Trait approach

Target
Choose the new director of research. Director
will be responsible for developing and testing new products.

1. Based on the information provided about the trait approach in Tables

2.1 and 2.2, if you were Sandra, whom would you select?
Alexa Smith
1. is a longtime employee of GLF
2. worked in as many as 10 different positions throughout the
company to become manager of new product marketing
3. very creative and insightful
4. developed and brought to market four new product lines
5. very persistent
Kelsey Metts
1. with GLF for 5 years
2. manager of quality control for established products
3. very bright
4. MBA at Harvard
5. People talk about Kelsey as the kind of person who will be
president of her own company someday.
6. very personable
7. sociability and human relations.
8. Supervisor have positive things to say about how
comfortable it is to work with Kelsey
9. Kelsey has been instrumental in bringing two new product
lines to market
Thomas Santiago
1. with GLF for 10 years
2. very involved in establishing the vision for GLF and is a
company person all the way
3. honesty and integrity
4. Employees who have worked under his supervision
consistently report that they feel they can trust Thomas
to be fair and consistent
5. highly respected
6. involved in some capacity of three new product lines
2. I n what ways is the trait approach
helpful in this type of selection?
• The traits helped to establish and discern who these three individuals
were as a person. All three displayed such wonderful leadership traits
such as being driven, persistence, and intelligence. These are all
important qualities to have as a leader. As table 2.2 points out, the major
leadership traits, possessed by all three candidates, include integrity,
intelligence, self-confidence, and determination; which all three possess.
These traits are vital in recognizing leadership potential in certain
individuals.
•
Recognizing these traits in these three candidates for promotion set them
apart from all the rest. Each one displayed certain qualities that caught
the attention of Sandra as well as other leaders in the company. It is
important to know what to look for in circumstances such as this;
needing to elect someone for the new position. So, having a guide to
know what type of qualities to look for in a potential candidate was made
possible because of the traits listed in these tables.
3. I n what ways are the weaknesses of the trait
approach highlighted in this case?
• 1) The approach has not fixed a definitive list of leadership traits and the list that
has emerged seems endless.
• 2) The approach has failed to take situations into account.
• 3) There has much subjective interpretation of the meaning of the data and data is
not always based on reliable research.
• 4) The trait approach is weak in describing how leaders' traits affect the outcomes
of groups and teams in organizations.
• 5) Traits are largely fixed psychological structures and this limits the value of
teaching and leadership training.
• 6) All the identified traits are not possessed by most of the leaders. Moreover,
such traits are possessed by many non-leaders too.
• 7) The trait approach fails to recognize the importance of the characteristics of
followers and the influence of situational factors in leadership.
• 8) It’s leader-centric, and only focuses on the leader not the follower or the
situation.
• 9) Trait Theory fails to look at how specific traits influence leadership outcomes
such as performance, productivity, and employee satisfaction
• 10) There has been no agreement on what traits make a good leader.
How would you describe Carol’s
leadership traits?

• Sociability
• Integrity
• Determination
• Self-confidence
• Intelligence
• Extraversion
• Openness
• Emotional Intelligence
• Motivation
• social intelligence
• emotional stability
• Conscientiousness
• Persistence
• achievement
2. How big a part did Carol’s traits play in the
expansion of the company?

• She played a big role as she convert business from small

business to large business from 200.000 $ to 3.1 million.
• For the first 6 months, Carol spent her time familiarizing
herself with the employees and the operations of the company.
Based on her understanding of the company’s capabilities and
her assessment of the potential market for their products and
services.
• Carol developed a specific set of short-term and long-term
goals for the company.
• Even though she had cancer, she continued to be positive and
interested in their employees.
3. Would Carol be a leader in other
business contexts?