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The Role of Traits in the Leadership Process

Article  in  SSRN Electronic Journal · August 2019

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3441179

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 The role of traits in the leadership process

Tasoh Martin Toh & Kujiek Ruot Kuajien

Abstract
The clichés, “leaders are born, not made and leaders are made, not born” have been on the
social sphere of leadership for quite a while. Is this a chicken-egg dilemma? Leadership
generally has certain qualities that humans can point at, acting as conspicuous factors to be
emulated. These qualities can either be innate or acquired. This paper looks at the role of
traits in the leadership process. It focuses mainly on the trait theory, distinguishing the
desired and the not so admired ones in as far as leadership is a concern. We also employ the
great man theory to historically give flesh to where and how leadership has evolved to the
21st century. Transformational/charismatic leadership comes forth as the lottery winning
mode to a sure way to a successful and productive form that leaders should have to deliver
in this technologically advancing planet. We touched on Narcissist and Machiavellian types
of leadership but only as contrary examples to the recommended. The paper is, therefore, a
handy requirement for today’s leaders. A snapshot for those wishing to guide others in the
visionary path of leadership. Commitment, passion, empathy, honesty, integrity
communication skills and decision-making capabilities can be learned and used to better the
leader-follower relationship process. The business world and other forms of social
governance are out of the stagnation of the great man theory of leadership. Flexibility in
behavior, actions and thought make the best of a leader.

Key words: Leadership, Trait, Leadership process, Transformational and charismatic

leadership

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 Section 1: Introduction to leadership
Leadership can be viewed at one end like an old discipline/concept, and in another, as a new
social concept. In the past, human beings organized themselves into social groups/gatherings
and/or communities that were led by a community head. Through ancient history, we have
come across kingdoms and empires that were ruled and governed by kings or emperors. These
kings and emperors were considered leaders of their communities and had the function of
directing, guiding, protecting, and deciding for the subjects. Before social, business and
organizational structure could come into place, an early form of leadership was seen and
recorded in this form of ancient governance. The kingdoms of England and Belgium are
examples of Western ancient forms of governance, that existed then and still are in
contemporary times. Today`s democratic governance evolved from the monarchical and
dynastic style of an ancient government system. Currently, some nations are still led and
governed through the monarchial, authoritative and dictatorial regimes. Before there was a
formal set up of business organizations (leaders could also be in a position to lead the affairs
of institutions), initial leadership was seen in this ancient social organization. Such gathering
permit leaders to source from a single-family. This is because the concerned society thinks
that, only through dynasty are people born to rule. It is due to this that the old school of
leadership theory (great man) got its source and gained recognition.

Ancient history books especially those associated with religion like the bible and the Quran,
vividly show the role of appointed men of God in the former like Mosses & Joshua that led
their people out of slavery in Egypt. We can as well recall from religious books that God
ruled the world through kingdoms and kings (Example, King David, Solomon, and many
others) who were thought to be assigned by their belief system to lead and govern the people.
In this regard, it can be argued scholarly that before formal leadership and leadership process
in an academic, business and political setting, there existed other modes of leadership (e.g,
spiritual leadership) within the human community. This can be justified by the fact that
humans are social beings who do not live in isolation but in gathering. In such gatherings,
their actions, behaviors, and activities need to be guided and directed by someone at the head
considered to have the right wisdom, potential, skills, and ability to lead.

Should we then argue that some people were not born with such potentials? Leadership in the
old myth was focused around the one best leadership approach. This concept acknowledged
that there are leaders who are very effective under all conditions. This old myth aimed to
suggest that there is no special need of training, experience or context that can enhance

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leadership potentials, therefore believing that “leaders are born and not made.” If the great
man approach to leadership literature holds, what will be the position of formal and informal
education in the effectiveness of leadership? With the introduction of the business setting into
the world as an international business and as the world turn a global village, the scope of
leadership has expanded. The number of people under the command of a leader today is not
the same as were in the past. This can be supported by the growth of the world population.
How then, do we think, the potential used to lead a small group of people to be the same as
today’s in a business setting and community made up of a large expanding Population? The
more people under the leadership, the more complex it becomes to direct and guide their
activities, hence a cumbersome or matrix structure is needed especially in an organizational
setting. The progressive expansion of the earth's population with increasingly technologically
advanced inhabitants has presented a lot of complication in governance and leadership,
therefore sourcing quite a lot of new sets of literature supporting contemporary theories. Such
literature may include the trait theory, behavioral and other empirical studies on the process.

