Shared leadership in entrepreneurial teams: the impact of personality

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a model to better understand which personality traits and personal values impact transformational leadership qualities in self-directed entrepreneurial teams as perceived by team members. Design/methodology/approach A cohort consisting of six self-directed entrepreneurial teams was selected. A multi-rater system was applied to assess the perceived transformational leadership qualities. A model was developed, using three dimensions of transformational leadership as dependent variables: inspiring others, stimulating interaction among group members and communicating a strong vision. Findings The ability to inspire others was predicted by friendliness, measuring a positive labeling of social phenomena. In addition, two positive moderation effects emerged as being related to inspirational capacities: assertiveness and despondency, and assertiveness and emotional empathy interacted. The second moderation effect also impacted the capacity to stimulate group interaction. The personality traits “modesty” and the personal value “human relations” were negatively related to the perceived capacity to communicate a strong vision. Furthermore, a significant but moderate effect of team membership on the capacity to inspire others respectively stimulate interaction seems to exist. Practical implications The research results offer valuable opportunities to enhance or to develop those informal, transformational leadership qualities positively influencing entrepreneurial effectiveness. Social implications As entrepreneurship in small, self-directed teams is a popular phenomenon, research results add to the understanding of group interaction related to informal leadership. Originality/value Shared or informal transformational leadership in the context of self-directed, entrepreneurial teams is a relatively new phenomenon. Integrating a multi-rater assessment of leadership with personality combines interesting perspectives.