Each of the Big 5 personality traits affects communication and leadership styles in one way or another. When we look at the impact of openness to experience, we learn a lot about how a person approaches conversations based on whether it’s a new situation.
Most people favor the high openness trait. They believe their leadership style involves building effective communication with the followers and allowing them to air opposing views. However, having the openness to experience characteristic is one of many ways to guarantee effective leadership. Sometimes the situation calls for leaders with the closedness trait.
Leaders high on openness and those with the closedness to experience trait have achieved varying levels of success in leadership positions.
This article describes the communication and leadership styles employed by people with openness and closedness to experience traits and how their communication style influences their success in leadership positions.
Openness Vs. Closedness to Experience: General Definition
According to the Big 5 Personality Theory, the openness to experience scale assesses how open-minded, imaginative, creative, and insightful a person is.
The openness to experience trait means you are receptive to new ideas, experiences, and knowledge, even though they might contradict what you believe to be true.
The closedness to experience trait represents a preference for routines, traditions, and sticking with the status quo. If you have this trait, you usually prefer to approach new things with caution rather than excitement.
The openness vs. closedness trait is not a comparison between the good and the bad. Both sides have advantages and challenges, and the situation often determines which quality comes out on top.
Big 5 Openness vs. Closedness: Who Communicates Better?
People high on the openness to experience trait generally communicate better because they are more willing to listen to and embrace ideas that contradict theirs. Communication breaks down when two people communicate or argue, with none ready to see things from the other's point of view. The high openness trait facilitates communication because it leaves enough room for empathy, imagination, and new ideas contradicting popular beliefs.
People who score higher on the closedness to experience trait tend to be more hesitant in their communications. They need to feel more comfortable before they start talking. And it will take trust to get them to share their secrets.
Let’s look how both sides of the Big 5 openness spectrum communicate in more detail.
Openness to Experience: Communication Style
People high on openness love holding discussions that can teach them new things. They communicate as freely with strangers as they do with friends, sometimes with more enthusiasm. They do not approach conversations with a defensive mindset, even if they are discussing with someone whose ideas contradict theirs.
Open people try to see things from the other party's point of view and empathize with them. Their cheerful and flexible mindset makes them great at building communication with just about anyone.
As for romantic relationships, individuals high on openness welcome the thrill of a new relationship as they learn new things about their partner. As the relationship ages, they try to spice things up by pursuing new adventures with their partner, discussing new topics, traveling to new places, and creating novel experiences.
Although they are great conversationalists, their need for uniqueness can be so great that they get little joy from the routine dialogue necessary to build relationships and friendships.
Closedness to Experience: Communication Style
People low on openness might communicate freely in public if they are among those who share their ideas and views. When the communication does not threaten their beliefs, they have no problem holding it. They communicate well at home with family. While they do not make friends as freely as people with the openness trait, they are comfortable talking within their established friendships. They are more willing to have the talks needed to build long-term relationships.
In romantic relationships, closed persons tend to be attracted to like-minded partners and find comfort in routine communication, like asking about each other's day and visiting the same restaurants.
Here are some tips to help you communicate better if you score high on the closedness to experience trait.
- Learn about new cultures to understand things from a different point of view.
- Try to listen to and analyze differing opinions instead of dismissing them.
- Read books that present an opposing view to what you know.
- Make friends from diverse backgrounds.
- Be ready to welcome change.
Openness vs. Closedness: Communication Strengths and Weaknesses in Different Situations
In the previous section, we talked about communication styles in general. However, depending on the setting, you may see different behaviors. Believe it or not, there are times when people who score low in openness may do more talking than the open ones!
Communication at Home
Individuals low on openness communicate freely at home because they are in a familiar environment. They find comfort in their routines and do not shy away from conversations because there is less chance of encountering strange people and ideas.
Individuals high on openness may find this environment boring and usually try to get the family to try new and daring adventures.
Communication among Peer Group
Those high on openness usually hang out with people with similar traits, making communication easier. The same goes for people with the closedness trait.
Communication in the Workplace
Individuals high on openness are more likely to build solid relationships with their co-workers regardless of their differences in culture, nationality, religion, and gender. An individual with the closedness trait will not communicate freely in the workplace to avoid conversations that go against their beliefs.
Communication in Public
Although interactions in public settings are usually brief, and you can generally avoid communicating with anyone, there are occasions when you have to interact with strangers. People high on openness typically thrive in this environment because they love the thrill of new adventures and can quickly build a conversation with strangers.
In contrast, the more closed individuals are likely to be quieter, only speaking if they have to. These are not the people who are comfortable making small talk.
