Trait Theory of Leadership

Leader and non-leaders are different because of certain traits. The trait approach or theory seeks to determine 'what makes a successful leader' for the leader's own personal characteristics. From the very beginning, people have emphasized that a particular individual was successful leader because of his certain qualities or characteristics. This leadership approach was so popular between 1930s and 1950s. In other words, different leaders contain different traits at the different level i.e. there are no universal traits which are applicable to all the leaders. According to this theory, leadership is largely a function of certain traits or qualities. This states that there are certain unique traits or qualities essential for a successful leader. Any person who wants to be a successful leader must possess those traits. 

Related Topic:

Personality Traits and its Characteristics

A successful leader should possess following traits: 

a) Social Qualities 

A successful leader has social skills. He/she understands people and knows their strength and weakness. A leader should have self-confidence, ability to inspire, initiative, knowledge of human nature, human relation and human attitude. 

b) Intellectual Qualities 

Higher level of intellectual qualities is required for the quality leadership. Leaders generally have high level of intelligence. Intelligence means ability to think scientifically, analyze accurately and interpret clearly and precisely the situation. 

c) Emotional Stability 

A leader should have high level of emotional stability. He should be free from different biases. In other words, a successful leader is always emotionally stable. He should not be bias and have full control on his anger and fears (i.e. too soft at heart) as both these extremes are bad. 

d) Moral Qualities 

Leader should be fair at work. He should have strong will power, normal courage, sense of purpose, objectivity, achievement drive and integrity. 

e) Physical Traits 

Physical traits of a man are determined by heredity factors. In other words, physical traits and rate of maturation determine the personality formation which is an important factor in determining leadership success. Physical traits include height, weight, physique, health, appearance, vitality, endurance, enthusiasm, forcefulness etc. 

f) Some Other Traits 

This theory also emphasizes that these traits need not necessarily be inborn but may be acquired through education, training and practice. Some other important traits of leadership are:

 Major Traits of a Leadership

Personal drive	Generally high level
Personal integrity	Honest in dealing with followers
Cognitive ability	Ability to make decisions
Flexibility	Capability to adapt in changing environment
Self-confidence	Confidence in ownself
Business Knowledge	Job-relevant knowledge
Personal warmth	Warmth in relationship
Desire to lead	Intense desire to lead

 

Implications of the Theory 

• The theory emphasizes that a leader requires some traits and qualities to be effective.
• Many of these qualities may be developed in individuals through training and development programs.

Limitation of Trait Theory 

• It fails to take into account influence of other factors on leadership. 
• There are no definite tests for the measurement of these traits. It is not clear how high score a person must achieve to achieve an effective trait.
• Various studies prove that the trait theory cannot be used in all situations.
• There is no universal list of traits of successful leaders. Different authors have different lists of traits. 
• This theory does not offer any guidance for developing these qualities.

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Personality Traits and Characteristics

Personality traits mean the basic human instincts or properties, which give every human a unique identity. These attempts to isolate and describe the basic properties of the individual that direct behavior.

Human being posses different types of characteristics. Characteristics are different due to their perception and personality. The popular characteristics are shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy ambitious, loyal and timid etc.

There are fundamentally two major theories-classical and modern which deal with personality traits and which are described below.

1. Classical Theory of Personality Trait: This theory is about 2,000 years old and it deals with emotional equilibrium of a people. Emotional equilibrium was then though to be dependent on the appropriate balance among four fluids within the body. Those four fluids are following:

• Sanguine (bold)
• Choleric (yellow bile)
• Melancholic (black bile)
• Phlegmatic (phlegm)

Personality was dependent on whichever fluid was dominant. For example, individuals with an excess of blood had a sanguine personality.

2. Modern Theory: Eysenck modernized the classic biochemical theories. The individual temperaments was described as:

• Exroverion: >> Introversion 
• Neuroticism: >> Stability

According to Eysenck, Personality is rooted in biology. It is not inherited directed i.e. rather an individual inhabits a particular type of nervous system, which predisposes him to develop in a particular direction. The final shape of an individual's personality is determined by the interaction between his biological disposition and the environmental influences that he encounters in life.

Classification of Personality Traits

Personality traits are the enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior. Popular characteristics include shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal and timid. There is no agreement even among psychologists to describe personality in terms of certain standard ‘traits’. Some of the popular personality traits can be classified and explain on the basis of different psychologist views as follows:

1. Cattel’s View of Personality Traits

R. B. Cattel has identified 171 personality traits in his study initially. But due to the long list of personality traits, they were superficial as well as lacking in descriptive power, he reduced these set of traits to sixteen set of traits. These sixteen traits have been found to be generally steady and have constant source of behavior, allowing prediction of an individual’s behavior in specific situations by weighing the characteristics for their situational relevance.

