SGDU 5024 LEADERSHIP IN

EDUCATION
(GROUP A)
LECTURER : MEJ (B) MUAAZAM BIN MOHAMAD
Trait Approach
Overview
Great Person Theories
Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective
What Traits Differentiate Leaders From
Non leaders?
How Does the Trait Approach Work?
Overview of Theories
Great Man Theory
Trait Theory
Behavioural Theories
-Ohio state Studies and Michigan Studies
-Managerial Grid
Contingency Theory :
- Fiedlers Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Theory
-Cognitive Resource Theory
Situational Theory :
-Hersey and Blanchards Situational Theory
-Houses Path Goal Theory
-Leader Participation Model
 TRANSITION IN LEADERSHIP
THEORIES 05

1930s 1940/50s 1960/70s 1980s

TRAIT BEHAVIOURAL CONTINGENCY TRANSFORMATIONAL

TRAITS SKILLS FOLLOWERS CONTEXT ETHICAL

STYLES/TYPES OF LEADERS
TRAITS
In science, trait refers to a characteristic that
is caused by genetics.
Having green eyes or being shorter than
average are traits a person might have. In
more general use, a trait is an important part
of someones personality or appearance.
Try to describe your favorite teacher in three
words and youll probably come up with a
list of her essential traits such as
compassionate, calm, and kooky.
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PERSONALITY
Your personality style is your organizing
principle. It propels you on your life path. It
represents the orderly arrangement of all
your attributes, thoughts, feelings,
attitudes, behaviors, and coping
mechanisms. It is the distinctive pattern of
your psychological functioningthe way
you think, feel, and behavethat makes
you definitely you.
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Great Man Theory
Leaders are born, not made.
This approach emphasized that a person is born
with or without the necessary traits of leaderships.
Early explanations of leadership studied the
traits of great leaders
Great man theories (Gandhi, Lincoln, Napoleon)
Belief that people were born with these traits and
only the great people possessed them
Great Person Theories
Trait Approach: one of the first systematic
attempts to study leadership
Great Man Theories (early
1900s)
Focused on identifying innate
qualities and characteristics
possessed by great social,
political, & military leaders
Personal Traits And Characteristics
Early leadership concentrated on the qualities
that made a leader great.
These theories centered on the leaders
individual characteristics or traits.
Empirical studies of leader characteristics
were undertaken extensively throughout the
20th Century, attempting to measure a wide
range of variables, both objective (personal
measurements) and subjective (perceptions).

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Trait Theories
Traits are distinctive characteristics that
distinguish leaders from non-leaders.

Early trait theories identified:

Physical characteristics (height, appearance)
Personality characteristics (extrovert)
Skills and abilities (intelligence)
Social factors (interpersonal skills)
Trait Leadership: The Great Man Theory
Early explanations of leadership studied the
traits of great leaders
Great man theories (Gandhi, Lincoln, Napoleon)
Belief that people were born with these traits and only
the great people possessed them

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The Great Man Theory

Personal qualities of leaders

Personality traits, such as extraversion,
conscientiousness, and openness.
Intelligence and emotional intelligence (degree of social
skill).
Expertise, skill, and experience.
Level of participation in discussion: the babble effect.

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 Who Will Lead? (cont)
Demographic background of leaders
Height, weight, & age
Ethnicity
Sex: Bias against women (even thought women possess more
skills needed to be a successful leader).
Implicit leadership theories (ILTs): members general
beliefs about the qualities of leaders
Eaglys social role theory: ILTs are not consistent with
intuitive expectations about men & women: think
leader, think male

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Traits Indicator : Keith Davis (1989)

1. Intelligence
2. Social maturity and breath:
3. Inner motivation and
achievement drives
4. Human relations attitude

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Intelligence
Research has shown that generally a leader
has higher intelligence that the average
intelligence of the followers.
However the leader cannot be exceedingly
much more intelligent than his followers

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Social maturity and breath
Leaders tend to be emotionally stable and
mature and to have broad interests and
activities.
They have an assured, respectful self
concept

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Inner motivation and achievement drives
Leaders have relatively intense motivational
drives of the achievement type.
The strive for intrinsic than extrinsic
rewards.

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Human relations attitude
Successful leaders recognize the worth and
dignity of their followers and are able to
emphasize with them.
According to research studies leaders
possess consideration and are employee
centered rather than production centered.