Openness Vs. Closedness to Experience: How Their Communication Style Impacts Leadership
In a previous article, we talked about how openness and closedness traits impact a person within the workplace, including the types of jobs that best suit each personality style. Now we will turn our attention to leadership roles in the workforce.
Leaders high on openness usually favor an organization with open communication among the employees. Good communication goes hand in hand with effective leadership. A leader who welcomes effective and honest communication among his subordinates can help them build trust and personal connections with one another.
According to a study by Limeade institute, employees who believe there is open communication in their workplace are more inclined to trust their organization. They believe their organization values them and provides a positive employee experience. When all these exist, employees are generally satisfied, and their work reflects in the organization's success.
Leaders low on openness are more inclined to instruct their subordinates on what to do rather than create a space for a discussion to listen to differing opinions. They usually communicate better when subordinates share similar traits and values, but their employees often feel disconnected.
Let’s take a closer look at the leadership styles of people who are high on openness compared to those who score low.
High Openness to Experience: Leadership Style
A great leader’s job is to make subordinates believe that their opinions and suggestions are welcome and valued in the organization. Doing this helps the subordinates develop a sense of ownership and build an emotional connection to the organization. Leaders high on openness usually bring their subordinates into the decision-making process, encourage sharing information, and welcome dissenting views.
They are very creative; therefore, they are usually unfazed when things don’t go according to plan and they have to apply an unorthodox solution. This ability is vital for startups and innovative organizations that set out to solve world problems uniquely.
High Closedness to Experience: Leadership Style
The average person believes that closed individuals are too rigid and lack the flexibility required of great leaders. However, individuals low on openness can become great leaders. It just depends on the sector they are meant to lead.
The closedness trait is valued in the religious sector because leaders must follow a sacred book or set of rules that determine how the religion should be practiced, leaving little room for change. Religious leaders who are required to uphold the principles of their faith must be unyielding in their stance and unwilling to compromise their values to satisfy outsiders.
Additionally, organizations that do not require innovation and creativity usually thrive better with a leader who is low on openness because they must lead based on facts and figures or follow the rules and regulations. You can find these leaders in the manufacturing, security, and financial sectors.
A financial analyst has little need for creative solutions. Instead, they follow where the numbers lead them. According to them, “numbers don’t lie.”
In the security sector, it is more common that those who enforce the rule of law require a leader who is strict and uncompromising. To tackle crime in the country or state, citizens are usually more confident in a security leader who is low on openness because they believe they are tougher on crime.
Due to their love of data, logic, and scientific facts, individuals with low openness can also be successful leaders in the education sector.
Leaders low on openness are rule enforcers. They do not compromise their principles and can handle what the high openness leaders might call dull jobs. However, their rigidity, aversion to novel ideas, and unwillingness to think outside the box make them unfit to lead a group of diverse individuals. Similarly, they cannot lead an organization that requires innovation and creativity from its employees.
Openness vs. Closedness: Which Trait is the Best in Leadership Roles?
Open individuals typically are seen as natural leaders due to their open-mindedness, inclusiveness, creative problem-solving, and ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds.
Successful leadership hinges on the leader being open to experience in an organization with people of different backgrounds, as that is the only way to build trust and communicate effectively to advance the organization.
Individuals with the closedness to experience trait also have their strengths regarding leadership. They are particularly effective at leading a group of people who share similar values and have a job that does not require creativity. When the job description is to follow and enforce a set of rules and regulations, they are best suited for the role.
Those in support of the high openness trait will argue that leaders should welcome dissenting opinions rather than avoid or shut them down as closed leaders may. They say that creative thinking is required in many organizations as things sometimes go differently than planned. A leader needs to be able to step up when that happens and encourage his followers to think outside the box when solving problems.
People with closedness to experience traits will also make fine points when they say there is comfort in knowing what to expect from your leader. Handling a nation or a state requires being a firm enforcer of the rules. There is no better way to do that than having personal principles that you will not compromise. Once you begin to accept every new idea, then where does it end?
Although the closedness to experience trait is necessary for specific sectors like the financial, security, religious, and educational sectors, there are far more organizations where the high openness trait is often valued more in a leader.
So, which end of the spectrum is better for a leader?
We answer that high openness is generally more valued, but it depends on the type of organization. Ultimately, the best leader has a combination of both traits and usually resides on the moderate side of the spectrum.
Remember though, Openness is just one personality trait that impacts your communication and leadership styles. Learn how the traits of Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Agreeableness also play a role your leadership abilities.
Learn more about Openness vs Closedness:
