Week 5: Theories in Action 2

As I enter the final weeks of my internship at Porter Isaac, I think more about what really makes the company special, and specifically, what sets Derick apart from other bosses I have had in the past. This made me think about the Five Factor Trait Theory we learned about in Theories last semester, and I wanted to look more into which traits are associated with Derick and if that correlates to his leadership emergence. The Five Factor Trait Theory identifies the core traits that define most people’s personalities, and also the interrelations among those traits. The traits are referred to with the acronym OCEAN; O for openness, C for conscientiousness, E for extraversion, A for agreeableness, and N for neuroticism. Openness refers to the ability to maintain a broad rather than narrow range of interests, a sensitivity rather than indifference to art and beauty, and preference of novelty to routine. I think that Derick is definitely a very open individual, as his job as a recruiter at Porter Isaac requires him to have a wide range of skills. As the CEO of a staffing firm, he works from both the sales side and the recruiting side, which makes Porter Isaac a “full desk” company. Maintaining both of these major aspects to his job definitely makes Derick very open. On top of this, Derick works in both corporate and IT recruiting, again showing his ability to adapt to embrace more job and client opportunities. He has also mentioned that he is constantly adapting where he is recruiting based on the market, revealing his flexibility and openness to change. Conscientious individuals are task focused and orderly, rather than distractible and disorganized. I think that this trait is one of the most applicable to Derick, as he is incredibly organized, on task, and focused each day at work. In terms of extraversion, Derick is definitely the most extraverted boss I have ever worked with – we often go over our call times because we chat for so long! In terms of agreeableness, Derick is always very cooperative and polite, but also isn’t overly agreeable on interview calls with job candidates. He maintains a steady balance of accommodation and manners, but also speaks up and holds his ground, which I admire. Finally, for neuroticism, I do not consider Derick to be a neurotic individual. Because of all this, I am not surprised that Derick has had such success as a leader! He demonstrates four out of five of the traits that predict leadership emergence.