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 Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective
Early 1900s 1930-50s 1970s - Early 90s Today

Traits Interacting Revival of Critical Role of 5 Major

Great Man
With Situational Traits in Leader Leadership
Theories
Demands on Leaders Effectiveness Traits

Research focused Landmark Stogdill (1948) Stogdill (1974) Intelligence

on individual study - analyzed and - Analyzed 163 new studies Self-Confidence
characteristics synthesized 124 trait studies with 1948 study findings Determination
that universally - Leadership - Validated original study Integrity
differentiated reconceptualized - 10 characteristics Sociability
leaders as a relationship between positively identified with
from nonleaders people in a social situation leadership

Mann (1959) reviewed 1,400 Lord, DeVader, &

Innate Qualities findings of personality and
leadership in small groups
- Less emphasis on situations
- Suggested personality traits
could be used to discriminate
leaders from nonleaders
Situations
Alliger (1986) meta-analysis
- Personality traits can be
used to differentiate
leaders/nonleaders
Kirkpatrick & Locke (1991)
- 6 traits make up the
Right Stuff for leaders

Personality / Behaviors
Leadership Traits
Studies of Leadership Traits and Characteristics
Major Leadership Traits
Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be
perceived by others as a leader:

Intelligence Intellectual ability including

verbal, perceptual, and reasoning capabilities
Self-Confidence Ability to be certain about
ones competencies and skills
Determination The desire to get the job
done (i.e., initiative, persistence, dominance, drive)
Major Leadership Traits
Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be
perceived by others as a leader:

Integrity The quality of honesty and

trustworthiness

Sociability Leaders inclination to seek out

pleasant social relationships
5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership
Big Five Personality Factors
 5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership
Big Five & Leadership
Study using meta-analysis (Judge et al, 2002)
Results a strong relationship between personality
traits and leadership
Extraversion factor most strongly associated with
leadership
Most important trait of of effective leaders
Conscientiousness 2nd most related factor
Neuroticism & Openness next most related
Neuroticism negatively associated to leadership
Agreeableness only weakly related to leadership
Emotional Intelligence & Leadership
Definition Underlying Premise
Ability to perceive and:
apply emotions to lifes tasks
people who are
reason/understand emotions
express emotions more sensitive to
use emotions to facilitate their emotions &
thinking
manage emotions within
their impact on
oneself & relationships others will be more
effective leaders
Emotional Intelligence
The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has
received increasing attention since the publication of
Golemans book titled Emotional Intelligence in
1995.
EI concept is based in the science of psychology
(1930s and early 1940s)

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Emotional Intelligence
Form of social intelligence that involves the ability to
monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions,
to discriminate among them, and to use this
information to guide ones own thinking and action
This concept considers that individuals develop their
intellect through both cognitive and emotional
learning throughout their life.
Emotional intelligence competency sets draw on a
broader range of personal and social attributes, the
development of these characteristics may help to
create more effective leaders.

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EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES (Golemen, 1999)
EI in terms of personal and social competency sets.
Attempts to provide a comprehensive view of a
persons characteristics or qualities.
The personal and social competencies are
interdependent and are related in terms of own and
others emotions.
People with strong emotional intelligence display
many of these attributes.

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Top Ten Traits of Great Leaders
Be Results Orientated. Be Good at Dealing
Be Customer Focused. with Conflict.
Ask Great Questions.
Have a Vision.
Make High-Quality
Be Strategically Decisions.
Focused. Be a Trusted Leader.
Effectively Get Work Be an Incredible
Done Through Communicator.
Others.
(Hewes, 2014)
 Focus of Trait Approach
Strengths
Criticisms
Application
Focus of Trait Approach
Personality
Leader
Assessments

Focuses Organizations use personality

exclusively on assessments to find Right
people
leader Assumption - will increase
What traits leaders organizational effectiveness
exhibit Specify characteristics/traits for
Who has these specific positions
Personality assessment measures
traits for fit
Instruments: LTQ, Myers Briggs
Strengths
Intuitively appealing
Highlights leadership
Perception that leaders
component in the
are different in that
they possess special
leadership process
traits Deeper level
People need to view
understanding of how
leaders as gifted leader/personality
related to leadership
Credibility due to a process
century of research
Provides benchmarks for
support
what to look for in a
leader
Criticisms
Fails to delimit a List of most important
definitive list of
leadership traits
Endless lists have
emerged
Doesnt take into
account situational
effects
Leaders in one situation
may not be leaders in
another situation
leadership traits is highly
subjective
Much subjective experience &
observations serve as basis for
identified leadership traits
Research fails to look at
traits in relationship to
leadership outcomes
Not useful for training &
development
Application
Provides direction as to which traits are Leadership Traits
good to have if one aspires to a leadership Intelligence
position Self-Confidence
Determination
Through various tests and questionnaires, Integrity
individuals can determine whether they Sociability
have the select leadership traits and can
pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses
Can be used by managers to assess where
they stand within their organization and
what is needed to strengthen their position
THANK YOU