The latter are distinguished by an active striving for dominance, social leadership, a high level of development of cognitive and achievement meanings associated with a pragmatic attitude to business, with an understanding of the time perspective. The meaningfulness of life is more clearly manifested in managers: the presence of goals in the future that give life direction and perspective; emotional saturation of life; satisfaction with self-realization and the effectiveness of the passed period of life; conviction in the possibility of controlling their work and life, making decisions and their implementation regardless of circumstances, etc.^{[9, 10]}. The model was developed with these features in mind.

The model of the socio-psychological portrait of the head.

1. Psychological and biographical characteristics, work and social experience.

Psychological and biographical data are considered: gender, age, education, general education and level of culture, religion, nationality, social status, life and professional path, family, relatives, friends, enemies, reference groups, hobbies, etc. ^[6].

The study of these characteristics of a manager is important in the context of understanding his uniqueness, management features, decision-making, and interaction with employees. This information will help you understand what challenges and tasks the manager has solved before, what his horizons are, the ability to adapt to changes, the general and highly professional competence of the head in solving production tasks, as well as his ability to analytical thinking and critical understanding of information.

Information about the marital status, the social environment of the head, about professional and personal authorities, hobbies, hobbies will reflect his values, personal characteristics, past personal experience, the environment in which he grew up and was formed.

2. Personality orientation – worldview, meanings, needs, motives, goals, values. The orientation of the leader's personality, in our opinion, is a key, system–forming component of the psychological structure of a person's personality. This is a subordinate system of qualities and properties that fully characterize significant personality traits.

Worldview and values influence a manager's ability to establish relationships with partners and subordinates, form the basis of his character and determine reactions to various work situations, organizational, economic and other changes.

3. Consciousness and self-awareness.

Consciousness and self-awareness play a controlling role in the complex process of leadership and management. These are two related, interdependent components of the manager's psyche related to awareness and understanding of one's own existence and experience, which include a wide range of components of personal formations: self-knowledge, self-attitude, self-esteem, reflection, built-up Self-image, self-regulation, business image.

Consciousness sets the general understanding of the leader of himself and the outside world, including the work of the organization, its goals, problems and opportunities. The self-awareness of the head is associated with the perception and understanding of himself as an official, a leader, as a unique personality and includes awareness of his own preferences, skills, weaknesses and areas of possible development, helps the manager to accept his personal traits and comprehend their impact on professional activity.

Self-awareness and self-esteem allow the manager to critically understand his strengths and weaknesses, adapt to business management, developing his professional qualities and eliminating all kinds of obstacles.

4. Abilities, inclinations, mental processes and states.

Studying the abilities and inclinations of a leader allows you to assess his potential and predict success in professional activities. Their consideration is important when forming a team, allocating responsibilities, taking into account the unique talents and skills of each team member, primarily the head. Abilities and inclinations are opportunities, paths, and prospects for personal development.

Also, if necessary, the features of mental processes (sensations, perception, attention, memory, thinking, imagination) and states – manifestations of the world of human emotions can be studied.

5. Character and temperament.

The nature of the leader has an impact on the organizational culture and climate in the organization. Leaders with strong character are able to inspire and motivate employees, create trusting relationships and lead the team to achieve common goals. In contrast, uncontrolled emotionality or unfair treatment of employees can have a negative impact on stability, on the psychological climate and on the productivity of the organization.

Temperament is an innate property that manifests itself primarily in stressful situations, it cannot be changed, although some of its signs may be either hidden or enhanced depending on objective circumstances. Temperament indirectly influences management style, relationships with colleagues and decisions made.

Studying the temperament of a leader allows you to better understand his natural reaction to stress, a tendency to certain methods of responding to changes, general endurance and productivity. This knowledge can be used to adapt the management style to the individual characteristics of employees, to increase the efficiency of their work in the organization.

6. Business communication skills.

According to research, the head spends from 50 to 90% of his time on communication: meetings, negotiations, conversations, public speaking ^[11]. Professional communication includes the ability to communicate information clearly and accurately, ask questions competently, clarify misunderstandings and clearly express your expectations.

