PROS & CONS OF TRAIT THEORY
In order to become a leader, we have to understand where they come from. Are people born natural leaders, or are they made and developed to become one? Can someone who isn’t naturally a leader still become a good leader? After reading the article, “Leadership in the Service of Hospitality” by Judi Brownell from Cornell University, we are able to gain some insight on an early leadership theory called the ‘great man’ theory and a trait based theory that has both pros on cons in categorizing a leadership trait.
The ‘great man’ theory is male centric and outdated in this day and age. The history of the world may show that this theory name might of worked in the past, but it turns out that women make great leaders, and the more we find this out the more we are seeing rise to power. The great man theory explains that leaders are born and not made. That men/women are gifted with a divine inspiration and the right characterizes to become a leader. As someone who feels like I was born a natural leader, I agree with the thinking that ‘I was born this way’ and that I am able to develop on my natural abilities. But after more analysis of my situation and upbringing, I would also argue that leaders are made, not born. Nobody comes into the world as a natural leader. A person becomes a leader by, first of all, deciding to become a leader, and second of all, by learning the skills necessary to elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people. So being born with the drive might help, but it’s ultimately the experience that shapes individuals into leaders.
Thankfully we were able to natural development from the ‘great man/women’ theory into the evolution of the trait-based theory. This theory is great because it categorizes the traits into easy to understand and comparable formats. It allows individuals to assess themselves, but it comes with some limitations. It can be too subjective and judgmental on who is a good leader and who is actually a successful leader, because there isn’t a perfect mix of the two. And that is the major con with this theory is that many people can disagree on which traits are actually essential to being a good leader.
With these theories, I can conclude that there is no perfect leader formula that works for everyone. We all have different situations, different upbringings, and different priorities that we have to consider when talking about successful leaders. And I think it’s a good thing that we all strive for different things, because it makes us unique and able to lead with our own integrity.
