Review assignment extra points

9.2 - Who Is a Leader? Trait Approaches to Leadership

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Learn the position of trait approaches in the history of leadership studies.

2. Explain the traits that are associated with leadership.

3. Discuss the limitations of trait approaches to leadership.

The earliest approach to the study of leadership sought to identify a set of traits that

distinguished leaders from nonleaders. What were the personality characteristics and

physical and psychological attributes of people who are viewed as leaders? Because of

the problems in measurement of personality traits at the time, different studies used

different measures. By 1940, researchers concluded that the search for leadership-

defining traits was futile. In recent years, though, after advances in personality literature

such as the development of the Big Five personality framework, researchers have had

more success in identifying traits that predict leadership. House, R. J., & Aditya, R. N. (1997). The

social scientific study of leadership: Quo Vadis? Journal of Management, 23, 409–473. Most importantly,

charismatic leadership, which is among the contemporary approaches to leadership,

may be viewed as an example of a trait approach.

The traits that show relatively strong relations with leadership are as follows: Judge, T. A.,

Bono, J. E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M. W. (2002). Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of

Applied Psychology, 87, 765–780.

Intelligence

General mental ability, which psychologists refer to as “g” and which is often called IQ in

everyday language, has been related to a person’s emerging as a leader within a group.

Specifically, people who have high mental abilities are more likely to be viewed as

leaders in their environment. House, R. J., & Aditya, R. N. (1997). The social scientific study of leadership: Quo

Vadis? Journal of Management, 23, 409–473; Ilies, R., Gerhardt, M. W., & Huy, L. (2004). Individual differences in leadership

emergence: Integrating meta-analytic findings and behavioral genetics estimates. International Journal of Selection and

Assessment, 12, 207–219; Lord, R. G., De Vader, C. L., & Alliger, G. M. (1986). A meta-analysis of the relation between personality

traits and leadership perceptions: An application of validity generalization procedures. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 402–410;

Taggar, S., Hackett, R., & Saha, S. (1999). Leadership emergence in autonomous work teams: Antecedents and outcomes. Personnel

Psychology, 52, 899–926. We should caution, though, that intelligence is a positive but modest

predictor of leadership. In addition to having high IQ, effective leaders tend to have high

emotional intelligence (EQ). People with high EQ demonstrate a high level of self-

awareness, motivation, empathy, and social skills. The psychologist who coined the term

emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman, believes that IQ is a threshold quality: it

matters for entry- to high-level management jobs, but once you get there, it no longer

helps leaders because most leaders already have high IQ. According to Goleman, what

differentiates effective leaders from ineffective ones becomes their ability to control

their own emotions and understand other people’s emotions, their internal motivation,

and their social skills. Goleman, D. (2004, January). What makes a leader? Harvard Business Review, 82(1), 82–

91. Many observers believe that Carly Fiorina, the ousted CEO of HP, demonstrated high

levels of intelligence but low levels of empathy for the people around her, which led to

an overreliance on numbers while ignoring the human cost of her decisions. Karlgaard, R.

(2/18/2002). Vote Carly, Forbes, 169(4), 37.

Figure 9.4 Big Five Personality Traits

Source: Goldberg, L. R. (1990). An alternative “description of personality”: The big-five factor structure. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 59, 1216–1229.

Psychologists have proposed various systems for categorizing the characteristics that

make up an individual’s unique personality; one of the most widely accepted is the Big

Five model, which rates an individual according to openness to experience,

conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Several of the Big Five

personality traits have been related to leadership emergence (whether someone is

viewed as a leader by others) and leadership effectiveness.

Figure 9.5 - Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, is an extraverted leader. For example, to celebrate Microsoft’s 25th anniversary, Ballmer enthusiastically popped out of the anniversary cake to surprise the audience. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Steve_ballmer_2007_outdoors2.jpg

For example, extraversion is related to leadership.

Extraverts are sociable, assertive, and energetic people.

They enjoy interacting with others in their environment

and demonstrate self-confidence. Because they are both

dominant and sociable in their environment, they emerge

as leaders in a wide variety of situations. Out of all

personality traits, extraversion has the strongest

relationship to both leader emergence and leader effectiveness. Research shows that

conscientious people are also more likely to be leaders. This is not to say that all

effective leaders are extraverts, but you are more likely to find extraverts in leadership

positions. An example of an introverted leader is Jim Buckmaster, the CEO of Craigslist.

He is known as an introvert, and he admits to not having meetings because he does not

like them. Buckmaster, Jim. (2008, May). How does he manage? Classified Web site boss. Management Today, 15.

Another personality trait related to leadership is conscientiousness. Conscientious

people are organized, take initiative, and demonstrate persistence in their endeavors.

Conscientious people are more likely to emerge as leaders and be effective as leaders.

