To begin I really don’t believe in trait based leadership, but for the sake of this post I will pretend I do. So hypothetically if I was someone who believed in trait based leadership I would say that it would allow people to identify potential leaders early on and help develop them to be better leaders. It would also allow people to better understand the work they were better suited for.
The Bad…
Trait based leadership is just depressing. I think it would leave people who feel like they have something to offer to leadership and didn’t possess the standard traits a bit defeated. A problem I find in trait based leadership is traits can be used to hide a lack of knowledge or even malice. A confident and charismatic person could come along and be able to speak eloquently and end up in a position of power and not have any idea what they are doing. Another issue I have with trait based leadership, and it may be with this whole trying to define leadership thing, is that not everyone admires the same things in people. Some people may apply more weight to certain traits then others when discussing what they think makes a good leader. Character is something we build throughout life and through our experiences. So much life happens between birth and when people are put in a leadership position, and I think more goes on than just developing the traits you were born with. Traits are a part of who we are but there is so much more that can be explored in a person and in a leader.
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