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The Styles and Traits of a Solid Leader

Week Two Essay

Cindy Hagerty

Leadership Styles and Theories

January 18, 2013

Terrance Cusaac

Southwestern College Professional Studies

Leadership can be defined as influencing people towards a shared goal. Trait theory of leadership is based on the assumption that people inherited specifc characteristcs, traits, abilities and skills that make them more suitable leaders than others. Trait approach tries to identify traits and charateristics that distinguish leaders from followers. It was finally recognized that the trait theory was not enough to identify leaders from non-leaders, so new theories of leadership began to appear.

History of Leadership Traits

In the early twentieth century, leadership traits were studied to determine what made certain people great leaders. Since then, it has been proven that even though traits are a part of the make-up of a leader, today theorists consider leadership to be a complex interaction between traits, behaviors and characteristics. It was once thought that Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon were born great leaders and not made. These perceptions originated from the idea that great leaders possessed something out of the ordinary- natural inborn characteristics that allowed them to excel above the rest, ultimately called the “Great Man” leadership theory. These perceptions lead common people to think that they would have limited opportunities, because they were not born with inherent leadership characteristics. The traits that these leaders displayed were considered “special”, such as being exceptionally courageous, showing great initiative, or having extraordinarily high intelligence and integrity. There was little support for the “Great Man” theory, after researchers while comparing IQ, personality qualities and personal characteristics, found no consistent trends. Leaders do tend to differ from the members of the group in many ways. Effective leaders tend to be more sociable, aggressive, original or creative, popular, humorous, intelligent, alert, insightful, responsible, able to take initiative, and are persistent and self-confident. While leadership traits are important, individuals do not become leaders because they possess these traits. The traits that a leader displays, should be relevant to the situation that they are leading and the leaders effectiveness is mostly based on the working relationship between he/she and the group members (Ricketts, 2009).

The Impact of Personality

Researchers assessing leadership personality traits use the five factor model as discussed in Chapter 3 of the readings by Pierce and Newstrom (2011).

The five factors are:

1) Conscientiousness- Dependability, responsibility, perseverance, achievement, prudence, task focus. The more conscientious a leader is, the more effective the leadership.

2) Neuroticism or Emotional Instability- Research confirms that most successful leaders are emotionally stable.

3) Agreeableness- Personal warmth, a preference for cooperation over competition, trust, acceptance of others

4) Extraversion- Sociability, assertiveness and dominance. I think that extraversion is positively correlated with leadership effectiveness. Extraverts develop a greater quantity of relationships which can be drawn on as leadership resources.

5) Openness- Open to new experiences, values intellectual matters, interested in unusual thought processes, seen as thoughtful and creative. Leaders that exhibit openness have more sources of input and more information, therefore the ability to make better decisions.

There are many pros and cons to the validity of these five factors and how they really affect how solid and effective a leader is. All leaders exhibit each of these personality factors to some degree, and it appears that having certain personality traits is associated with being a more effective leader.

The Importance of Leadership Styles and Traits

Recognizing that specific styles and traits are important to effective leadership not only will allow us to match the right leader with the right situation, but also discover benchmarks for what we need to look for allowing one to become, or train, the best leaders that we can. Some of these traits are ingrained upon a leader early in life, but just as many of them can be enhanced and improved throughout the life process. Sometimes effective leadership is more of a mark of successfully matching a leader, and their skills and characteristics with the appropriate situation, rather than changing or developing specific leadership characteristics.

Leadership Styles

Leadership style is the pattern of behavior used by a leader in attempting to influence group members and make decisions regarding the mission, strategy, and operations of group activities. Leadership styles were defined in the early 1900’s by a group of researchers led by Kurt Lewin. After numerous studies, three different leadership styles were identified: autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire. Leaders that use an autocratic style make decisions without consulting others, while the democratic style gets other people involved in the decision-making process. The laissez-faire style is one in which the leaders leave the decision-making up to the group, providing little, if any, input. Since this research was done, a number of other leadership styles have been indentified including bureaucratic leadership, whose leaders focus on following every rule; charismatic leadership, in which leaders inspire enthusiasm in their teams and are energetic in motivating others to move forward; task-oriented leadership, whose leaders focus only on getting the job done; people-oriented leadership, in which leaders are tuned into organizing, supporting and developing people on their teams; and transformational leadership, whose leaders inspire others by expecting the best from everyone and themselves (Brooks, 2012). I agree with the experts that each person is motivated differently, and the best and most solid leaders don’t just use one style, but pick and choose different styles based on the situation and person with whom they are dealing.

Traits of a Great Leader

Solid leaders know their team and how to support and help them when they “fumble”. A good leader does not blame the team for their short comings. It is just as important to recognize the strengths of the team members, leaders are the most powerful when they don’t feel like they have to control everything. Great leaders have to be transparent at times. They have to be truthful and be able to disclose and discuss difficult information. Leaders should know that people will invent the worst in their heads if you don’t tell them about something, which will ultimately affect their performance, and eventually affect you as a leader. I think that it is very important that leaders are positive. The leader has to believe in their team, and should not be known as the bad news person all of the time. And powerful leaders show gratitude. They know how to thank people, and know that they are only as good as the whole of the team.

Conclusion

As a nurse leader, I must wear many different hats and model a variety of leadership styles depending on the situation. Healthcare leaders are sought after for their expertise, and staff nurses look up to these leaders for guidance. Historically, management has been given a greater importance in the healthcare setting. The role of management in the era of Florence Nightingale was authoritarian and focused on rules, hierarchy and systems of punishment or reward to motivate workers. This type of leadership no longer reflects the needs or values of the nursing profession. There are numerous theories and research studies written, and my goal is to gleem pieces from everything that I read and learn, and use it to build the best leadership portfolio that I can. “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”-John C. Maxwell

References

Brooks, C. (2012, June 18). What are leadership styles and skills? Retrieved from

Lions, E. (2011, October). Effective leadership traits. Retrieved from

Pierce, J., & Newstrom, J. (2011). Leaders and the leadership process. (6th ed., pp. 63-108). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Ricketts, K. (2009). Behaving intelligently: Leadership traits & characteristics. Unpublished raw data, College of Agriculture, University of Kentucky, Lexington.

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