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We all dream of landing that corporate job, the one that promises stability, a steady income and a shot at climbing up the ladder. For others, the dream is to one day call the shots and run their own business. But sometimes, that dream changes.

The long hours, office politics or simply the feeling of being stuck push some people to walk away from the corporate world altogether. A few leave with a plan; others take the leap first and figure things out later. Either way, both paths come with their own share of risks.

The character of a people is perhaps best detected in moments that demand grace amid differing opinion. The passing of Kenya’s foremost political maestro has brought out our nation’s character.

Amid the sadness that enveloped the people upon the demise of Raila Amolo Odinga, our soul is bare for all to see. We have bid farewell to the second Prime Minister with an outpouring of

Importers and transporters caught up in a feud between two tycoons battling for control of prime warehouse facilities near the Mombasa port have won a reprieve after the High Court issued an order restraining one of the rival companies from interfering with two parcels of land where the warehouses stand.

The court issued the orders in favour of businessman Ibrahim Mahadi and his company, Mahadi Energy Limited, restraining, among others, Shabeel Projects Service Ltd or any person acting through it from interfering with their possession and use of the properties.

The Office of Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has exhausted nearly half of its annual recurrent budget within the first quarter of the current financial year, coinciding with heightened political activity around the nationwide empowerment programmes that he has spearheaded in recent months.

New data published by the Treasury shows that the Deputy President’s office had spent Sh1.34 billion by the close of September 2025, which translates to 44.9 percent of its annual recurrent allocation of Sh2.97 billion.

Official foreign reserves held at the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) hit a new high of $12.1 billion (Sh1.6 trillion) last week, on excess cash from a $1.5 billion (Sh193.7billion) Eurobond sale earlier this month.

Last week’s reserves at the CBK surpassed the previous record of $11.2 billion (Sh1.4 trillion) set in July this year, reflecting an improvement in the availability of foreign currency after months of increased inflows from debt financing and exports.

While technical know-how may get you the job, it’s your personality and leadership character that determine how far and how effectively you go. But how much does personality shape leadership success?

Though often confused, character and personality are distinct yet deeply intertwined. Personality refers to a person’s consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving traits, such as introversion, extroversion, openness, empathy, or conscientiousness. Character, in contrast, reflects moral fiber, integrity, humility, courage, and accountability.

Put simply, personality determines how a leader behaves, while character determines why they behave that way. A magnetic personality can attract followers, but it is character that earns and sustains trust. Research in organisational psychology, including the Big Five Personality Model by Costa and McCrae, consistently links traits such as conscientiousness, openness, and emotional stability with effective leadership.

A leader high in openness is more innovative, while a leader high in conscientiousness fosters discipline and consistency. Daniel Goleman, renowned for his work on Emotional Intelligence (EI), argues that self-awareness, empathy, and emotional regulation, all influenced by personality, form the backbone of successful leadership.

Jim Collins, in his classic Good to Great, describes top-tier leaders as those who combine personal humility, a personality trait, with professional, a character strength. The blend of both defines sustainable leadership.

Studies have therefore linked personality to leadership styles and demonstrated how it shapes our social interactions, behaviours, and influences key aspects of our lives, from family to corporate careers.

Managers can identify personality influences through honest self-assessment.

Reflective questions such as ‘Do I listen as much as I talk?’ or ‘How do I react to criticism? Am I empathetic?’, reveal patterns that either strengthen or limit leadership.

Tools such as the DISC Assessment, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and the Genos Emotional Intelligence Competencies framework give deeper insight into these tendencies. For example, a dominant ‘D’ personality in DISC may need to cultivate empathy and patience, while a steady ‘S’ type might learn assertiveness to drive performance. It is therefore important to understand the personality of workplace colleagues and our managers, as it helps in managing our relationships with them.

Leaders of organisations should recognise that leadership development is not about technical expertise alone. They can use 360-degree feedback, coaching programmes, and leadership assessments to help managers understand and refine how their personality impacts others.

Google’s landmark Project Oxygen confirmed that the best managers are not necessarily technical experts but great communicators and coaches, with skills grounded in emotional awareness and behavioural adaptability.

When companies deliberately nurture self-awareness in leaders, they reduce conflict, enhance collaboration, and boost engagement. Every leader can turn their natural personality traits into strengths with the right mindset and support.

An introverted leader, for instance, can use their reflective nature to build meaningful one-on-one connections and think strategically before acting, a style that has defined leaders like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, who demonstrates empathy, a growth mindset, futuristic thinking and innovations, collaborative, and a people-centered, inclusive leadership style.

