TRAITS, MOTIVATES, AND CHARACTERISTIC OF LEADERS

Universal Theory of Leadership
The belief that certain personal characteristics and skills contribute to leadership effectiveness in many situations
Three categories:

-Personality traits
-Motives
-Cognitive factors

Leader Personality Traits
General Personality Traits

Traits observable both within and outside the context of work
Task-Related Personality Traits
Traits closely associated with task accomplishment

General Personality Traits of Effective Leaders

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Task-Related Personality Traits of Leaders

Emotional Intelligence

… refers to the ability to do such things as understand one’s feelings, have empathy for others, and regulate one’s emotions to enhance one’s quality of life.

Leadership Motives

Leaders generally have a strong desire to influence and control others

This desire is evident in four needs or motives

Cognitive Factors

Leaders must have problem-solving and intellectual skills to effectively gather, process, and store essential information

Five cognitive factors related to leadership effectiveness have been identified

Nature versus Nurture

Are leaders born or are they made? Both.

Individuals inherit a basic capacity to develop personality traits and mental ability that sets an outer limit on how extensively these traits can be developed
Environmental influences, in turn, determine how much of an individual’s potential will be developed

The WICS Model of Leadership in Organizations
This model of leadership encompasses and synthesizes

   -wisdom
     -intelligence, and
      -creativity
to explain leadership effectiveness

The WICS Model (cont’d)
According to the WICS model, a leader needs the following for the successful utilization of intelligence:


Creative skills to generate new ideas
Analytical skills to evaluate whether the ideas are good ones
Practical skills to implement the ideas and to persuade others of their value.

Trait Approach
Strengths :

-Serves as a guide to leader selection
-Can guide individuals in preparing for leadership

Limitations

-Does not identify which characteristics are absolutely needed
-Does not specify how much of a trait or characteristic is needed
-Can breed an elitist conception of leadership

Biographical Characteristics
-Age

-Gender
-Marital Status
-Birth Order
-Number of Dependents
-Personality Determinants
-Heredity
-Environment
-Situation

What is Personality?
The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others, described in terms of measurable personality traits that a person exhibits.



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