Analysis of the Trait Theory: Strengths and Limitations (Essay Sample)

Analysis of the Trait Theory
Student’s name:
Institution:
Date:
Leadership entails a complex process in which various skills are applied to enhance the productivity of the leadership. Leaders have in other instances been characterized as intelligent rather than necessarily being brilliant persons or possessing conceptual skills. Success of any leadership basically pegs on the innate attributes of a particular leader (Dine et al., 2010). Most of these inborn traits include inner drive towards achievement, leadership motivation, self-confidence, cognitive ability, honesty and integrity, charisma, flexibility, and originality among other traits (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991). Most successful leaders possess the innate qualities and, as a result, have emerged successful in their leadership quest.
One of the most successful and celebrated leaders whose leadership abilities have been demonstrated through their innate attributes include Sam Walmart. This leader has been described as being ambitious and industrious since his childhood. Sam was also voted to be among the most versatile boy in his class. These attributes are among the greatest qualities that enable him to emerge among the most successful entrepreneurs. From a humble beginning of just a single store, Sam Wal-Mart opened a chain of stores and due to the innate abilities such as self-confidence, motivation flexibility and industrious, he successful set up the chain of stores and competed effectively against the already established businesses in the same niche (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991). Through the trait theory, the success of leaders such as Sam Walmart can be easily analyzed. The trait theory has a number of strengths; some of these include the following.
The trait theory explicitly explains why certain characteristics of people do not change. Most inborn traits of an individual do not change, and the persons in any area of leadership often apply such traits. It is, therefore, easy to predict the manner in which a person is likely to act in any leadership situation (Colbert et al., 2012). This prediction can be done with a high level of accuracy that will suite any leadership situation. In this, it is easy to predict actions of a leader in any given situation.
The trait theory acts as a yardstick that may be used in assessing the leadership skills of an individual. The trait theory offers a basic framework through which a given leader can be analyzed in terms of his/her inborn traits (Gehring, 2007). This makes it universal and can be applied in various leadership situations across the board.
Despite the above benefits and strengths of this theory, a number of limitations and shortcomings can be related to this theory. These include the following:
The explanation of feelings, thoughts, and actions by the innate personalities tend to make them act in specific ways (Collins, 2001). Thus, the personalities may act distinctively from each other and may not agree to the general perception of the trait theory. It would thus be difficult to explain the action of these individuals in different leadership context.
There is also bound to be a level of subjective judgment in the determination of whom or what successful leader is; these results into much bias hence running the integrity of the analysis process (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991). Equally, a disagreement may arise over whic...