Addis Ababa University

Faculty of Education
Department of Education Planning and Management
Educational Leadership and Management

Group One

Submitted to : Dejenie Nigusie (PhD)

Submission Date: December 25, 2022

1. Ashenafi Getachew GSE/5228/14

2. Misrak Fikre GSE/2720/14

3. Ruth Diriba GSE/4356 /14

4. Samrawit Teshale GSE/0768/14

5. Solomon Wolela GSE/2196/14

6. Tamirat Mekonnen GSE/2753/14

Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2
History .................................................................................................................................... 2
The concept of trait theory ...................................................................................................... 3

Characteristics of trait approach to leadership .................................................................. 4

Characteristics of the Trait Theory of leadership .................................................................... 5

Strength of trait approach ................................................................................................ 5

Weaknesses of trait theory ................................................................................................ 6
Impact of trait approach on leadership ............................................................................. 7
Self-Assessment ....................................................................................................................... 7
Organizational assessment ...................................................................................................... 8
Task suitability ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Management suitability .................................................................................................................................. 8

Employee personality profile ................................................................................................... 8

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator .................................................................................................. 8
Leadership Trait Questionnaire (LTQ) ................................................................................... 8

Annex .............................................................................................................................. 9
Reference ....................................................................................................................... 10

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Introduction

Most leadership scholars agree that the practice of leadership was real even before the
beginning of studying leadership as a scientific material. They mention great wonders of the
world like the pyramid of Egypt and the Great Wall of China are the outcome of leadership
practice. These magnificent edifices were the result of vision, plan and human resource
mobilization which are the crucial elements of leadership, even these days. Some also raised
the biblical person named Jethro who advised Moses to share power to provide the needed
service to the people. These and other evidence led the leadership theory developers to
develop set of theories using different approaches one which is trait approach to leadership.

History

Trait theory, fathered by the earliest theories in Leadership, is an extension of Great man
Theory. “Great man theory” dates to the time of Romans and Greeks, when a leader is
assumed to be put in the world by God. Hence, the great man theory has a divine component
in to it and assumes traits are what constitutes a leader and what determines a leader’s
success. Trait is an inborn character which determines a person’s behavior. Like genetics,
trait makes up for person anatomy, physiologic and mental wiring. They are inborn characters
that cannot be changed like an eye color or hair type which cannot be developed or altered.

The Great Man theory of leadership suggests that certain inborn or innate qualities and traits
make someone a leader. Basically, this theory assumes the following presuppositions:

1. The leaders are born and possess certain traits which were inherited
2. Great leaders can arise when there is a great need.

According to Thomas Carlyle, a Scottish philosopher and historian who is credited for the
development of Great Man theory in 1840, believes that history is shaped by extraordinary
leaders. This ability to lead is something that people are born with it. Because it was believed
that leaders and non-leaders could be differentiated by universal set of traits.

Though both theories share the same basis, which is leaders are born, trait theory differs by
its believe that “Leaders are born or made” but the leaders need to have set of trait that makes
up a leader. The core thing lies in finding the right combination of the inborn traits in a
person and developing it to become a successful leader. Hence, the trait theory became the
first systematic approach that analyzed traits in great leaders and train others with common
traits to become successful leaders.

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The concept of trait theory

Throughout the 20th century researchers were challenged to identify the definitive traits of
leaders. These traits are responsible for their assuming positions of power and authority. Also
believes those in power deserve to be there because of their personal endowment. The theory
contends that these traits remain stable over time and across different groups. Besides, the
theory believes all great leaders share these characteristics regardless of when and where they
lived. Trait theory measures effectiveness of leadership based on the characteristics leaders
possess.

The other notable leadership theorist Ralph M. Stogdill analyzed data and findings from over
hundred leadership-related studies. He found there wasn’t much agreement on the key traits.
He argued that if all the findings were combined, the list become too long to be useful as a
guide for selecting future leaders. Therefore, he proposed the following traits in an effective
leader:

 Physical Traits: energy, appearance, height, intelligence, ability

 Personality traits: adaptability, aggressiveness, enthusiasm, and self-confidence
 Social skills: cooperativeness, interpersonal skills, and administrative ability

These days, in conceptualizing trait theories of leadership writers like Bass (1990) also
proposed two questions:

(a) which traits distinguish leaders from other people, and

(b) what is the magnitude of those differences.

Nonetheless, the Trait theory advocates classified the traits in to four main categories.

 Personality patterns of behavior, such as adaptability and comfort with ambiguity,

and dispositional tendencies, such as motives and values, are associated with
effective leadership.
 Demographic attributes in this category, gender has received by far the most
attention in terms of leadership; however, most scholars have found that gender is not
a determining demographic trait, as male and female leaders are equally effective.
 Task competence: This relates to how individuals approach the execution and
performance of tasks. Hoffman groups intelligence, conscientiousness, openness to
experience, and emotional stability into this category.
 Interpersonal attributes: These relate to how a leader approaches social interactions.
According to Hoffman and others (2011), traits such as extroversion and
agreeableness are included in this category.