This study is aimed at explaining the trait theory of leadership and the role of traits in the
leadership process. What is meant by the leadership process? The leadership process is
confirmed and reiterated by Kruse (2013) to be that mechanism in a social setting that can
allow people to influence others in a desire to achieve a given objective and/or direct an
organization towards a path that maximizes cohesion, success, productivity, and performance.
In addition to traits in the leadership process, the study will extend to review other theories of
leadership and try to find arguments that source new literature and empirical findings on
leadership concepts. The significance of this study is to make readers determine whether any
of the theories are out of setting or if they are still valid depending on the circumstances.
There are a variety of leadership theories because of the time and other factors, making
leadership a more complex and diversified field in politics, business, and academic setting.
Each of the theories can still serve a specific purpose and has a situation that makes it valid
and applicable, therefore warrant us to make a careful choice through keen observation of the
situational factors. The study is purely narrative, that is, it makes use of existing literature to
find logical arguments to justify the raised puzzle. It focuses mainly on the trait theory of
leadership and how traits can affect the leadership process. However, it is hard to isolate trait
literature in a study as such. Additionally, it gets on to review the great man theory, the
behavioral literature, and some empirical findings. The study is structured into four sections
where section one covers the general review and history of leadership, section two review

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some major leadership theories, section three focus on major trait of a leader and section four
discus the role of this trait to leadership process and conclude.

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Section 2: Summary of leadership theories and Empirical findings
This section is designed to summarize core theories and empirical findings around the
leadership process. The study is limited to; trait theory of leadership, the great man leadership
theory, the behavioral theory and some empirical result link to the role of a trait in the
leadership process. It is common to come across the phrase “Great leaders are born, not
made” which formed the bases of the great man theory of leadership. The cliché simply
entails one is either born a leader by nature or not a leader at all. History had fed researchers
and scholars with political and military sources of the great man theory of leaders. It is
affirmative that before and during the 19th century, great world and popular leaders; Abraham
Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi and Alexander the Great were all from the male
gender. This (the male gender and political factors), contributed greatly to the great man
theory of leadership. According to Carlyle ( as in Pierce and Newstrom, 2010), leadership is
divine and therefore effective through divine inspiration and right features. Damazio (1988)
narrates that, the man-appointed leader is destined to rob and spoil the people of the lord. This
notion is directly linked to the role of God in leadership especially rulers who lead their
people as mentioned in the introduction. The Great man leadership theory seems to have
validity to date because there still exists the general belief that seemingly
permanent/hereditary leaders have the right qualities or personality for their positions. This
means inherent features make that individual achieve efficacy leadership.

The trait theory of leadership seems to directly or indirectly oppose the great man leadership
theory. The protagonist of this theory believes in the existence of some character trait that
promotes effective and successful leadership. It is sometimes hard to find a clear cut between
trait and great man leadership theories. Carlyle ( as in Pierce and Newstrom, 2010) and his
history designed an extraordinary leader phrase (the mid-1800s) suggested the great man
theory of leadership. In his discussion, a blend of trait and greatness was raised. He noted that
some traits make successful leadership qualities because they can raise some behavioral
patterns. He went on to suggest that situational factor is an important element in the
leadership process and he believed patterns vary according to situations. According to him,
some people are born with these traits. Controversy in this statement comes up when
situational factors are considered, some leaders do not have traits linked to great leadership,
and it is possible that some individuals with great leadership features do not become one. This
means something (features raise in section 3) more than born features is needed to source
efficacy leadership (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010).

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Other scholars get deeper into leadership theories to suggest the behavioral theory of leaders.
Their suggestion shifts from trait to some actions or behavior that a leader needs to take to
satisfy the leadership process. There are four identified leadership behaviors associated to
group performance. They include Support, interaction, goal/result orientation and work
facilitation (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010). A leader should initiate the behavior that can enhance
another person’s feelings to be of importance (Support) and also the behavior that can
encourage participation and good relation within a group (interaction facilitation). Successful
leaders must stimulate or build a team with a reward focus initiative (goal emphasis) and
should equally participate to facilitate work that is done (work facilitator). Leaders should
direct, support, participate and be result oriented if they genuinely wish to achieve
effectiveness. The University of Michigan and Ohio State University conducted the most viral
studies on behavior leadership between 1940 and 1950. Both studies were approached
through questionnaires (primary method), have the same objectives which is to determine the
behavior that can lead to effective leadership (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010). They both
emphasize task and people-oriented concepts/definitions. However, while the University of
Michigan research model was one-dimensional, the Ohio State leadership model was
structured in two dimensions, they explained. The one dimension of the University of
Michigan resulted in only two leadership styles (that is employee focus and Job centered).
They reconfirmed farther the low initiating structure and high consideration, high initiating
structure and high consideration, low initiating structure, and low consideration, and high
initiating structure and low consideration raise out of the two-dimensional model of Ohio
State University.

