Print This Article Post Comment Add To Favorites Email to Friends Ezine Ready

Leadership Trait Theories

By: Robert II Smith Home | Business | Entrepreneur


Training is an grave aspect of the change leader. Smith and Sharma proposed that in order for an organization to have full benefit from performance and longevity transformers need to develop suitable traits, responsibility, and leadership in every employee. This contradicts the belief of the trait theorists that leaders are born with leadership traits. People possess the ability to learn, which leaders of trait theory do not acknowledge. Baca, Meese and Ortmeier asserted that the trait theories do not account for learning ability, which would suggest that leadership skills may be developed in those not born with them. Kunich and Lester strengthened the point on training in leadership skills when they claimed that they could make a strong case that leadership traits are not innate or passively created in leaders. According to Kunich and Lester, leaders get assistance to develop and help themselves to grow through training, education and experiences. Johnson agreed with Kunich and Lester by sharing the views of William George, former chairman and CEO of Medtronic. According to George leaders are not born, they develop overtime through rigorous work and ability to learn from extraneous circumstances.

A weakness of the contingency theory according to Baca, Meese and Ortmeier, is its failure to make provision for leaders to teach or learn skills in how to adapt when situations change. Bogue suggested that if we must perceive leadership as artwork as he is disposed to do, then there is the need to adapt style to place, time and personality. One understands from this that a leader must be skillful in varying situations

Autonomy is a key factor in transformational leadership theory. The leader seeks to increase the conscientiousness of the followers and according to Boerner, Eisenbeiss and Griesser as follower meticulousness grow, the transformational leader tends to empower the follower. Kane-Urrabazo stated that empowerment is a method of enabling others to do things and that it is a motivator. Transactional leaders’ reluctance to reward followers for out of role performance indicates that there is no empowerment for followers. Baca, Meese and Ortmeier claimed that the transactional leader is not likely to motivate followers to perform extra role behaviour. There is the suggestion that the followers are not empowered to be innovative. For the contingency leader it might be in the best interest of the organization to empower the followers. Yun, Cox and Sims stated that leaders have different reasons why they might empower their followers. The leaders might not have enough time, knowledge of task and problem solving techniques. Empowerment here seems to be a contingency plan for the leader

Leadership role in the real world is a combination of benefits and challenges. Kunich and Lester stated that it is hard to be a leader to deal with the innumerable difficult challenges, which come with the position. Leaders are expected to be inspirational and able to mobilize people, who according to Kunich and Lester are languid, to excel. Clawson claimed that leadership is about managing energy in self and then in the followers.

Organizations have to deal with problems of internal and external nature. The external environment is a changing one and leaders need to be aware and proactive. Clawson discussed the need for leaders to expand and strengthen their visions and insights into the global, community, market, competitions , consumer and other issues around the organization. Clawson stated that if there is no understanding of the underlying forces, focus will be misdirected and shocks, obstacles, and possible failure will be the result. The implication is that the environment is competitive and the strategies need to be competitive, cannot be based on traditions but on change and versatility.



Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

About the Author:

Robert II Smith has spent more than 19 years working as a professor at New York University. Now he spends most of his time with his family and shares his experience about custom dissertation. Robert II Smith is a right person that can help you with writing a dissertation.


Tags: , , , , ,

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Entrepreneur Articles Via RSS!

Recent Related Articles From Entrepreneur

  • Handling Objections
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 6th 2010
    It was a long meeting, much longer than the allotted time. The discussion evolved into confrontation. We ended up on a dead-end incapable of making a decision. Read

  • Should You Focus On Enhancing Your Strengths Or Eliminating Your Weaknesses?
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 24th 2010
    Many people assume that the path to extraordinary performance is to eliminate their weaknesses. The basic assumption is that our strengths will take care of themselves so we should focus on fixing our weaknesses. Read

  • The Most Overlooked Leadership Trait
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 24th 2010
    Great leaders spark new attitudes within their teams. New attitudes drive new behaviors. New behaviors result in new outcomes. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Not really. It is a very challenging aspect of leadership. Read

  • Executive Leadership Skills - Leadership Quotes
    By: Annette Estes | Jun 5th 2008
    Let’s play word association. When you hear â€great leader,†who comes to mind? Whoever it is likely embodies the leadership qualities you have or would like to possess. This is the third in a series of articles on leadership. Read

  • Adaptive Skills Leadership
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 13th 2010
    I few years ago my company’s management visited a nuclear plant. The safety briefing, the radioactivity tests and the security procedures added to the excitement of this visit. Read

  • The Leader’s First Enemy
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 21st 2010
    Two weeks ago our management team participated in a 3-day NLP leadership training course delivered by external consultants. NLP stands for Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Read

  • Lead Yourself Before You Lead Others
    By: Dave Osh | Jun 30th 2010
    Do you remember the years after graduation? We were learning new skills, accumulating knowledge, becoming an expert in our field and earning higher salaries as we scaled the corporate ladder. Read

  • Abundance Leadership
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 12th 2010
    James (name changed) is a brilliant CEO. I had the chance to work closely with him years ago. He was a top graduate of an Ivy League university and acknowledged by the investment community as a sharp leader. Read

  • The Real Secret
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 2nd 2010
    In 2006, a film named The Secret was distributed virally through the internet followed subsequently by a book. In no-time The Secret became a cultural and social phenomenon attracting interest from media figures such as Oprah Winfrey Read

  • Micro-management Or Macro-management?
    By: Dave Osh | Jul 2nd 2010
    It was a total failure. No doubt about it. It was one which I don’t like to remember. I should, though. I want to share it with you so you will avoid such embarrassment in the future. Read


Copyright © 2005-2011 eArticlesOnline, LLC - All Rights Reserved
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy