Pros and Cons of Trait Theory

In class this week we talked about two leadership theories: The Great Man Theory and Trait Theory. Both theories suggest that leadership is something we are born with, it comes natural, and if someone has certain “traits” they are a leader. Easy right? Ehh… not quite.

Pros- I think it’s safe to say that leaders can share similar traits. Ambition, dependability, honesty, organization, effective communication, the list goes on. With these theories it makes it easy to identify traits we think a leader should have and makes it easy to decide whether a leader might be good or bad. It’s like a recipe, if you have all the ingredients, and bake in the over for 350 degrees for 30 minutes, Voila! We have a leader! As awesome as that would be, its not necessarily that easy. While I do agree that leaders definitely should have certain traits I don’t think they have to be born with them.

Cons- These theories disregard how people change, they work on themselves, and they grow. For example, effective communication is a very important trait for a leader to have. It’s important to be able to empathize with others and effectively communicate to each member of your team. For some this may come more naturally (born with it) while others will work on their communication skills and eventually be great at it. We recently learned about triggers, baselines, and had open discussion about how different print numbers interpret and respond to the exact same situation. For me, that was a real eye opener on how I can be a more effective communicator, a better empathizer, and a better conflict resolver. See theories! You don’t have to be born with it, leadership is a work in progress.