Leadership trait theory is the idea that people are born with certain character

traits or qualities. Since certain traits are associated with proIicient

leadership, it assumes that iI you could identiIy people with the correct
traits, you will be able to identiIy leaders and people with leadership
potential.
Most oI the time the traits are considered to be naturally part oI a person`s
personality Irom birth. From this standpoint, leadership trait theory tends to
assume that people are born as leaders or not as leaders.
There is a lot oI value in identiIying the character traits associated with
leadership. It is even more valuable to identiIy the character traits that
Iollowers look Ior in a leader. These traits would be the characteristics oI an
individual who is most likely to attract Iollowers.
However, the idea that leadership traits are inborn and unchangeable appears
to be incorrect. It is true that many oI our dispositions and tendencies are
inIluenced by our personalities and the way we are born. However, most
people recognize that it is possible Ior someone to change their character
traits Ior the worse. Someone who is known Ior being honest can learn to be
deceitIul. The whole idea oI saying that someone was 'corrupted is based
on the Iact that people can learn bad character traits.
II people can learn bad character traits and become diIIerent than the way
they are naturally through conditioning, it logically Iollows that they can
learn good character traits as well. A person who is prone to being dishonest
can learn to be honest. A person who avoids risks can learn to take risks. It
may not be easy, but it can be done.
The book The Leadership Challenge identiIies 20 character traits that are
generally associated with good leaders. The top Iive traits are:
Honest
Inspiring
Forward-Looking
Competent
Intelligent
These are all traits that someone can learn to implement. It may not be easy,
but with practice you can become more inspiring, with practice you can
become more honest, with practice you can become more competent.
What makes this less diIIicult than it Iirst seems, is that these are character
traits that Iollowers are looking Ior in a leader. By simply displaying these
character traits more consistently an individual is able to change how they
are perceived. Sometimes it isn`t a problem with changing your internal
characteristicsit is just an issue oI displaying those characteristics more
openly.
By Iocusing on your own character and developing traits associated with
leadership, you can increase your ability to lead.