Trait Theory Of Leadership Essay

Introduction: Leadership has been described as "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". For example, some understand a leader simply as somebody whom people follow, or as somebody who guides or directs others, while others define leadership as "motivating and organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal". Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others. What qualities distinguish an individual as a leader?" Underlying this search was the early recognition of the importance of leadership and the assumption that leadership is rooted in the characteristics that certain individuals possess. This idea that leadership is based on individual attributes is known as the "trait theory of leadership". A number of works in the 19th century - when the traditional authority of monarchs, lords and bishops had begun to wane - explored the trait theory at length: note especially the writings of Thomas Carlyle and of Francis Galton, whose works have prompted decades of research. In Heroes and Hero Worship (1841), Carlyle identified the talents, skills, and physical characteristics of men who rose to power. Galton 's Hereditary Genius (1869) examined leadership qualities in the families of powerful men. After showing that the numbers of eminent