It's who you are: Explaining the antecedents of new CEOs' psychological profiles

Abstract

Given the breadth of implications that CEO psychological characteristics have for their organisations, in this manuscript I examine those characteristics as outcomes of the new CEO selection process. At the core of this theory is the realization that organisational successions may select executive types based on particular configurations of char-acteristics that respond to their governance, competitive, or performance needs. I first develop a typology of CEO psychological profiles (the Independent Hero Leader, The Collaborative Champion Leader, the Classic Administrator Leader, and the Landmark Individualist Leader) by cluster analysing a sample of 250 S&P 500 CEOs for which relevant psychological characteristics (i.e., narcissism, charisma, regulatory focus, honesty-humility, Machiavellianism, assertiveness, social influence, political skill, and pro-activeness, CSE, individualism and collectivism) were assessed with psycho-metrically valid scales utilising a videometric approach. Then, I hypothesize that a number of firm, board, and industry characteristics significantly affect the psychological profiles or types selected for new CEO appointments.