Even though the trait is a very important, sacrificial mindset and self-confidence altitude is
highly needed to create leadership effectiveness in a given context (Murphy, 1941; Stogdill,
1948). Stogdil (1948) also confirmed that leadership is never on a predefined set of traits but
the result of interaction between individuals and social context. He additionally acknowledged
that both traits and social situation factors combine to determine the effectiveness of
leadership. James and Barry (1980) began viewing leadership from the angle of
transformation, as they see effective leadership to be that with honesty, able to inspire,
forward-looking and with competent (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010).

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 Section 3: Major traits of a leader
If a trait is required for an efficacy leadership or to earn a leader some idiosyncrasy credit,
what specific trait can be responsible for such success? It is worth noting that great leaders
need a high level of intelligence, and ready to direct this into actions that can drive the team
one step ahead (intelligence and action-oriented judgment). Leadership is not meant for lazy
people but for individuals that are ready to take on responsibility, that accept their errors and
cheer for their success (Eagerness to Accept Responsibility). It requires some skills and
capability to stand as a leader among team members (task competence) and warrant leaders to
know exactly what their followers need for effective and successful work (understanding
followers and their needs). Genuine leaders are ready to interact with team members (people
skills) with a high commitment to success (need for achievement). A good leader is one who
can inspire followers but still able to motivate them to get the best of them (capacity to
motivate people). They do not give up in difficult periods and are always resolute and
committed to the set goals. It is not possible to be a leader when adaptability and flexibility is
a challenge. It is also hard for individuals who lack the self-confidence to gain leadership
positions or become great leaders. You must be decisive, trustworthy and emotionally stable
to lead successfully (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010).

Most of the mentioned features of great leadership are also characteristics of charismatic or
transformational leadership. But who is a charismatic or transformational leader? Charismatic
leadership is one that inspires and gather followers through special personality or features.
Such a leader can pull followers without external force nor authority. It is difficult to pin
down or take away authority from a charismatic leader. Their inspirational features can raise
new ideas that can necessitate innovation and change. They are best at communication while
maintaining some level of maturity. They are loving, humble and compassionate to followers.
Confidence but a listening ear is the core of their effective leadership. They can initiate self-
monitoring and improvement of their leadership potentials (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010).

Transformation leadership is the most cherish 21st-century leadership style because it

champions the most needed values of a leader. For instant; creating a shared vision of
organizational leadership, develop and direct future leaders, promote innovation and consider
ethics, and considering integrity and social responsibility as an important ingredient of
business success. It can be defined as a leadership style design to effect changes in followers’
ability and the system (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010). It has an end goal of developing followers
into leaders. Transformation leadership is made up of four components or transformation

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leadership behaviors (Idealized Influence, Inspirational Motivation, Intellectual Stimulation,
and Individualized Consideration), sometimes called the 4 I`S. Through idealized attributes
and behavior, transformation leadership can raise visionary strategies and ideas. Followers are
always offered with adequate supportive ideas to enhance their role in the organization.
Inspiration as a component of charismatic leadership is the core feature of transformational
leadership. Effective leadership is more depend on inspiration which stimulates the
intellectual and the inside of the followers than external motivation. Intellectual stimulation
entails leaders who can put their followers into the right creative thinking. They ask questions
and offer intellectually simulative assignments (Pierce & Newstrom, 2010). The sub-
dimensions of transformation leadership include vision; inspirational communication;
intellectual stimulation; supportive leadership; and personal recognition.

It should be clear that there is a distinction between transactional and transformational

leadership styles. Transactional leadership is aim to use reward and punishments to promote
followers’ compliance. It makes use of the leadership function of supervision, organization
and target performance to meet up with the day to day progress of an institution.
Transformation leadership is an ethical form of leadership which is aimed to inspire and build
followers into future leaders by directing their behavior towards share vision. Transformation
leadership comes with charismatic leaders’ altitude of inspiration, it yields trust and admirable
by everyone. There is mutual respect but tilted more towards leaders. Every participant is
aware of and contributing to the visionary goals of the organization/institution. It helps to
change the status quo and source new steps and ideas able to transform both the
organization/institution and followers. Transformational leadership has a positive effect on
workers'/employees’ service performances and job satisfaction. It enhances commitment and
therefore more efforts from followers. To conclude, transformation can stimulate the
intellectuality of followers and therefore able to stimulate creativity, innovation and improve
productivity.