Equally, an extroverted manager can learn to pause, listen, and create space for quieter team members, fostering inclusivity and psychological safety.

Leadership is not about changing who you are, but expanding how you lead.

Personality and behaviour traits can be detected right from recruitment. Behavioural interviews, situational judgment tests, and psychometric assessments help organisations gauge cultural and leadership fit.

The CEOs nightmare is hiring a well-meaning and highly skilled manager, who unfortunately fails to fit the leadership philosophy, both get frustrated, and the new hire has to leave either on their own accord or at the nudge of the board.

A deep behavioural interview, personality, and leadership assessment may have prevented such a situation. And it affects employees with supervisory roles, no matter the level. Certain personalities can cause immense stress to employees and lead to staff exits.

A hospital seeking empathetic leaders, for example, may prioritise emotional intelligence and agreeableness. After hiring, coaching and feedback sessions reinforce desirable leadership behaviours while helping individuals correct blind spots.

Reliable tools help individuals and organisations build awareness and focus on leadership skills growth. DISC helps leaders understand their behavioural dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance. MBTI clarifies thinking and decision-making preferences.

Genos EI measures 8 leadership competencies: self-awareness, awareness of others, self-management, emotional reasoning, authenticity, empathy, and inspiring performance.

When integrated into development programmes, such tools turn self-awareness into a leadership asset.

Personality is not destiny, but it profoundly shapes how leaders think, decide, and connect. Great leadership occurs when character anchors personality and self-awareness tempers natural tendencies.

As psychologist Carl Jung wisely said, ‘Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.’ In leadership, that awareness is not optional; it is the foundation of influence, trust, and authentic success.

If you are a leader, take a personality test. It could be the missing link to your leadership effectiveness.

‘HR carries the emotional load of the company.’ Wise words from a People Leader today that capture a truth many in the profession rarely say out loud.

Since March of 2020, when the world went into lockdown, HR has been on the frontline of every major workplace crisis – from pandemic response to layoffs, from hybrid debates to mental health breakdowns.

The collective fatigue in the function today is not by accident. It is the accumulation of carrying the weight of everyone else’s pain, confusion, and survival. Think back to those first months of Covid-19. While leadership teams were debating financial forecasts, HR was fielding calls from employees in panic about job security, isolation, or family illness.

The profession became both emergency responders and therapists overnight, holding the company’s hand through uncertainty. That role has not stopped.

As the world reopened, HR was tasked with rebuilding culture, managing resistance to hybrid models, addressing burnout, and handling waves of restructuring as businesses reset their priorities.

But who holds HR? Who listens when the very people tasked with ‘being there’ for others are drained? Many in the profession will quietly admit to compassion fatigue. They have mediated too many conflicts, delivered too many exit letters, and comforted too many struggling employees without enough space to process their own struggles.

Unlike other teams, HR rarely gets to detach. Every decision they make is deeply human, whether it is approving leave for a grieving parent or explaining to a new hire why their role has suddenly been frozen.

This invisible weight has long-term consequences. It explains the exodus of HR talent we have seen globally over the last three years, and why many in the profession are rethinking their career paths. Being the ’emotional spine’ of the workplace is noble, but unsustainable without care for the caregivers.

Read: Job pressure leaves workers at risk of chronic illnesses

The irony is that companies know the importance of employee well-being, but often forget to extend the same to HR. Workload redistribution, access to counseling, peer support networks, and stronger recognition of the unique demands HR faces are no longer optional. If organisations want strong cultures, they must invest in those carrying its emotional weight.

Because HR is not just pushing policies. They are absorbing the frustrations of underpaid staff, the anxiety of leaders under pressure, and the aspirations of new graduates entering uncertain markets. They are the bridge between strategy and humanity, and that role carries a cost.

The pandemic made that cost clear. What remains unclear is whether organisations will acknowledge it. If HR has carried the emotional load of the company for this long, then perhaps it is time companies carry HR too.

As Brené Brown once said, ‘You don’t have to do it all alone. We were never meant to.

Kenyans investing or trading in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin may soon be able to buy insurance cover for hacking losses and employee theft.

The Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA) has published draft regulations that introduce virtual assets insurance as a new class of business.

The family of the late Senator Mutula Kilonzo has lost its bid to stop the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) from repossessing a parcel of land it claims in Machakos County, paving the way for the case to proceed.

The EACC has sued to recover the land from Wandavuu Limited, a company linked to the late Senator.

A surge in consumption of electricity in homes has for the first time cut the share of power used by top industries to below the 50 percent.

Kenya Power data shows the share of electricity consumed by homes rose to 32 percent or 3.64 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in the year that ended June 2025 from 30.6 percent the previous year.