3. One of the most enduring popular views about leadership is that leaders are born and not made. In the light of recent developments in leadership theory evaluate the validity of this idea.

1

Name

Unit name

Unit code

Date

The validity of trait ideas to recent development in leadership theory

The discussion on whether leaders are born or made has attracted more attention in the past study but no common conclusion has been reached on this matter . One of the theories which support that leader are born is the trait theory . According to this theory , there are some inborn qualities that an individual should posses in to be a leader . The trait theory assumes that people are born with inherited traits

some of which are suited to leadership . To be an effective leader a person should have the right combination of traits . Some of the traits identified include adaptable to situation , assertive , ambitious decisive , dependable , dominant , energetic , self-confidence and tolerance . A leader should also have certain skills which include conceptual skills , clever /intelligent , creative , tactful , fluent in speaking and persuasive . However the trait theory does not explain why some people with above qualities are not leaders which therefore mean that being a leader require more than inherited traits (Daft , 1999

Leadership can be affected by a number of personal , interpersonal and organizational factors . According to the definition of leadership a leader is described as a person who is able to influence the opinion altitude and behavior of others in to pursue certain goals Therefore as long as a person is able to influence other people 's behavior to achieve certain goals he can be termed as a leader

2

In...