Finally, people who have openness to experience—those who demonstrate originality,

creativity, and are open to trying new things—tend to emerge as leaders and tend to be

effective as leaders.

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is not one of the Big Five personality traits, but it is an important aspect of

one’s personality. The degree to which people are at peace with themselves and have an

overall positive assessment of their self-worth and capabilities seems to be relevant to

whether they will be viewed as a leader. Leaders with high self-esteem support their

subordinates more, and when punishment needs to be administered, they punish more

effectively. Atwater, L. E., Dionne, S. D., Camobreco, J. F., Avolio, B. J., & Lau, A. (1998). Individual attributes and leadership

style: Predicting the use of punishment and its effects. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 19, 559–576; Niebuhr, R. E., & Davis, K.

R. (1984). Self-esteem: Relationship with leader behavior perceptions as moderated by the duration of the superior-subordinate

dyad association, Personality and Social Psychology Buletin, 10, 51–59. It is possible that those with high self-

esteem have greater levels of self-confidence and this affects their image in the eyes of

their followers. Self-esteem may also explain the relationship between some physical

attributes and emerging as a leader. For example, research shows a strong relationship

between height and being viewed as a leader (as well as one’s career success over life). It

is proposed that self-esteem may be the key to the connection of height with leadership,

because people who are taller are also found to have higher self-esteem and therefore

may project greater levels of charisma as well as confidence to their followers. Judge, T. A., &

Cable, D. M. (2004). The effect of physical height on workplace success and income: Preliminary test of a theoretical model. Journal

of Applied Psychology, 89, 428–441.

Integrity

Figure 9.6 Traits Associated with Leadership

Research also shows that people who are effective as leaders tend to have a moral

compass and demonstrate honesty and integrity. Reave, L. (2005). Spiritual values and practices related to

leadership effectiveness. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 655–687. Leaders whose integrity is questioned lose

their trustworthiness, and they hurt their company’s business along the way. For

example, when it was revealed that Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was using a

pseudonym to make negative comments online about the company’s rival Wild Oats, his

actions were heavily criticized, his leadership was questioned, and the company’s

reputation was affected. Farrell, G., & Davidson, P. (2007, July 13). Whole Foods’ CEO was busy guy online. USA

Today, Section: Money, 04B.

Figure 9.7

Condoleezza Rice had different responsibilities as the provost of Stanford University compared with her role as secretary of state for the United States. Do you think these differences affected her behavior as a leader? Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Condoleezza_Rice_cropped.jpg

There are also some traits that are negatively related to emerging as a leader and being

successful as a leader. For example, agreeable people who are modest, good natured,

and avoid conflict are less likely to be perceived as leaders. Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., Ilies, R., &

Gerhardt, M. W. (2002). Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 765–

780. The key to benefiting from the findings of trait researchers is to be aware that not all

traits are equally effective in predicting leadership potential across all circumstances.

Some organizational situations allow leader traits to make a greater difference. House, R. J.,

& Aditya, R. N. (1997). The social scientific study of leadership: Quo Vadis? Journal of Management, 23, 409–473. For

example, in small, entrepreneurial organizations where leaders have a lot of leeway to

determine their own behavior, the type of traits leaders have may make a difference in

leadership potential. In large, bureaucratic, and rule-bound organizations, such as the

government and the military, a leader’s traits may have less to do with how the person

behaves and whether the person is a successful leader. Judge, T. A., Bono, J. E., Ilies, R., & Gerhardt, M.

W. (2002). Personality and leadership: A qualitative and quantitative review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 765–

780. Moreover, some traits become relevant in specific circumstances. For example,

bravery is likely to be a key characteristic in military leaders but not necessarily in

business leaders. Scholars now conclude that instead of trying to identify a few traits

that distinguish leaders from nonleaders, it is important to identify the conditions under

which different traits affect a leader’s performance, as well as whether a person emerges

as a leader. Hackman, J. R., & Wageman, R. (2007). Asking the right questions about leadership: Discussion and

conclusions. American Psychologist, 62, 43–47.

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Many studies searched for a limited set of personal attributes, or traits, which would

make someone be viewed as a leader and be successful as a leader. Some traits are

consistently related to leadership, such as intelligence (both mental ability and

emotional intelligence), personality (extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to

experience, self-esteem), and integrity. The main limitation of the trait approach was

that it ignored the situation in which leadership occurred. Therefore, it is more useful to

specify the conditions under which different traits are needed.

R E F L E C T I O N S

1. Think of a leader you admire. What traits does this person have? Are they consistent

with the traits discussed in this chapter? If not, why is this person effective despite the

presence of different traits?

2. Can the findings of trait approaches be used to train potential leaders? Which traits

seem easier to teach? Which are more stable?

3. How can organizations identify future leaders with a given set of traits? Which methods

would be useful for this purpose?

4. What other traits can you think of that would be relevant to leadership?

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