Attribution: Let’s Talk First About Locus Of Control
I am going to start a series on attribution – how we explain the behavior we observe in ourselves and others – which I think is one of the most critical concepts leaders need to be aware of. But before I get started on attribution, I need to cover the concept of locus of control again because I will reach a point in my discussion of attribution where I will need to reconcile an apparent conflict between the two concepts.
Locus of control (LOC) is a personality trait, and it’s one of the most important things I look and listen for when I develop new relationships with people. LOC is the belief an individual holds about who or what controls events and behavior. Those with an internal LOC believe they are responsible for and in control of their behavior, while those with an external LOC assume less responsibility for their behavior based on the belief that their behavior is strongly influenced by factors outside of their control.
Most people believe they have a strong internal LOC but in fact are probably more external than they realize or want to admit. As leaders, we don’t want to say that internals are better than externals, but we do need to realize they are different and need to be managed differently.
Tomorrow I will start my series on attribution with an introduction to the concept, so stay tuned!
Related Posts:
Why Do People Do The Things They Do?
About the Author: Bret L. Simmons
Welcome to my blog! Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section of my posts. I publish all constructive, non-anonymous comments. 
Bret, this is good stuff. I’m really interested in knowing more about two things that you said in your video:
First, you said that when you meet someone new LOC is one of the most important things you listen for. I’m wondering why this one is so important for you?
Second, and I assume the answer to my first question has something tho do with this one, you said that you prefer to work with someone with and internal LOC. Again, I’m wondering what it is that you prefer about working with folks with internal LOC?
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:55 am
Good questions, Tom. As a personality trait, LOC is going to be stable. I want to know if someone has a tendency to accept responsibility and more importantly how they go about that. I want to get as many of the folks I manage to being able to take autonomous action, and I think someone with an internal LOC will get there faster while someone with an external LOC will have a harder time with that. Someone with an external LOC will be more inclined to look for something or someone to blame when things go wrong, and I want to be able to anticipate that. Hope that helps! Thanks for sharing your questions. Bret
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Bret,
I think your readers would gain great benefit if you expanded on the response you provided to Tom in one of your subsequent posts on the topic.
Internal LOC is a critical success factor for leaders for a multitude of reasons. Of particular importance from my perspective – those with ILOC are more resilient to personal and organizational challenges, learn from every opportunity and are more productive because they focus on what they CAN do rather than what others are doing to prevent their execution and delivery.
It’s a great topic to expand on and I believe would offer leaders some awesome opportunity for evaluation and introspection! Of additional value would be to suggest how people can shift their LOC from external to internal over time.
Be well in life and leadership!
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:46 am
Welcome, Susan! LOC is a big and important concept by itself, so I appreciate your added insight here. Due to perceptual biases, we are probably more likely to accurately perceive LOC in others than in ourselves. I think it will be easier for a leader to examine their attributions than it will be to examine their LOC, and I think the big payoff is in attributions, as I will explain this week.
As a personality trait, theoretically people should NOT be very successful shifting thier LOC over time. I do believe personality traits are maliable, but the changes are often very slow.
Another key for leaders is to realize YOU will NOT be able to change someone’s LOC, so don’t even try!! People are who they are and we can’t change their core personalities – don’t even want to. But we CAN change their behavior and we CAN work on their attributions.
The key to all of this is understanding how to read personalities, attitudes, and attributions in people and understanding what you should and should not try to do as you interact with them.
Thanks for stopping by and helping this conversation along, Susan! Bret
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