What Are the Different Types of Leadership Traits?

Traits theories leadership is also called quality theory, quality theory, and personality theory. This kind of theory focuses on studying the qualities and characteristics of leaders. It is the beginning of the entire leadership field, and its theoretical basis is derived from the theory of Allport personality traits. Researchers of leadership theories in the early 20th century believed that the nature of leadership is inherent, and only those who are born with leadership qualities may become leaders. It emphasizes the influence of leaders on their effectiveness by a certain number of unique and distinguishable qualities and traits.

Traits theories leadership is also called quality theory, quality theory, and personality theory. This kind of theory focuses on studying the qualities and characteristics of leaders. It is the beginning of the entire leadership field, and its theoretical basis is derived from the theory of Allport personality traits. Researchers of leadership theories in the early 20th century believed that the nature of leadership is inherent, and only those who are born with leadership qualities may become leaders. ^[1]

Leadership trait theory is a component of traditional leadership effectiveness theory. Traditional leadership effectiveness theory consists of three parts: leadership trait theory, leadership behavior theory, and contingency theory of leadership.

As early as the 1930s, some psychologists focused on leaders who can be great to some extent, hoping to find differences between leaders and non-leaders in personal, social, physical or intellectual factors. . Through a large number of empirical investigations, proponents of trait theory have found some evidence that leaders have surpassed ordinary people in terms of sociality, persistence, creativity, coordination, etc., and their personality characteristics are also different from ordinary people. ^[2]

Recent research on trait theory has found that key competencies related to leadership effectiveness are: (1) drive: intrinsic motivation to pursue goals; (2) leadership motivation: using socialized power to influence others to succeed; (3) integrity : Reliability and willingness to turn words into action; (4) Confidence: Believe in your leadership skills and strong ability to achieve goals; (5) Wisdom: Higher ability to process information, analyze options, and find opportunities; (4) 6) Business knowledge: Understanding the business environment in which it operates helps to make accurate decisions and bring success to the organization; (7) Emotional intelligence: based on self-monitoring personality, ensuring that good leaders have more emphasis on situational sensitivity and when necessary Ability to adapt to the environment. ^[2]

From the perspective of the development trend of leadership traits theory, the characteristics of leadership traits have the following characteristics: (1) Multi-perspective of leadership traits research. The reason why the theory of leadership traits can regain its vitality is inseparable from the diversification of perspectives on the theory of leadership traits. The leadership traits theory initially studied the leadership traits that leaders should possess. Due to the diversity of leaders, it is impossible to obtain all the traits of leaders. The research conclusions cannot naturally be applied on a large scale. With the development of leadership content, leadership development has become an interactive process that includes leaders, followers, and situations. The expansion of leadership connotation has broadened the perspective of leadership traits research. The theory of leadership traits has broken through leader-level research by considering leaders as the interactive process of leaders, followers, and situations, and has developed into a multi-oriented and multi-level integration. Sexual research has produced charismatic leadership theory, implicit leadership theory, achievement leadership and motivational leadership theory, leadership competence theory, etc. ^[3]

(2) The study of leadership traits still has great value. Relevant leadership development practice shows that there is a large correlation between individual traits and effective leadership, and effective leadership alone cannot achieve effective leadership. At present, the more consistent view of the theory of leadership traits is that personality traits can promote or hinder leaders' efforts to influence others, and various scenarios and follower characteristics can also affect the personality of leaders. The new thinking on the study of leadership traits believes that leadership is a dynamic process, so we should focus on analyzing leadership traits from a development perspective. Successful leadership qualities are not impossible to learn, but can be learned, formed, and developed in leadership practice. In addition, the extensive application of leadership trait theory in practice also illustrates the rationality, scientificity, and value of leadership trait theory. We need to re-understand the theory of leadership traits, fully understand the value of the theory of leadership traits, and consciously apply this to the practice of leadership development. ^[3]

(3) The practice of leadership traits theory shows that leadership traits can predict the effectiveness of leadership. The practical activities of Microsoft, Gallup, Huawei, Hay and many other companies illustrate the role of leadership traits in leadership development and the role of predicting performance. The use of leadership traits in a large number of organizations actually breaks the conclusion that leadership traits cannot predict performance. Of course, this predictive performance occurs in specific organizations. After adding scenario (organization) variables, leadership traits can predict performance . ^[3]