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In general, the trait approach does not plan a set of suppositions or principles about what kind
of leader is needed in a certain situation or what a leader should do, given a particular set of
circumstances. Instead, this approach emphasizes that having a leader with a certain set of
traits is crucial to having effective leadership. It is the leader and the leader’s personality that
are central to the leadership process.

The trait theory of leadership approach suggests that organizations will work better if the
people in managerial positions have designated leadership profile. To find the right people, it
is common for organizations to use personality assessment instruments. The assumption
behind these procedures is that selecting the right people will increase organizational
effectiveness. Also organizations can specify the traits that are important to them for
particular positions and then use personality assessment measures to determine whether an
individual fits their needs.

Characteristics of trait approach to leadership

Leadership theories seek to describe how and why certain people become leaders.

Several different leadership theories have been introduced. Early leadership theories focused
on what qualities distinguished between leaders and followers besides the belief that
leadership skills are inherent abilities that people are born with.

Subsequent theories looked at other variables such as situational factors and skill levels.

The most common leadership theories include: -

 Great Man Leadership theory

 Trait Leadership theory
 Contingency Leadership theory
 Situational Leadership theory
 Behavioral Leadership theory and
 Participative leadership theories.

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The Trait theory is the idea that the characteristics to be a good leader are inherited. Under
this theory, people who have good leadership skills were naturally born with these skills and
can easily use them to obtain a leadership role. It is one of the oldest leadership theories in
existence. The trait theory suggests that when a person is born with leadership skills, the
inherited skills then create a pattern of natural leadership behaviors. Although some people
may have these skills inherently, they also need to have drive or motivation to use them. The
core traits identified in this theory include emotional maturity, cognitive ability, self-
confidence, business knowledge, honesty and integrity, leadership motivation, drive for
achievement. However, these are not solely responsible for determining leadership
effectiveness.

Trait theory of leadership strongly believes that the leader with inborn leadership qualities
and traits is the most determining factor to bring change and organization’s success.

Characteristics of the Trait Theory of leadership

Trait theory of leadership was one of the first systematic attempts to study leadership and
understand its nature. It has been validated with lots of research and serves as a guide against
which the leadership characteristics of an individual are assessed. Besides it gives detailed
knowledge and understanding of the leader element in the leadership process.

Characteristics of the theory: -

 Assumes that certain inborn or innate traits and characteristics make someone a
leader
 Assumes that finding people with the right traits increases performance.
 Assumes Leader and Leaders’ traits are central to bring change and organization’s
successes.
 Mainly focuses on the leader

Strength of trait approach

 The trait theory helped to move the focus from the Great Man Theory of Leadership,
opening up new possibilities in the leadership studies field.

 Trait approach is instinctively fits clearly with the idea that leaders are the people who
are out front and driving the way in our society. The picture within the well-known
press and community at expansive is that leaders are an extraordinary kind of people –
people with endowments who can do uncommon things. The trait approach steady
with this recognition since it is built on the preface that leaders are distinctive, and
their contrasts dwell with the special traits they have. Individuals have to be seeing
their leader as gifted people, and the trait approach satisfies this need.

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  It brought significant advances in studying human personalities and characteristics.
trait approach includes a century of research about to back it up. No other hypothesis
can gloat of the breadth and profundity of ponders conducted on the trait approach.
The quality and life span of this line of research about donate the trait approach a
degree of validity that other approaches need. Out of this plenitude of inquire about
has developed a body of information that focuses to the vital part of different
personality traits within the leadership process.

 The other strength is trait approach is more conceptual in nature, comes about from
the way the trait approach highlights the leader component within the authority
prepares. Leadership is composed of leaders, followers, and situations. But the trait
approach is devoted to only the first of these leaders.

 Last, the trait approach has given us a few benchmarks for what we got to explore for
in the event that we need to be leaders. It guides leaders on which types of
characteristics to improve further. It identifies what trait we should have and whether
the traits we do have are the best traits for leadership. Based on the findings of this
approach, personality and assessment procedures can be used to offer invaluable
information to supervisors and managers about their strength and weakness and ways
to improve their overall leadership effectiveness.

Weaknesses of trait theory

 No exhaustive list
o Different scholars have provided distinctive lists of qualities of a fruitful
leadership. No two records concur on the fundamental trait of the compelling
leadership. None of thinkers have list of traits; in order of importance, lists of
traits sometimes confuse the readers. The most important trait for an effective
leader is not identified.
 No common or universal traits
o Neither leadership traits are common or universal. Therefore, it is very
difficult to indicate what traits are necessary to make an effective leader.
Measurement of traits is problematic.

