Intellectual styles, management of careers, and improved work performance

Individual differences have a significant effect upon the ways in which people think, behave, interact with, and relate to others in social settings. One aspect of individual differences which is significant in this regard is cognitive style, defined as ‘one’s characteristic and consistent approach to perceiving, thinking, organizing and processing information, solving problems, learning, and relating to others. The implications of cognitive style for career management have received comparatively little attention in the literature. This article briefly discusses the construct’s origins and theoretical background before exploring ways in which it may be an important variable in enabling both employees and organizations to manage careers more effectively. A series of propositions are developed linking cognitive style to the management of careers in a number of important areas including: selection, vocational choice and career success; diversity, group processes and conflict management; gender differences; intuition and emotion in the workplace; training, development and meta-cognition; styles’ profiling; and cross-cultural career management.