Leadership traits

Leadership Traits

Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy (2002)

Great Man Theory

• Supposed that certain people are different. Leaders and followers are fundamentally different.

• Led to many studies to attempt to discover which physical attributes, intellegence, traits, personality characteristics, or intelligence made leaders different.

Great Man Theory• These studies led to 2 conclusions:

– Leaders are not fundamentally different than followers, many followers have the same characteristics as the leaders

– There are certain characteristics which do contribute to leadership success: intelligence, initiative, stress tolerance, responsibility, friendliness, and dominance

• Conclusion: Having the right characteristics does not guarantee leadership success but might improve the odds.

• These studies led many researchers to ignore the place the leadership traits play in leadership success.

Building Blocks of Leadership Skills

IntelligencePersonality Traits and

Preferences

Values Interests

Motives / Goals

ExperienceKnowledge

Skills / Competencies

What is personality

• Two basic understandings of personality– The impression a person makes on

others. Emphasizes a person’s social reputation.

– The underlying, unseen structures and processes inside a person that explain why they behave in a way similar in difference situations.

What are leadership traits?

• Recurring regularities or trends in a person’s behavior

• People behave the way they do because of the strengths of the traits they possess.

• Traits cannot be seen but they can be inferred from consistent patterns of behavior and reliably measured by personality inventories

• Traits do not predict specific behavior, but can provide a general picture of what people will do.

What are leadership traits?

• Traits have differing effect depending on the situation.– Weak situation – This is an unfamiliar or

ambiguous situation. Traits have a greater effect in weak situations

– Strong situation – A situation clearly determined or governed by rules, demands, or organizational policies. Traits have a lesser effect in this type of situation.

The Five Factor Model of PersonalitySurgency Dominance I like having responsibility for

others

Sociability I have a large group of friends

Agreeableness Empathy I am a sympathetic person.

Friendly I am usually in a good mood

Dependability Organization I usually make “to do” lists.

Credibility I practice what I preach

Conformity I rarely get in trouble

Adjustment Achievement Orientation

I am a high achiever

Adjustment Steadiness I remain calm in pressure situations

Self-acceptance I take personal criticism well.

Intellectance I like traveling to foreign countries

Five Factor Model of Personality

1. Surgency – (Traits: dominance, sociability) - dominance, self-confidence, the need for power, dynamic. This person is also outgoing, competitive, decisive, impactful, and self-confident.Leaders usually have higher sugency scores than non leaders.

2. Agreeableness – (Traits: empathy, friendly) – empathy friendliness, need for affiliation. Concerns how well one gets along with others. This person tends to be empathetic, approachable, and optimistic


3. Dependability (Traits: organization, credibility, conformity, achievement orientation). Relates to work patterns. This person is planful, hardworking, follows through on commitments and doesn’t get in trouble. Persons low in dependability tend to be more spontaneous, creative, rule bending and less concerned with following through on commitments. Tends to be more related to management


4. Adjustment (Traits: steadiness, self-acceptance). Relates to how people react to stress, failure or personal criticism. This person tends to be calm and not to take mistakes and failures personally. Calm and thick-skinned under pressure.

5. Intellectance – (openness to new experience) How a person responds to new experiences. This person tends to be imaginative, broad-minded, and curious; they seek out new experiences

Dark-Side Personality Traits

• Argumentative. This trait identifies leaders who are suspicious, are overly sensitive to criticism, and expect to be mistreated. Leaders possessing this trait do not take personal criticism well and are apt to start arguments and have a hard time ending them.

• Interpersonal Insensitivity. Leaders possessing this trait tend to be aloof and unaware of how they come across to others, and to have difficulties putting themselves in "other peoples' shoes."


• Narcissism. Leaders with this trait tend to be overly self-confident, self-centered, and extremely ambitious. They grossly overestimate their abilities, have a strong sense of entitlement, and often hold others in contempt. Extremely arrogant, they are always right and not afraid to tell you so. Such individuals often exploit followers for their own self-aggrandizement.


• Fear of Failure. These individuals make poor leaders because they dread being criticized. As a result, they tend to be overly cautious and reluctant decision-makers. When forced to make decisions, they often impose old solutions to problems even when it is obvious that they will not work.


• Perfectionism. This dark-side trait identifies leaders who are conscientious and methodical but also attend so closely to details that they have trouble setting and maintaining priorities. They maintain extremely high standards for themselves and their followers, and their inflexibility, nit picking, and micromanaging tendencies can be extremely irritating.


• Impulsivity. As leaders, these individuals are hedonistic and often ignore the feelings of followers when in pursuit of their own pleasure. They enjoy testing limits, may fail to keep promises and commitments, and often neglect to consider the consequences of their actions.

Leadership traits

Education

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