Leadership and Professional Management - Trait Theory (Coursework Sample)

Leadership and Professional Management - Trait Theory
Sabrina Afrin
B00297060
Table of Content
Introduction………………………………………………………………………...…….3
a) Definition of the Trait Theory…………………………………………………...…….3
02 b) Importance of the Trait Theory........................................................................................6
02 c) How does the Trait Theory Work…….............................................................................7
02 d) Strengths and Weaknesses of the Trait Theory…...........................................................11
02 e) Applicability of the Trait Theory to Leadership Theories..............................................13
03 Conclusion...................................................................................................................…...14
References…………………………………………………....................................................15
01. Introduction
Leadership theories gained more prominence towards the early part of the twentieth century, although it is believed to be one of the first fundamental theories of leadership. Current theories however, are based on skills of the leaders and as such a number of leadership theories were developed with different features and qualities. These new theories include behavioural theories, contingency theories, trait theories, relationship theories. Leadership can be defined as the act of leading a group of people and guiding them towards a common goal. For instance, leadership is when a senior person/manager guides and encourages his/her subordinates to carry out work with confidence and passion, thus successfully achieving pre-determined goals.
This assignment will focus primarily on the Trait Theory of Leadership. It will present an in-depth analysis on the trait theory encompassing the development of this theory and how the theory can be applied to modern leadership methods. The analysis will also include the importance of trait theory and the strengths and weaknesses of this theory of leadership.
02 (a) Definition of the Trait Theory
The trait theory was one of the first systematic studies carried out on leadership in 20th century and was carried out to identify the reasons why some people turned out to be great leaders while some people failed at guiding people. These theories were developed based on the studies of great leaders such as Catherine the Great, Mohandas Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln. The trait theory is based upon the great man theory - which was founded by Thomas Carlyle – which aims at explaining the impact of great men with certain personality characteristics. The key assumption of this theory is that people – particularly males – emerge as leaders in the presence of a great need.
Thomas Carlyle’s book titled On Heroes and Hero Worship and the Heroic in History in 1841 highlighted leaders and heroes as kings, prophets and divinity and referred to such leaders as “profitable company” and “the living light-fountain which is good and pleasant to be near”. The trait theory of leadership arose with the characteristics of the leaders highly distinguished from characteristics of non-leaders. Accordingly, this theory is based on the belief that great leaders are born that way rather than developing leadership skills amid learning and experience. Trait theory therefore, suggests a significant positive correlation between leadership opinions and intelligence and dominance. Five key features which can be identified in trait theory leadership include i) diligence, ii) thoughtfulness, iii) extraversion, iv) neuroticism and v) directness (Ralph 2004).
Characteristics of both successful and unsuccessful leaders were used developed the theory and used to forecast the leadership effectiveness. The trait theory believes that certain personal characteristics and skills influence leadership effectiveness in different situations. Characteristics of leadership meanwhile, can be categorised in to three main groups, i) personality traits, ii) motive traits and iii) intellectual traits (Gerald 2010). For instance, personality traits can be classified as general personality traits and task-related traits. General personality traits include self-confidence, trustworthiness, extroversion, assertiveness, emotional stability, enthusiasm, sense of humour and a high tolerance level. A good leader should ideally be able to maintain confidence and self-assurance amid challenging situations in order to motivate and guide subordinates. A successful leader should also be able to build and maintain good relationships with other team members while also being approachable and easy to talk to regarding worker problems. Task-related traits meanwhile, are linked to task activities and include the desire to work, dealing with people, emotional intelligence, flexibility and adaptability, internal controls and courage. The desire to work can be defined as the willingness to achieve the overall company goal and in order to achieve this a leader has to know how to diplomatically deal with people effectively.
Early studies on traits were mainly conducted on people who were viewed to be great natural leaders with these studies aimed at identifying certain personality traits, physical characteristics and abilities. Research studies on traits have been around for more than 50 years, initiated firstly by Binet and Simon and concluded in 1948 with Ralph Stogdill. Stogdill however, completed two extensive and comprehensive research surveys by analysing over 200 studies on the trait approach and consolidating his findings from these studies. Criticism against the trait theory however, existed and increased over the years as the trait theory evolved. One key criticism against this theory was that it focused too heavily on traits and not enough on the situation at hand. Stogdill concurred with this criticism claiming that people do not become leaders due to possession of certain traits, but rather due to a combination of variables such as characteristics and goals of the followers.
Situational research on the trait theory however, focused rather heavily on the situation and lacked analysis of traits leading to a revival of the trait theory following many years of being overlooked. Accordingly, Charnorro-Premuzic (2007) wrote that despite the historic and out dated nature of the Great Man theories of leadership, the trait theory approached has outplayed and outlived the recent emergence of situational theories. As such, Charnorro-Premuzic stated that trait theories have seen a revival since the 1990s. Despite its wide research base, there has been significant debate over the exact structure of universal traits that govern the trait theory and many researchers have failed to reach a unanimous conclusion on a trait structure. For example, Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) claim that there are six key traits that set natural leaders apart from non-leaders and these include i) desire to lead, ii) integrity, iii) drive, iv) business knowledge, v) cognitive ability and vi) self-confidence. Contrary to this belief, House and Aditya (1997) state just four driving factors which include adjustment, prosocial motivation, achievement motivation and self-confidence. Adding to this argument, Mann (1959) believed the universal trait structure consisted of dominance, masculinity, adjustment, extroversion and conservatism.
02 (b) Importance of the Trait Theory in Understanding Leadership
A gamut of research studies have been carried out on the Trait theory over the past few decades and most of these studies have concluded that trait theories are an integral and supportive component of modern leadership theories. Further, current leaders and potential leaders can evaluate their performance as a leader by using the traits list given by the theory. As such, these leaders are able to amend and improve their leadership skills by studying the trait theory. They are able to study the advantages and disadvantages of the trait theory and given traits in the leadership settings. Therefore, this theory can be helpful to the people who struggle at effective leadership or aim at improving their current performance as leaders. (Matthew 2009).
Charnozaa-Premuzic meanwhile, believed that the trait approach was revived largely due to its universal applicability to modern day situation and leaders. Some of the universal traits seen in present day leaders are known as the Big Five personality traits and include i) conscientiousness, ii) introversion/extroversion, iii agreeableness, iv) openness to experience and v) emotional stability. Various studies were consequently conducted on these Big Five personality traits while applied to certain workplaces. Sashkin (2003) conducted one such study where the Big Five personality traits were compared to McCall and Lombardo’s Derailing Factors. Sashkin concluded that while successful leadership does not necessarily require possessing and executing certain traits, failing to lead a group a people is largely due to a lack of one or more key traits.
Another main reason for the positive revival of the trait theory approach is due to its support from present day research into genes and hereditary. Extensive scientific research on genes present more reason to believe that great leaders are born with these traits as a part of their personali...