 No room for future leaders

o Trait theory stresses the inborn qualities of an individual which cannot
develop or acquired. While trait theories provide an explanation of how traits
predict behavior, they do not explain why these traits develop. It was later
accepted that such inborn traits can be developed or acquired.

 No consideration of situational
o Trait theorists don’t consider the situational figure or leadership which impacts
leaders more than their inner traits. The approach attempts to relate

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 physiological traits such as height and weight to effective leadership. Most of
these factors related to situational factors that can vary tasks-wise. For
instance, minimum weight and height required in military leadership process.
Traits come to light when a situation arises. An individual who displays a
specific trait may not always behave in that way in every given situation.
Traits are helpful in facing a particular situation but traits are useless without
situation.

 Difference roles require difference traits

o Usually even within the same organization. At lower managerial level, where
there is a direct contact between a worker and the supervisor, technical
knowledge of paramount importance. Human relations and skills are of prime
importance at middle management level, where police are framed and
planning is undertaken. In a large organization it demands multiplicity of
roles. Thus, different combinations of traits are required in different
organizations or at different organizational levels.

 Negligence of other variables of leadership

o These include acts of leaders, followers and their acts, situation and their
effects on the leader.

 Trait of an individual cannot be known unless arises

o When an individual faces a problem, then only the presence or absence is
known otherwise traits remain unknown. Individual may not be aware enough
to understand their behavior and reflection on it to answer the tests accurately

Impact of trait approach on leadership

In addition to being the first scientific approach to leadership, Trait approach can also be
considered as the beginning of leadership training. The theory identifies the traits that can be
developed individually and work on it to succeed. Psychologist have conducted a study to
determine which traits are genetically predetermined and which are learnt. Some traits like
extroversion are time, place, people, and circumstance sensitive. Others like generosity are
the matter of personal choice. Some like being a psychopath can be genetically predisposed.
Gordon Allport stated that even though a person can have several traits, a few of them
predominates the others. This predomination can be enforced by training, experience,
environment, and interactions. But according to trait theory when traits are predominated,
they cannot be altered. Trait theory also has an individual and organizational benefit. The
theory laid the groundwork for the questionnaire or assessment tools used in a self-analysis
and employee or leaders assessment.

Self-Assessment

An individual can take the questionaries, it helps them to know their strength, weakness, and
work on improving themselves. The self-assessment also helps when one applies for new
position and when he/she identifies the gap between the required trait and current trait.

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Organizational assessment
Task suitability

Different works require different trait for both leaders and workers. Trait theory along
with other theories dictates which leaders can be effective in their work and which
followers’ or employees are best fit for the work. Trait theory allows an in-depth
understanding of an employee’s personality and the way his particular personality
trait could potentially affect others within the organizations. This does not only make
the hiring process a lot smoother, but also helps the recruiters avoid hiring someone
who may not have the right traits to be an effective leader. Hence, the theory is
applicable to recruit the right candidate for an organization.

Management suitability

Personality trait can influence how well or poorly suited a person is for a particular
task or job. Trait theory implies that knowledge of your own personality traits can
help you succeed at whatever you do, since you can make decisions that are consistent
with your traits.

Employee personality profile

Employee personality profile (EPP) is an inventory questionnaire with 140 items to

evaluate 12 personality traits. It can be used for any position, contains job specific
questions, to be administered in 10 minutes. It measures the following traits:
Achievement, Assertiveness, Competitiveness, Conscientiousness, Cooperativeness,
Extroversion, Managerial, Motivation, Openness, Patience, Self-Confidence, and
Stress Tolerance.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

One standard trait measure is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It was developed by
Katharine and Isabel Briggs and provides information to the individual and the
organization about the individual’s leadership traits and where the individual could
best be placed in the organization. The test is composed of 93 questions and show
whether an individual leans more towards either extraversion or introversion,
intuition, or sensing, feeling, or thinking, and lastly, perceiving or judging.

Leadership Trait Questionnaire (LTQ)

The Leadership Trait Questionnaire (LTQ) is filled by both the leader himself and the
followers. It points out the individual traits in which they excel or do not excel. The
questionnaire is given to five people who know the leader, and they are expected to
rate on a scale of one to five on 14 different statements.

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Annex
Leadership Trait Questionnaire

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Reference
1. Stephen P. Robbins (2010). Organizational Behavior (10th edition).
2. Sihame Benmira (2021). Evolution of leadership theory
3. Peter G. Northouse (2013). Leadership theory and practice (sixth edition)
4. Hunt T, & Fedynich, L. (2019): Leadership: Past, present, and future.
5. Hermann N (1996): Leadership for public Health
6. Ralph Stogdill, (1948). Survey of the literature.

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