Leadership: Leaders, Followers, Environments

Interpersonal relations

Leadership and management are overwhelmingly interpersonal. How one relates to other people is an important aspect of self-awareness because leadership and management are social activities requiring interactions with others. A commonly used test to gauge how one interacts with other people is the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation (version B) test, or the FIRO-B.²⁵ As developed originally, the FIRO-B measures three interpersonal needs:

1. The need for inclusion—to be included and to include others
2. The need for control—satisfactory balance of power and influence in a relationship
3. The need for affection—closeness versus smothering

Have your friends or family members ever described you as fiercely independent, or have they said that you were needy? The FIRO-B gives a picture of how much you wish to receive from other people in these three categories as well as how likely you are to express these elements toward other people. For example, in the area of affection, it measures if you wish to be close to other people and at the same time how much you want other people to get close and be personal with you. In the area of control it measures both how much control you wish to exert over other people as well as how much control you want other people to exert over you: whether you want other people to lead and give you directions. The same applies to inclusion. Do you want to join the group, be included, or be asked out, or do you not care about that? ...