PUBH 403: Chapter 2 Traits, Motives, and Characteristics of Leaders
The POWER Motive Leaders with high power motives have three dominant characteristics
1.They act with vigor and determination to exert their power. 2.They invest much time in thinking about ways to alter the behavior and thinking of others. 3.They care about their personal standing with those around them.
Extraversion
Recognized for its contribution to leadership effectiveness because it is helpful for leaders to be gregarious, outgoing, and upbeat in most situations
Assertiveness
Refers to being forthright in expressing demands, opinions, feelings, and attitudes
Mindfulness
Refers to concentrating on the present moment without making judgments about what is happening
Emotional Intelligence
Refers to the ability to do such things as understanding one's feelings, have empathy for others, and regulate one's emotions to enhance one's quality of life
Practical intelligence
The ability to solve everyday problems by using experience-based knowledge to adapt to and shape the environment
Drive
•A propensity to put forth high energy towards achieving goals and to be persistent in applying that energy. •Usually requires a lot of physical energy and fitness.
Knowledge of the Business or Group Task
- competent in some discipline, particularly when leading a group of specialists - Knowledge of the business or the group task is particularly important when developing strategy, formulating mission statements, and sizing up the external environment
Cognitive (or Analytical) Intelligence
- problem solving problems is a fundamental characteristic of effective leaders in all fields. •Cognitive intelligence is all the more useful for leadership when it is supplemented by practical intelligence.
Core Self-Evaluations
A broad personality trait that captures bottom-line self-assessment that is composed of self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and emotional stability
Authenticity
Being genuine and honest about your personality, values, and beliefs as well as having integrity
Proactive Personality
Proactive behavior usually stems from a proactive personality and refers to self-initiated anticipatory action
Enthusiasm, Optimism, and Warmth
Enthusiasm often takes the form of optimism, which helps keep the group in an upbeat mood and hopeful about attaining difficult goals
Trustworthiness
Evidence and opinion continue to mount that being trustworthy and/or honest contributes to leadership effectiveness - trust is closely related to transparency
Achievement Motivation
Finding joy in accomplishment for its own sake.
A leader's personality traits can be divided into two groups
General Personality Traits and Task-Related Traits
Sense of Humor
Humor adds to the approachability and people orientation of a leader
TENACITY & RESILIENCE Motive
Leaders are tenacious and resilient. •Grit is synonymous with tenacity. •Refers to an unswerving focus on long-term goals. •Tenacious leaders are resilient when they bounce back from a setback through their continuous efforts.
Courage
Leaders need courage to face the challenges of taking prudent risks and taking initiative in general
Creativity
Many effective leaders are creative in the sense that they arrive at imaginative and original solutions to complex problems
Passion for the Work and the People
Passion goes beyond enthusiasm and often expresses itself as an obsession for achieving company goals
Leaders are known for working hard to achieve their goals
They generally desire: 1.Take responsibility for successes and failures 2.Take moderate risks 3.Receive feedback on performance 4.Introduce new and creative solutions Plan and set goals
Task-Related Traits
Traits closely associated with task accomplishment.
Insight
a depth of understanding that requires considerable intuition and common sense
Trait-Based Leadership Perspective
a minimum of 31 percent of leadership effectiveness, with behaviors accounting for even more of the differences
Traits of a great leader
active leader, humility, self-confidence, sense of humor, trustworthiness, authenticity, assertiveness, enthusiasm, optimism, warmth
Humility
admitting that you do not know everything and cannot do everything, as well as admitting your mistakes to team members and outsiders
Self-confidence
improves one's performance in a variety of tasks including leadership
leadership effectiveness
leader followers/team members situation
Farsightedness
the ability to understand the long-range implications of actions and polici
Intuition
often the mental process used to provide the understanding of a problem
Task-Related Personality Traitsof Leaders
passion, courage, mindfullness, proactive personality, flexibility and adaptability, emotional intelligence (1. self-awareness, 2. self-management, 3. social awareness, 4. relationship management)
Conceptual thinking
refers to the ability to see the overall perspective, and it makes farsightedness possible •A conceptual thinker is also a systems thinker. They understand how the external environment influences the organization and how different parts of the organization influence each other
Limitations
•Does not identify which amount of characteristics are absolutelyneeded •Can breed an elitist conception of leadership •Different situations call for different combinations of traits •Can lead some to be strong at one trade at the exclusion of its opposite
Leadership Motives
•Effective leaders have frequently been distinguished by their motives and needs. •Leaders have an intense desire to occupy a position of responsibility for others and to control them. •Effective leaders have a strong need to control resources.
Flexibility and Adaptability
•Flexibility is the ability to adjust to different situations. - A leader must be flexible enough to cope with such changes as technological advances, downsizings, global outsourcing, a shifting customer base, and a changing work force
Does heredity or environment contribute more to leadership effectiveness? Are leaders born or made?
•Individuals inherit a basic capacity to develop personality traits and mental ability that sets an outer limit on how extensively these traits can be developed. •Environmental influences, in turn, determine how much of an individual's potential will be developed. •Genetics play a role in determining leadership potential. Emotional intelligence reinforces that leadership is a combination of inherited and learned factors
Cognitive Factors & Leadership
•Leaders must have problem-solving and intellectual skills to gather, process, and store essential information effectively. •These skills are referred to as cognitive factors.
Creative ability lies on a continuum
•Leaders who think of innovative products and services. •Leaders who explore imaginative—but not breakthrough—solutions to business problems. •Leaders who inspire group members to push forward with standard solutions to organizational problems.
Characteristics associated with leadership are classified into three broad categories
•Personality Traits •Motives •Cognitive Factors
Socialized Power Motive
•Seek power to achieve organizational goals or a vision. •The term socialized means that the leader uses power primarily to help others.
Personalized Power Motive
•Seek power to further their own interests. •Do not worry about everybody liking them. •Recognize that as you acquire power, you also acquire enemies.
Four key domains in emotional intelligence are
•Self-awareness •Self-management •Social awareness •Relationship management
Strengths
•Serves as a guide to leader selection •Can guide individual •ls in preparing for leadership responsibility
General Personality Traits
•Traits observable both within and outside the context of work - and related to success and satisfaction in both work and personal life.