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Section 4: Relationship between trait and leadership process
This section concludes the paper by answering the question, can trait shape the leadership
process? Trust, increases productivity and high performance which are the fruits of effective
leadership. It is possible to have born leaders especially spiritual leadership, but it must not be
disputed that the context like cultural difference and acquire trait can indeed play a role in
leadership ability. It is important to note that human behavior is never the same and two
individuals do not response the same to a given situation. Because the result of leadership is
generated from the leader-member exchange relationship, there is a need to have special
features that can satisfy this relationship. It is based on this that behavioral literature of
leadership came to existence. It is not only acquired potentials that can lead to effective
leadership but also the ability of leaders to shift among behaviors that can satisfy followers
and the group in the leader-member exchange relationship (Sanford, 1952).

To these days, leadership is far more than just a trait or behavior. Social reasonability and
ethics have taken its place in leadership in the form of transformation leadership style.
Transactional and servant leadership is fought for in favor of transformation leadership.
Clements and Washbush (as in Pierce and Newstrom, 2010) raised and disused
transformational and servant leadership. They noted at one end ethical leadership style and
unethical or exploitative leadership approach at the other extreme. The leadership approach
that makes the leaders act the right way and do the right things is the transformation
leadership. It is never a selfish leadership style because it is desired to inspire others to a new
leadership role in the future. According to Greenleaf (1977), the selfish leader uses followers
for personal benefits and gains. He/she see followers are their servant and exploit them as
much as they can while maintaining their status quo (Conger, 1990; Greenleaf, 1977).

For those who dream to be leaders tomorrow, it is better to know that even though some
leadership potentials are inborn, it is possible to build such potentials. Even for those who
have these potentials from birth, there is a need to improve on them since human behavior
changes over time and leadership is aimed to lead people of diversity that are constantly
changing their attitude and behavior. It is good to know the dark side of leadership in today’s
environment to avoid them in tomorrow’s leadership era.

Dark leaders prefer to use followers for personal gains, therefore fall to target issues related to
their core responsibilities. Another dark side of leaders is related to the concept of mirroring.
This is a situation where the leader's action is designed base on the way or fantasies of their

9
followers. It is not wrong to work as a team with followers but to see oneself similar to the
perception of the followers may lead to weak decision making (Conger, 1990). A distortion
of oneself due to the high need for power and prestige is noticed in a narcissist leader. A
Narcissist enjoys manipulating others and never welcome critics, which is a serious problem
in leadership (Newstrom, 2011). The inability and unwillingness to let go is another negative
side of leadership. True leaders must learn to let go the past while focusing to improve result
in the future. Machiavellianism, alongside narcissist characteristics, can lead to the downfall
of a leader. Machiavellian orientated leaders may be faced with resistance from followers,
cause untrustworthy behaviors and make group management very difficult should followers
notice such behaviors. This is because such leaders do not take social norms and values into
consideration and lack of ethics in governance (Conger, 1990).

To conclude, the days when leaders needed to fold their arms while depending on inborn
abilities to provide leadership are gone. Such innate potentials do exist for some people but
lack in many others. However, in both cases it can be improved or received should we study,
know and implement special leadership traits. Even spiritual leaders still meditate or visit
their religious books to improve their spiritual knowledge and wisdom to lead their people. In
a similar note, political, academic or business leaders should place efforts to improve their
leadership potentials by acquiring specific traits of good leadership. In this note, a trait can
indeed affect the output of a leadership process. Positive trait plus inborn features can lead to
efficacy leadership while negative features as noticed in a narcissist, and Machiavellian
orientated leaders will cause leadership problems. It is possible for a flexible, just and
ethically oriented leader (transformer), to build a team that can accumulate idiosyncrasy
credit. Such a leader in addition to motivation also inspires followers because he/she can
separate ways with conformity and standardization, and is zealously welcome to innovation
and change. The leadership of this nature is design to stimulate the intellect of followers. If
you must recommend to someone who wishes to gain a leadership position in the 21st century,
then the trait of transformation leadership is the best. He or she will be an effective and
successful leader should he consider being a transformer. A dysfunctional form of leadership
aligned to; narcissist tendencies, psychopathic features (lack empathy) or bipolar (always with
fear) should be replaced. Learned helplessness will surround followers in a leader-member
exchange relation dominated by these mentioned forms of leadership dysfunctions (Conger,
1990).

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