Traits of a Leader

Personality Traits can help us see if people are built to be a good leader or not. The most common traits in a leader are; intelligence, values, self-confidence and appearance. This is where the ‘Great Man’ theory comes from, a simple look into what the most successful leaders have in common regarding their personalities and traits. However, only a weak relationship between personality traits and the success of the leader was found. This is also proved with the ‘5 level theory’ by Jim Collins, as that shows a completely different type of person to the stereotypical leader we look at. The main reason why traits don’t say much is the amount of different situations which organisations are in. Different situations, culture and environments need different personalities to deal with them in the most effective, and efficient way.

Below are a list of traits;

Personality Characteristics

Intelligence and Ability

Personality

Social Characteristics

Work-Related Characteristics

Social Background

Within these six main areas, a number of different ‘traits’ can be seen, they are quite obvious and therefore better to think about than to just read!