Leadership Traits As a growing debate, the question at hand is whether great leaders are born with specific leadership traits, or if one can be taught certain traits over time. According to (Wikipedia.com) the approach of listing leadership qualities, often termed "trait theory of leadership", assumes certain traits or characteristics will tend to lead to effective leadership. I believe that leadership traits such as honest, competent, initiative, inspiring, hardworking, intelligent, and the ability to lead the masses, are some of the leadership traits one should possess. Within this paper, I will examine the overall concept of leadership traits, while observing the traits that were, or can be associated with successful leaders. Personality as well as intelligence tells people a lot about an individual. Certain characteristics of one’s personality such as impression and reputation in a social environment may or may not be a good way to gain acknowledgement. In becoming a leader, work ethics must be strong, precise, and others must be able to feel one’s presence. The three abilities that successful leaders have are; the ability to get along with others and build teams, the ability to make sound and timely decisions and the ability to get things done. The mass amounts of leaders only possess one or two of these abilities and a smaller percentage having all three. According to the Five Factor Model (FFM), it is important for leaders to possess dependability, adjustments and surgency. (Hughes, Ginnett and Curphy, page 235) Impression is a part of a personality that gives others a chance to make opinions about a person that is often termed self-presentation. To take one’s leadership abilities to the next level, one would need to ... ... middle of paper ... ... that an individual can possess however; there are three effective leadership traits that one must possess. Which are the ability to get along with others and build teams, the ability to make sound and timely decisions and the ability to get things done? Not all leaders possess these, which in turn make them less of an effective leader. However, I believe that Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela possessed all three traits and some. These leaders lead by example and was exemplary in doing so. Works Cited Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy (2009). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (6th Ed). New York, NY McGraw-Hill Irwin Leadership Trait Definition retrieved March 20, 2010 from www.Wikipedia.com LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND STUDIES retrieved March 21, 2010 from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Int-Loc/Leadership-Theories-and-Studies.html
Kirkpatrick, S. A., & Locke, E. A. (2001). Leadership: Do traits Matter? Academy of Management Executive,5,, 48-60.
Kouzes, J., & Posner, B., (2007). The leadership challenge, (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-
Where does our leadership style develop from? Many of us will readily agree with the idea that the presence of certain personality traits will positively influence a leader’s style or successfulness. Determining exactly which personality traits are conductive to successful leadership is more difficult. For example, although many support the idea that charisma is a key trait for leadership, Komives et al. argue that the presence of charisma in a leader can actually be a negative influence in leadership, citing Adolf Hitler as one such case (66). Therefore, the question becomes not only if personality determines who we are as leaders, but which personality traits determine who we are as leaders. In my opinion, leadership is determined by the
The leadership is a result of a combination of traits, with special emphasis on the personal qualities of the leader, which he should possess certain personality traits that would be special facilitators in leadership performance. This theory shows that leaders are born as such, there is no likelihood of 'making' them later with personal development techniques.
Leadership is a dynamic and interesting topic. There have been hundreds of studies done on the subject, and many seek to find out why some leadership styles are better than others. Other studies attempt to look into the personality traits of certain leaders to find any defining characteristics that makes them stand out among their peers. The information gathered here is from all over the world, and from multiple disciplines. In all of these studies, common themes begin to arise from the data. Coaches, managers, team leaders and experts in the field of study, all agree that these main three topics are crucial for effectively leading any group of people. Building trust, communicating effectively, and looking towards
According to Hackman and Johnson’s 2013 book, Leadership: A Communication Perspective, there are five unique characteristics that when displayed by individuals correlate directly to successful leadership. These traits outlined on page 74 and 75 of their book include: possessing high cognitive ability, an outgoing personality, a high degree of motivation and social intelligence, in addition to expertise and problem solving skills. While diverse in nature, each of these traits serves a particular and critical function in enabling an individual to gain control of followers, and guide them with a purposeful goal in mind.
Leadership at times can be a complex topic to delve into and may appear to be a simple and graspable concept for a certain few. Leadership skills are not simply acquired through position, seniority, pay scale, or the amount of titles an individual holds but is a characteristic acquired or is an innate trait for the fortunate few who possess it. Leadership can be misconstrued with management; a manager “manages” the daily operations of a company’s work while a leader envisions, influences, and empowers the individuals around them.
A single human being is so incomprehensibly complex that it is nearly impossible for two to be alike. Despite being so vastly different, certain qualities are shared among successful leaders. They share many characteristics that allow them to continue when others cannot, and there are quintessential qualities that help the most in making efficient individuals.
I believe that defining a leader by one set of traits can be challenging, if not impossible. That is mostly likely that when you research leadership traits you come across various opinions; among them is Baker (2001) who believes that when leaders are defined they should be defined based on the traits associated with three systems. These systems (Baker, 2001) include the classical system, the equilibrium system, and the transforming system. Each of the systems (Baker 2001) has traits associated with them, for the exception of the transforming system.
Great leadership is not achieved over night, and it is not something that one achieves and stops. Great leaders spend entire lives building and growing their leadership skills. It is not likely that a leader will one day wake up with all of the vision, influence, knowledge, respect, and momentum necessary to be great; these take time to develop. “It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.”
For many years, I have been told by teachers, family, and friends that I am a good leader. Until fairly recently, I had never truly thought about what it means to be a good leader and just took it as a compliment. Leadership is an intangible concept which cannot be properly outlined in a dictionary, but one which must be formed and explained only through one’s own philosophies and experiences.
The trait leadership theories assume that people inherit certain abilities and traits that make them better suited for leadership than others (Stroup, 2004). The trait theories originated from an earlier impression called the “great man” theories pop...
As Yukl (2010) indicates, such factors (e.g. personality, values and capacities) attributed to a leader. Normally it is widespread acknowledged that someone is born to be a lead...
The dynamics of leadership require that one look at more than just the leader. In order to assess leadership one must consider the situation, the leader’s behaviors and the followers; all must be analyzed and the leader must understand how to interact depending on the situation (Northouse, 2010). This means, the leader must deal with situations differently. Because of this, it is possible that a person may be a great leader in one setting or situation and not successful in another. This in itself proves that leadership is not defined by a cookie cutter design of traits. However, traits, behaviors and situations are all important components of leadership. A leader must be introspective and cognizant of personal strengths and weaknesses. In addition, a leader’s ability to recognize different personalities of followers or subordinates and deal with individuals differently is important. Even though followers or subordinates must be treated fairly no two people are alike, thus, it is important that a leader be equipped with the ability to deal not only with the group dynamic, but with individual personalities. Different people have a different hierarchy of needs and, therefore, need to be managed diffidently, if they are to reach their potential. For example, persons in high “nAch” may require more frequent performance feedback (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly & Konopaske, 2009). Therefore, in order for any leader to be successful it is necessary that he understand the different theories. This will allow the leader to apply the appropriate leadership style depending on the situation, the people, and the internal and external forces that the leader and the organization may be facing.
There are lots of scholars tried to recognize the physiological, demographic, personality, intellective, task-related, and social characteristics with the emergence and effectiveness leaders based on trait approach (Management Study Guide, 2013). Basically, successful leaders will possess certain interests, abilities, and personality traits which are diverse than the less effective leaders (Management Study Guide, 2013). However, it doesn’t ...