Personality Traits

S. No.	Factors	Dimensions of Personality
1.	Warmth	1. Reserved vs. Outgoing
2.	Reasoning	2. Less intelligent vs. More intelligent
3.	Emotional stabilities	3. Affected by feelings vs. Emotionally stable
4.	Dominance	4. Submissive vs. Dominant
5.	Liveliness	5. Serious vs. Happy-go-lucky
6.	Rule Consciousness	6. Expedient vs. Conscientious
7.	Social Boldness	7. Timid vs. Venturesome
8.	Sensitivity	8. Tough-minded vs. Sensitive
9.	Vigilance	9. Trusting vs. Suspicious
10.	Abstractedness	10. Practical vs. Imaginative
11.	Private	11. Forthright vs. shrewd
12.	Apprehensions	12. Self-assured vs. apprehensive
13.	Openness to change	13. Conservative vs. Experimenting
14.	Self-reliance	14. Group-dependent vs. self-sufficient
15.	Perfectionism	15. Uncontrolled vs. controlled
16.	Tension	16. Relaxed vs. Tense

Instead of looking at specific characteristics, we can group these qualities that go together into a single category. For example, ambition and aggression tend to be highly correlated. Efforts to reduce the number of traits into common groups tend to isolate introversion-extroversion and something approximating high anxiety. Extroversion would be tense, excitable, unstable, warm, sociable and dependent.

2. Hall and Lindzey’s Personality Traits 

According to the Hall, C. S. and Lindzey, G (1957), personality can be classified into five categories. Because of having five factors, popularly called as ‘Big Five Personality Traits’ these five basic dimensions underline all others and cover most of the significant variation in personality.

The big Five Personality Dimensions

Dimensions	Categorized Forms of Personality Traits	What Does It Affects
Extroversion	Talkative, Assertive, Sociable and Outgoing	-          Higher job and life satisfaction -          Lower stress level
Agreeableness	Good-natured, cooperative, Warm, Caring and Trusting	-          Higher performance. -          Enhanced leadership. -          Higher job and life satisfaction.
Consciousness	Self-disciplined, hard-working organized, Dependable and Persistent	-          Training performance. -          Enhanced leadership -          More adaptable to change.
Emotional stability	Calm, Happy, Secure and Poised	-          Higher performance. -          Lower levels of deviant behavior.
Openness to experience	Creative, Curious, Intellectual, Imaginative and Artistically Sensitive.	-          Higher performance. -          Enhanced leadership. -          Greater longevity.

a. Extroversion 

It refers to one’s comfort with relationship. In other words, it is a personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is sociable, talkative and assertive. On the basis of the individual behavior, people can be classified as extroverts (talkative, sociable, assertive, outgoing and interactive with others) and introverts (reserved quiet, timid, sensitive to feeling and work independently). 

b. Agreeableness 

It refers to one’s inclination to defer to others. In other words, it is a personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is good natured, cooperative, and trusting. On the basis of individual behavior, people can be classified as agreeable (good-natured, cooperative and antagonistic). 

c. Consciousness 

It refers to one’s reliability, regarding responsibility. In other words, it is a personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone I responsible, dependable, persistent and achievement oriented. On the basis of individual behavior, people can be classified as conscientious persons (responsible, dependable, persistent, organized, careful and self-disciplined) and non-conscientious persons (irresponsible, unreliable, and disorganized). 

d. Emotional Stability 

It refers to one’s ability to withstand stress. In other words, it is a personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is calm enthusiastic and secure. On the basis of individual behavior, people can be classified as emotionally stable (calm, secure, positive, self-confident and relaxed) and emotionally unstable (tensed, nervous, depressed, negative and insecure). 

e. Openness to Experience 

It refers to one’s range of interests and fascination with novelty. In other words, it is a personality dimension that describes the degree to which someone is imaginative, intellectual and artistically sensitive. On the basis of individual behavior, people can be classified as open-minded (imaginative, creative, curious and sensitive) and closed-minded (introverts, less open to new ideas and resist to change).

3. Myers – Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) 

Carl Jug is the most be known for the theory behind the well-known instrument MBTI. Based on his basic elements of human psyche, a mother-daughter team developed a 100 items instrument, popularly called MBTI which stands for Myers – Briggs Type Indicator. MBTI is the most widely used instrument for personality analysis. Sixteen personality types are generated by the instrument (a person can be of any one type). These 16 types are based on a combination of four basic elements of psyche.

Aspects	Characteristics
Collecting Information Sensing (S) Intuiting (N)	-          Practical, Concrete, Would work with known facts than look for possibilities and relationship. -          Theoretical, Abstract: Would look for possibilities and relationships than work with known facts.
Decision-making Thinking (T) Feeling (F)	-          Analytical (Had) Relies more on interpersonal analysis and logic than on personal values. -          Subjective (Heart) Relies more on personal values than on impersonal analysis and logic.
Understanding the world Perceiving (P)	-          Structured, Organized: Likes a planned and orderly way of life rather than a flexible, spontaneous way. -          Flexible, Spontaneous: Likes a flexible, spontaneous way rather than a planned and orderly way of life.

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