The development of business communication skills and abilities can be achieved not only by participating in special trainings, but also by having a constant self-control of the head over the shortcomings of his daily, working communication. By understanding the scientific foundations of effective communication, managers can improve their ability to communicate information, establish trust, inspire by example, increase motivation, and contribute to creating a positive work environment ^[12]. Such development is a continuous process, it helps teamwork, removes many barriers to achieving goals.

7. Morality and personal qualities.

Here we include: honesty, justice, sense of duty, level of culture, suggestion, conviction, breadth of outlook, understanding of perspective, conscience, professionalism, dedication, creativity, entrepreneurship, responsibility, reliability, independence, self-confidence and in business, absence/presence of fears of making a mistake, losing, losing your job and yourself, unable to cope, etc. ^{[13, 14, 15]}

When assessing the characteristics of people in a real life situation, moral qualities are often decisive. We believe that they should be the main ones in the selection of candidates for senior positions, in the selection of colleagues for responsible work. It is moral criteria that set a person the choice of values, a circle of close friends, confidants, life partners, etc. An honest and conscientious person will not be able to become an apostate, embezzler, traitor, weave backstage intrigues, take and give bribes, humiliate the weak or humiliate the strong, etc. ^[15]

None of the listed qualities or components of the proposed model of the personality structure of a leader can be considered secondary or insignificant. All qualities form a kind of unique hierarchical structure, any component of which can become decisive, leading in a special real situation. For example, in certain objective circumstances, the failure of managerial activity may be caused by excessive or insufficient emotionality of the head, his increased suggestibility, egocentrism, slowness or hasty haste, insufficient subject professionalism, etc. ^[15]

However, in the holistic and living psychology of personality, there is something pivotal, system–forming - this is the orientation of the personality, in which a hierarchical system of personal aspirations, basic lines of behavior, a system of subjective values and meanings, a system of personal relationships to the world (surrounding reality) and with the world is set.^[15]

It is not a matter of what values, needs and motives (by name) become, or rather, are considered relevant to the individual, really acting. What is important is what they psychologically are for a particular subject of activity and psyche, how they are interpreted by them in the subjective language of meanings and emotions. This is the answer to the question "why?" one or another "value" is needed, the object of need, what is the experienced desire or unwillingness to act. It is necessary to focus research on the personality of the leader on an emphatically subjective and subjective, necessarily biased level of the human psyche. It is important to understand what meanings lead a person to managerial work, whether there are any necessary or preferred ones among them for the implementation of effective management.

Systematic study, forecasting and accounting of actual changes in human personality are an urgent problem of psychology and are the most important condition for ensuring the effectiveness of any human activity, and especially managerial. In this regard, the proposed model is designed to create a psychological portrait of the head and will help determine which personal characteristics contribute to the success of management, and which may hinder the achievement of goals.

In general, a socio-psychological portrait is a valuable tool for understanding the personality of a leader, his behavior, motivations and abilities, and has the widest range of applications. Let's highlight the main ones:

1) professional recruitment, creation of managerial reserves. A systematic analysis of personal characteristics and professional experience contributes to a more accurate assessment of the candidate to the requirements of the position and the specific needs of the organization, helps to determine in which areas the head will be most successful.

2) development of effective programs for the development of the organization's management staff. The use of the model will allow individualizing approaches to the formation of professional skills, the realization of natural abilities and prerequisites of the head.

3) improving the efficiency of management activities. The characteristics of a leader, such as communication style, leadership skills and the ability to resolve conflicts, undoubtedly affect the mood of the team, motivation and productivity. Understanding the personal traits of the leader, his preferences allows you to better assess the level of his influence on the work of the team, helps to develop individual strategies and approaches to management.

The study of the psychological portrait of a leader has wide practical significance in areas related to the management and development of human capital. However, it is worth remembering that drawing up a psychological portrait of a leader is a time–consuming, dynamic, multidimensional and individual process that requires continuous research, improvement, coordination with the challenges of the time and the current situation in the organization. The model of the socio-psychological portrait of the head is a multifaceted tool for improving the effectiveness of activities.