Wood 1301
Jason Colon
LDS 1301 (sec. 2)
Chapter 2 – Trait Approach
Assignments and Exercises
1.Define and discuss the importance of the following traits associated with leaders: intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity, and sociability. Is this list all-inclusive?
- Intelligence is defined as a person’s intellectual ability; it is directly involved with leaders because having strong verbal and perceptual ability, as well as reasoning makes one a better leader. Self-confidence is the ability to be certain about one’s competencies and skills. Since leadership involves influencing others, being certain about one’s beliefs and actions can assure the leader feels his impact is appropriate and right. Determination is the desire to get the job done. This trait allows the leader to stay assertive when faced with obstacles and even to display dominance, when necessary in a group. Integrity is the quality of honesty and trustworthiness. Those with this trait are trustworthy and their word carries with it faith and truth, helpful when convincing a group of legitimacy. Sociability is a leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships. Social leaders are good at interpersonal communication and establishing cooperative relationships. No, this list is not all inclusive, there are more traits other than those listed here
2.Choose one of the main traits associated with leaders. How can it be developed? Demonstrated to others? Identify one or two people who have this trait. How does it serve them in their leadership role?
- One of the main traits associated with leaders is sociability. This trait involves being friendly, outgoing, courteous, tactful, and diplomatic. This characteristic seems easy to develop, what is really required to improve one’s sociability is to be more social, which involves interacting with others to form meaningful interpersonal relationships. In order to demonstrate one’s sociability, the best thing to do would be to approach a group of strangers and turn them into followers/friends. An example of a sociable leader is Michael Hughes a university president. Being the social person that he is, Hughes has developed an aura of openness and friendliness that others can distinguish and act upon.
3.What are the “Big Five” personality factors? How do they affect your leadership abilities and capabilities? Which factor(s) was most strongly associated with leadership? Discuss which of these personality traits you feel you possess and give a personal example of how they benefited you in a leadership context.
- The “Big Five” personality factors are: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. These factors of your personality play into who you are and how people will perceive you. These personality traits affect how your message is delivered and received. The factor most strongly tied in with leadership is extraversion. The personality trait I feel I relate with the most is conscientiousness; during a group science fair presentation, I was able to step up and answer important questions because I had given myself time to organize my thoughts and thoroughly examine my presentation.
4.Define/describe emotional intelligence. How big of an impact do you think emotional intelligence has on helping people be successful? Give a personal example of its impact on your life.
- Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand emotions and how they change with life’s tasks. Being able to see how others will react to a situation before it has even been put into place is a huge advantage for anyone trying to be successful, as they can foresee an event and manipulate it until they have an agreeable approach. In my own life, I remember being put into situations where there was a lot of panic and anxiety. Instead of giving up and panicking, I remembered to stay calm and was able to influence my steady-headedness onto others.
5.Complete Case 2.1 and answer all questions. If you were one of the candidates applying for this position what would you do to improve your chances of being selected? How would knowledge of the trait approach help you with your preparation and application for this position?
- If I were one of the candidates for this position, I would do my best to highlight my leadership skills and my vision for the company’s future, as well as any past events that could give myself credibility and trustworthiness. With knowledge of the trait approach, I could better formulate exactly what it is the upper-level management is looking for and find ways that display these characteristics.
6.Rate yourself on the Leadership Trait Questionnaire. What do you perceive as your greatest strength? Give an example of how your behavior in one situation illustrated this strength. What do you perceive as your greatest weakness? Give an example of how your behavior in one situation illustrated this weakness.
- Based off of the LTQ, I perceive empathy as my greatest strength. As leader of my mountain biking group back home, I was able to identify with new members because I would remember how it was for myself. With this understanding, I could better lead the group and its new members. My greatest weakness would be having an outgoing personality. In new social situations, I don’t go above and beyond in trying to communicate with others, I tend to stay reserved but still open to discussion.
7.Is charisma an inborn trait or can it be acquired later on in life? How might a person acquire charisma?
- I believe that charisma is a trait that can be further developed and thus acquired later on in a person’s life. In order to develop this and acquire it, a person should look to improve upon their character and their personality in ways that make them more approachable.
8.Compare the traits of emotional intelligence and social intelligence. How are they the same? Different? Can a person possess one of these traits without the other?
- Emotional intelligence allows a person to understand what sorts of emotions underlie an event or encounter. Social intelligence is an ability that allows the person to better navigate social situations in a more effective way. These two traits are similar because they both provide new ways to approach a situation and thus be more effective. They differ because one is qualitative and the other quantitative. Yes, a person can possess one of these traits without having the other.
9.Why do people’s perceptions of leaders matter? How does perception fit with the process nature of leadership? How does it fit with the influential nature of leadership?
- Different perceptions of leaders are the exact reason why there isn’t a sole definition for what leadership is. We each perceive this individually in a different, unique way. The perception of one person is how they view the situation at hand, since we all have different perspectives, no two people will approach the nature of leadership in exactly the same way. Varying perspectives are what allows one to distinguish themselves as a leader and influence others to think the same way.
10.What is meta-analysis? Why might this be a useful approach to studying trait research?
-Meta-analysis is a quantitative statistical analysis of several separate but similar experiments or studies in order to test the pooled data for statistical significance. This may prove useful in studying trait research because you can accurately test to see if traits play as large a role in leadership as society would lead you to believe.
11.Kirkpatrick and Locke postulated that leaders differ from non-leaders on six traits. What do you think non-leadership looks like? Why might some people not want to be leaders?
- Non-leadership would most likely look like traits of: fear, sadness, anxiety and lack of integrity. Some people do not want to be leaders because they feel that they will be judged and mocked by many for trying to push a vision that not everyone can see.
12.What are some leadership challenges today? (For example, economic policy, climate change, world hunger). Which of the leadership traits on Table 2.1 are most relevant to address that challenge? Are any traits needed by leaders today that aren’t listed here?
- Some leadership challenges today involve the world population, climate change, immigration reform, and distribution of resources. The most relevant leadership traits to address this would be: intelligence, insight, sociability, and problem solving. All traits listed here are relevant and pertinent to the topic at hand. They create the core of what a leadership trait is.