Leadership Traits and Success 
            in Higher Education 
                 A Witt/Kieffer tudy
          How College and University Leaders Compare  
               with Corporate Executives
                      Contents
                      Introduction    .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 1
                      About the Assessments   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 2
                      About the Leaders Who Were Assessed   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 2
                      Assessment Results    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .3
                           HPI Assessments: Normal Personality   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . 3
                           HD Assessments: Daride Personality   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .
                           PI Assessments:  oals and Dri­ers    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .€
                      ‚ey imilarities and Diƒƒerences    .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .„
                       eneral …onclusions   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   . †
                      “…ommerce” ‰rientation: Šhe 23Percentile Diƒƒerence  .   .   .   .   .   .   .‹
                      Œurther Žuestions and Im‘lications  .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .’
                      Leadership Traits and Success in Higher Education: A Witt/Kieffer Study
                      Introduction
                      Œe“ “ould ar”ue that there are ƒundamental diƒƒerences in the challen”es ƒacin” leaders “ithin hi”her 
                      education ­ersus those in the cor‘orate “orld and in the roles that each must ‘erƒorm . …olle”e ‘residents 
                      are not ‘ri­ate sector …•‰s– clearly .
                      Ne­ertheless– as resource constraints and ƒundin” shortƒalls ‘la”ue many notƒor‘rofit colle”es and 
                      uni­ersities today– the su””estion has been made more than once that hi”her education ‘residents and 
                      other leaders need to become more “businesslie” or “entre‘reneurial .” Šhey should– ƒor e˜am‘le– ‘ay more 
                      attention to the bottom line– ‘artner creati­ely “ith or”ani™ations outside oƒ academia– andšor e˜‘lore ne“ 
                      sources oƒ re­enue . Œor most ‘residents and academic leaders– in ƒact– their roles ha­e ”ra­itated si”nificantly 
                      in this direction already .
                      Šhese su””estions and ‘ressures oƒten come ƒrom boards oƒ trustees– “hose membershi‘ is increasin”ly 
                      ”rounded in the cor‘orate “orld– or ƒrom ‘rominent alums– the media– state le”islators– and other ‘arties 
                      concerned about the lon”term ­iability oƒ institutions oƒ hi”her learnin” .
                      In short– hi”her education leaders are bein” ased to chan”e . While the ›uestion oƒ “should theyœ” is subžect 
                      to fierce debate– the ›uestion “can theyœ” is also rele­ant . Can today’s academic leaders successfully adapt to  
                      a changing environment or might innate personality and values characteristics preclude them from doing so?
                      ean“hile– many colle”es and uni­ersities are seein” out “nontraditional” candidates to fill traditional 
                      academic roles– ƒrom deans to chairs and e­en ‘residents . ‰ƒten they are looin” to the ‘ri­ate sector– or  
                      at least to candidates “ho ha­e close ties to the cor‘orate “orld . 
                      While these cor‘orate leaders are e˜‘ected to brin” ne“ blood and ƒresh ideas to academia– they “ill also 
                      be ased to chan”e and ada‘t to a ne“ climate . Can business executives adapt to positions within academia, or 
                      will some of their innate personality and values characteristics preclude them from succeeding in higher education?
                      Šo be”in to ans“er these ›uestions– Wittš‚ieƒƒer teamed “ith Ho”an Assessment ystems to collect 
                      ‘ersonality assessment data on more than 1ŸŸ oƒ today’s hi”her education leaders and com‘are these 
                      results to those ”athered ƒrom leaders “ithin the ‘ri­ate sector . 
                      We share results oƒ these com‘arisons here . While the sam‘le si™e oƒ hi”her education leaders is modest– 
                      there are ƒundamental conclusions to be dra“n ƒrom these com‘arati­e assessments:
                      •  Leaders “ithin hi”her education and the cor‘orate “orld sho“ ­ery similar ‘ersonality ‘rofiles “hen  
                        assessed characteristics are ­ie“ed as a “hole .
                      •  £et there are se­eral characteristics and ­alues measured—amon” them– “ischie­ous–” “Aesthetics–”  
                        “Altruistic–” and “…ommerce”—in “hich hi”her education leaders and cor‘orate e˜ecuti­es clearly diƒƒer .
                      •  Šhe discre‘ancy in the “…ommerce” scale is ‘articularly striin” and deser­in” oƒ ƒurther discussion and 
                        study .
                      •  Šhese diƒƒerences deser­e ‘articular consideration and attention “hen hi”her education leaders are ased 
                        to ada‘t to ne“ maret conditions or strate”ic directions– or con­ersely– “hen e˜ecuti­es ƒrom the ‘ri­ate 
                        sector are ased to ste‘ into academic leadershi‘ roles . 
