Trait and Skill Approaches to Leadership Essay

19). Still a part of the Great Man Leadership era, these trait theories just went a step further in attempting to pinpoint exactly which traits of these “great men” were consistently associated with the leaders, in an effort to more clearly define what a great leader was. This was again a further attempt to be able to identify a leader early on and predict which individuals were born to become leaders. It is thought that a major flaw with these theories was the failure to account for external factors, such as the environment in which the individuals were brought up in, as well as the situations they experienced (Horner, 2007, p. 270). Still today we do continue to study the characteristics of leaders in order to better define and understand what makes someone a good leader.

There are many definitions of a leader and how their leadership skills can be described. One of the theories developed to study leadership is trait approach. Also known as great man theories, it was developed to explain how traits influenced leadership. This theory suggested that certain people were born with special traits that made them great leaders. (Bass,1990; Jago,1982). For this applied leadership mini paper I chose Ronald Reagan as my leader. Through this paper I would like to enlighten how the Trait approach theory helps me to analyze him as a successful leader.

Is the “traits” approach to the study of leadership valid? If so, in what ways? How does recent research on the links between personality and individual behavior contribute to our understanding of leadership?

Leadership is an important outcome of the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program (Zaccagnini & White, 2014). Measurement tools are available that identify leadership style (Clark, 2010) and personal talents, called Signature Themes (Gallup, Inc., 2010). When leadership style and personal strengths are identified, they can be maximized to achieve success (Clark, 2010; Gallup, Inc., 2010). This paper provides both a framework about the importance of leadership in the DNP curriculum and several examples of how I will use my leadership style and Signature Themes to succeed in the DNP program.

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.

The trait approach is clearly flawed because it only takes into account one side of leadership; however, it does provide valuable insight on the leadership side. Trait theory provides an outline for feedback. Subordinates can quickly pick up on qualities that a leader does or does not have. This feedback can provide individuals with a good understanding of where they stand as a leader. Simple surveys such as the leadership trait questionnaire can be conducted to translate feedback into tangible evidence. I have distributed this questionnaire and collected results for myself to grasp my perceived leadership trait levels. For my example as a plebe, I had a clear perception of where the firstie stood as a leader. I unconsciously recognized many leadership traits without having a solid understanding of what I saw. This illustrates the nature of the approach. It identifies people who have demonstrated leadership traits and has no description for how a leader should act in an environment or situation. It is extremely easy to conceptualize but fails to take the leadership situation and context into account. The trait approach provides important concepts to better understand leadership but is clearly is not enough be used exclusively as a guiding theory.

The questions regarding what makes a great leader, are they born that way, is there certain behaviors that can be taught, and can one switch from one style of leadership to another, are addressed from multiple perspectives. Three main schools of thought, trait theory, behavioral theory and contingency theory, work to explain the social phenomena of leadership. Though they pull from psychological theories, they each contribute valuable pieces that strives to solve the riddle of what makes or constitutes a great leader. However, this riddle may be far less complex, as John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” (Adams,

The history of trait theory has…(still working on this part). The leadership traits that are involved in trait theory can be defined as relatively coherent and integrated patterns of personal

The basic premise for leadership is the process of influencing other people to follow your lead in order to accomplish a goal. It is about the relationship between the leader and the followers. A good leader tries to motivate people to bring about positive changes revealing a common objective without using coercion or manipulation. Leadership is not about control, but permitting interaction and communication between the leader and the individual followers. With empowering others, leaders build a foundation of collaborative thinking and encourage an atmosphere of personal involvement; a leader can strengthen the respect and loyalty of his or her followers. Leaders can affect this process by applying their own personal characteristics, such

From this approach occurs that there are certain qualities in some people that define them as leaders or potential leaders. Traits therefore are the distinguishing personal characteristics such as intelligence, values and appearance. Leaders extend their power and use their abilities to influence events. Effective leaders are usually more intelligent, more dependable, responsible and more active. They usually ask for more information and give out more information. However, the appropriateness of a trait or a set of traits depends on the leadership situation. The same traits do not apply to every organisation or situation. (Appendix 2, p.11 summarises the physical, social and personal leadership characteristics)

During the course of Tiger Leadership we learned about different leadership styles. We also learned what it take to be a leader within our communities, work force, and organizations. It takes a lot to be a leader. The one thing that we learned is that leadership is learned and not born into it. Every leader has the potential to improve their leadership style to benefit everyone else. When someone goes out of their way to make sure the job gets done and has compassion for their fellow team member then they have the makings to become a great leader.

Moreover, the trait approach gives a deeper understanding of the leader element in the leadership process by emphasising exclusively on the leader, (Gore et al, 2011). The trait theory does not offer hypotheses about the role of situational variance or characteristic of the followers. Instead, this approach provide information about leaders, and about which traits cause which behaviours and that certain set of traits are central to the leadership process and play an indispensible part of effective leadership.

Leadership is a difficult trait to acquire. Some are natural born leaders, who are charismatic and are easy going. While others have to work towards gaining these attributes. Leadership in its finest can be seen in the military. You would have to be one spectacular leader to convince people to follow you into a gunfight and potentially death. What I find admirable is that most leaders in the military have been in my shoes, and some are right beside me trying to accomplish the same task. Nothing makes employees work harder than seeing their leaders being right beside them going through what they are going through. Of course this is a more traditional type of leadership. In today 's workplace, we see all all different types of approaches to leadership. This essay will be focused on Mark Zuckerberg, the creator and current CEO of Facebook and his method of leading his company.

The skills approach does not provide a prescription for successful leadership. The Skills approach “provides a structure for understanding the nature of effective leadership.” In the Skills Model it was recognized that the skills of the leader related to the effectiveness of the leader. The model showed the relationship between the individual attributes, competencies and the outcomes. It also takes into account environmental influences and career experience.

This theory is based on the premise that there are certain personality characteristics that are essential for a person to possess in order to be a leader. The main emphasis is on what the person is in terms of a constellation of personality traits. This theory searches for that set of universal leadership traits that will assure success. Numerous traits have been suggested: courage, integrity, loyalty, charisma, ambition, intelligence, honesty, clairvoyance, persistence, arrogance, health, political skill, confidence and vision.