What Do We Need to Know About the CEO's Personality Traits? A Review on the Influence on Strategic and Sustainability Decisions

Abstract

A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) holds key responsibilities, including directing strategies, making crucial decisions, and leading the firm toward achieving its objectives. The success or failure of a company largely depends on its leadership and its commitment to sustainability, which are closely tied to the personalities of its key players. Our bibliometric and Systematic Literature Review provides valuable insights into this relationship, addressing various research perspectives on CEOs' personality traits and corporate leadership. Our findings reveal that academic studies predominantly focus on analyzing dark personality traits, especially narcissism and overconfidence, due to the positive public perceptions these traits often generate. Notably, we suggest that these traits may be positively associated with environmental proactivity, especially in promoting initiatives to combat climate change. Conversely, fewer studies have examined bright personality traits that we advocate may be more effective to advancing social policies such as those promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion or protection of human rights. In this vein, we propose an integrative and holistic research agenda to guide future studies. Additionally, we highlight the importance of considering CEOs' personality traits during recruitment, selection, and triaging processes.