Trait Approach

• one of the first systematic attempts to study leadership

  • Focus on inate qualities and characteristics possessed by leaders in different fields

  • “Great Man“ theories

-> Fundamental differences exist between leaders and followers

Traits are characteristic of a person

• Physical

• Behavioral

• Personal

Traits are fixed (ex: intelligence, height) or not easily changed (ex: extraversion, emotional stability)

It is the persepctive of this theory that leaders are born, not made.

Some aspects of the theory are antiquated, others are still very relevant.

• Intelligence

• Self-Confidence

• Determination

• Integrity

• Sociability

• Verbal, perceptual, and reasoning capabilities

• Positively related to leadership

• Related areas:

  • Verbal ability

  • Perceptual ability

  • Reasoning

  • Problem solving

• Certainty about one’s competencies and skills

• Self-esteem / Self-assurance

• Belief in one‘s one ability to influence

• The ability to make others believe they are right in following a leadership path or direction

• Desire to get a job done

• Initiative, persistence, drive

• Perserverence in instances of challenge or diffficulty

• Display of dominance in situations requiring follower direction

• Quality of honesty, trustworthiness, and character

• Ethical Leadership

• Positively related to:

  • Loyalty

  • Dependability

• Negatively related to:

  • Ruthlessness

  • deceptiveness

• A leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships

• Includes characteristics such as being

  • Friendly

  • Outgoing

  • Courteous

  • Tactful

  • Diplomatic

• Includes having and displaying good interpersonal skills and pursuing cooperative relationships

Emotional Intelligence - the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one's goal(s).

The idea in brief:

• Traits >> Personality >> An Individual’s Emotions

• Self-awareness of one’s emotions can enhance the ability to improve on develop personality traits

Focus is exclusively on the leader and traits a leader should have

For Organizations

• Talent identification for future positions

• Selection criteria for management positions

For Individuals

• Self-knowledge and self awareness

• Identification of personal strengths and weaknesses

• Identification of future potential areas of improvement where possible

• Understandable approach

• Large body of research

• Highlights the leadership component of the leadership process

• Good starting point for identifying leadership characteristics

• Lack of consensus on leadership traits

• Lack of situational consideration

• Fails to consider outcomes

• Not useful for training and development

• Starting point for developing a desired list of leadership characteristics

• Self-assessment for leadership potential