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.