Ever wondered how to spot a maverick?
Look for someone who uses their left rather than their right ear to listen at a closed door or at a colleague’s chest to hear their heartbeat.
According to the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of New South Wales in Australia, the aim of its research into ‘maverickism’ was to identify the characteristics of creative, independent thinkers who can be both brilliant but troublesome in order to help employers channel their talents more effectively.
It found that mavericks such as Apple founder, Steve Jobs, and Virgin owner, Sir Richard Branson, generally displayed a right lateral or left ear preference – as long as they do not feel anxious or neurotic, which inhibited their abilities.
Mavericks also tended to be extroverts who were persuasive influencers – an advantage when trying to win others over to their way of thinking, even though they were generally poor team players and scored low on the ‘agreeableness’ scale.
LSE’s Dr Elliroma Gardiner and UNSW’s Professor Chris Jackson, said: “For an individual to engage in disruptive and non-conformist behaviour, they would need to be antagonistic, egocentric and sceptical of others’ intentions rather than cooperative.”
But mavericks also tend to be open to new experiences, which encourages them to be broad-minded and to come up with unconventional and innovative ideas. They are likewise usually risk-takers and would persevere with this risk-taking even after receiving negative feedback.
“Individuals high in maverickism are not cautious, safe or conservative. They are prepared to break rules to achieve results….only successful risk-takers are likely to be branded ‘mavericks’, the researchers explained.
Although they would not advise that employers rush out and stock their organisations full of such people, “what we are suggesting”, they said, “is that, in the current climate where many businesses are asking their workers to do more with less, encouraging workers to be creative and giving them some leeway to take measured risks may have some potential benefits”.
Moreover, although some aspects of a maverick personality such as risk-taking and low levels of ‘agreeableness’ might make some hiring managers nervous, the study inferred that other personality traits such as extroversion, creativity and openness meant that they could make a unique and positive contribution to the business if allowed to.
The two researchers also hoped that their work would be used as the basis for additional research in future in order to define, measure and evaluate how maverick personalities can be employed in the workplace more effectively.
