Basic dimensions of leader personality: a lexical study in Hebrew

Traditional trait-based leadership research relies on generic personality models, overlooking the context-specific nature of personality. We used the lexical approach to develop a leadership-focused personality taxonomy. We identified 199 adjectives for describing leaders (Study 1) and factor analyzed leaders’ (Study 2, N = 402) and followers’ (Study 3, N = 421) ratings of these adjectives. Analyses revealed five dimensions shared across groups, closely related to, yet distinct from the Big Five and HEXACO factors: Energy, Psychopathy, Organization, Irritability, and Intellect. Two follower-specific dimensions—Supportiveness and Weakness—also emerged. Relationships with the Big Five, HEXACO, and leadership criteria supported construct and concurrent validity. Study 4 replicated the structure in samples of military (N = 226) and religious (N = 202) leaders.