Understanding Agentic & Communal Leadership Traits

"Agentic and communal is an area of interest… what do people envision as their ideal leader and their ideal follower?”

In this video:

Hayden Woodley, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Ivey Business School, explores how our perceptions of leadership and followership are shaped by societal norms. He challenges the traditional belief that leaders must exhibit assertive, agentic traits, inviting us to reconsider whether these qualities are truly essential for effective leadership.

Through a thought-provoking classroom exercise, Hayden prompts students to reflect on their perceptions of leadership and followership by anonymously listing traits they associate with each role. While students often list "agentic" traits such as confidence, assertiveness and courage for leadership, and "communal" traits like helpfulness and compassion for followership, Hayden reveals a fascinating shift when students share real-life examples. 

This video provides a fresh perspective on leadership and followership, encouraging us to rethink the expectations we have for both roles and embrace a more inclusive understanding of what makes an effective leader in today's workplaces.

Note: This article was originally published under our former name, The Ivey Academy. We are now known as Ivey Executive Education.

About Ivey Executive Education

Ivey Executive Education is the home for executive Learning and Development (L&D) in Canada. It is Canada’s only full-service L&D house, blending Financial Times top-ranked university-based executive education with talent assessment, instructional design and strategy, and behaviour change sustainment. 

Rooted in Ivey Business School’s real-world leadership approach, Ivey Executive Education is a place where professionals come to get better, to break old habits and establish new ones, to practice, to change, to obtain coaching and support, and to join a powerful peer network. For more learning insights and updates on our events and programming, follow us on LinkedIn.