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                      Leadership Traits and Success in Higher Education: A Witt/Kieffer Study
                      About the Assessments
                      Leaders in­ol­ed in the study “ere ”i­en three se‘arate ‘ro­en ‘ersonality assessments:
                      Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI): a measure oƒ normal ‘ersonality¥ used to ‘redict “bri”htside” 
                      ‘ersonality– or “hat is seen “hen ‘eo‘le are at their best .
                      Hogan Development urvey (HD): identifies “darside” ‘ersonalitybased ‘erƒormance riss and derailers 
                      oƒ inter‘ersonal beha­ior—“hat is e˜hibited “hen ‘eo‘le are stressed or “hen their ”uard is do“n .
                      otives alues Preerences Inventory (PI): re­eals a ‘erson’s core ­alues– ”oals and interests—“hat  
                      a ‘erson desires and stri­es to attain .
                      Ho”an’s assessments are amon” the most “idely researched and commonly used ‘ersonality and ­alues 
                      assessments in the “orld . Ho”an maintains a research archi­e demonstratin” lins bet“een Ho”an 
                      assessment results and ‘erƒormance in o­er 3ŸŸ diƒƒerent ty‘es oƒ žobs . Œurthermore– the HPI– HD– and 
                      PI ha­e been translated into more than Ÿ lan”ua”es . 
                      Šhe Ho”an a‘‘roach ‘resents results as they mi”ht relate to a ‘erson’s ‘roƒessional beha­ior and re‘utation– 
                      not necessarily ho“ he or she ­ie“s him or herselƒ . Œor e˜am‘le– hi”hly ambitious indi­iduals see themsel­es 
                      as ”oaloriented– dri­en– and hi”hly moti­ated . Althou”h others mi”ht also describe “ambitious” ‘eo‘le 
                      usin” the same terms– some mi”ht also see them as restless– ‘ushy– and hy‘er com‘etiti­e . Œor this reason– 
                      “e ‘resent assessment inƒormation usin” both “bri”htside” ¦HPI§ and “darside” ¦HD§ ‘ersonality 
                      characteristics– as “ell as ‘ro­ide insi”ht into indi­iduals’ ”oals and ­alues ¦PI§ .
                      It is im‘ortant to note that the assessment data collected re‘resents ”eneral trends “ithin sam‘le study 
                      ”rou‘s and is in no “ay tied to actual onthežob ‘erƒormance . Also– “ith lar”er sam‘le si™es– there tends 
                      to be a re”ression to the mean . Šhus– it “ould be ­ery unusual ƒor a ”rou‘ as a “hole to e˜hibit scores in the 
                      ‹Ÿth or ’Ÿth ‘ercentile– ƒor e˜am‘le .
                      Œor these studies– the mean su””ests an “a­era”e .” It does not con­ey the ­ariability or di­ersity oƒ the 
                      scores “ithin these sam‘les . Also– it is im‘ortant to inter‘ret scores abo­ešbelo“ the mean in re”ards to 
                      the conte˜t oƒ role that assessment ‘artici‘ants ‘lay . Œor e˜am‘le– iƒ an indi­idual’s or ”rou‘’s “Prudence” 
                      score—“hich measures conscientiousness and selƒcontrol—is abo­e the a­era”e– this could be inter‘reted 
                      as ne”ati­e or ‘ositi­e de‘endin” on “hether their ‘articular leadershi‘ ‘osition re›uires– ƒor e˜am‘le– 
                      fle˜ibility or conƒormity .
                      About the eaders  ho  ere Assessed
                      ‰­er 1ŸŸ © . .based hi”her education leaders consistin” oƒ ‘residents– Ps– deans– and other academic 
                      administrators com‘leted the HPI– HD– and PI to create a benchmar ƒor the Wittš‚ieƒƒer Hi”her 
                      •ducation …om‘etency model—this model is no“ used– u‘on client re›uest– to assess leadershi‘ candidates 
                      in e˜ecuti­e searches Wittš‚ieƒƒer conducts “ithin hi”her education . ªHPI ¦N«111§– HD ¦N«1Ÿ†§– and PI 
                      ¦N«1ŸŸ§¬ . Šheir assessment data “ere used to define a fi­ele­el scorin” ran”e ƒor each com‘etency . •ach 
                      leader recei­ed a re‘ort oƒ their indi­idual stren”ths and shortcomin”s ƒor ‘artici‘atin” in the study . A­era”e 
                      a”e ƒor the Hi”her •ducation ”rou‘ “as €€– “ith rou”hly three›uarters male . am‘le žob titles included: 
                      ‘resident– chancellor– P– ‘ro­ost– associate ‘ro­ost– dean– and …I‰ .
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