Chapter 2: Trait Approach Leadership and Change Chapter 2: Trait Approach Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Overview Understand the concept of Change Role of a Leader in Change Management Great Person Theories Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective of Leadership What Traits Differentiate Leaders From Nonleaders? How Does the Trait Approach Work? Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Change and Change Management What is change & why we need it? Change management defined: Change Management deals with all internal and external forces that push an organization toward change, identify and reduce resistance toward change, replace old processes, methods, strategies, goals, organizational culture etc with new ones and reduce any stress associated with change for the success of organization. Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Leader as a Change Agent Meaning of Change Agent: A person who acts as a catalyst and assumes the responsibilities of managing the change. What skills are required for Change Agents? Problem sensor Visionary Strategy formulation Conflict and stress management Communication skills Coaching and mentorship Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Phase I: Preparation for Change (Need Assessment) General Assessment of organization: Assess the Scope of Change: How big the change is? Is it a micro change or macro change? What areas and parts of the organization require change? How many people will be affected? Who will be affected the most? Do we require gradual change of rapid change? Assess the Impact on Organization: What will be the impact on organization? Will there be any resistance? What could the severity of resistance? What could be the impact of changes on organization’s vision, strategy, long term plans, culture, value, etc? Assess the Change Management Team (Team Evaluation): Is team capable of handling the change? Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Phase II: Managing Change Develop a Detailed Change Plan Develop Implementation Plan: What implementation model or theory to follow? How to implement the detailed plan? What method to follow? What would be the practical actions? Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Phase III: Reinforcing the Change Gather the Data: Assess the change whether it has provided the required result. Diagnose the Gaps and Manage Resistance: Find the gaps, give a feedback with proper actions. Manage resistance & stress associated with change process. Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Great Person Theories Trait Approach: One of the first systematic attempts to study leadership. The trait theory of leadership is an early assumption that leaders are born and due to this belief, those that possess the correct qualities and traits are better suited to leadership. “Great Man” Theories (early 1900s) Focused on identifying innate qualities and characteristics possessed by great social, political, & military leaders Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

General Personality Traits 1- Trustworthiness 2- Dominance 3- Extroversion 4- Self awareness/self objectivity 5- Emotional stability 6- Self confidence 7- Sense of humor  8- Assertiveness 9- High tolerance for frustration 10- Enthusiasm  Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Task Related Personality Traits 1- Courage 2- Resiliency  3- Initiative 4- Internal Locus of Control 5- Flexibility and Adaptability 6- Sensitivity to others and empathy Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Historical Shifts in Trait Perspective Early 1900s 1930-50s 1970’s - Early 90s Today Revival of Critical Role of Traits in Leader Effectiveness Great Man Theories Traits Interacting With Situational Demands on Leaders 5 Major Leadership Traits Research focused on individual characteristics that universally differentiated leaders from nonleaders Landmark Stogdill (1948) study - analyzed and synthesized 124 trait studies - Leadership reconceptualized as a relationship between people in a social situation Mann (1959) reviewed 1,400 findings of personality and leadership in small groups - Less emphasis on situations - Suggested personality traits could be used to discriminate leaders from nonleaders Stogdill (1974) - Analyzed 163 new studies with 1948 study findings - Validated original study - 10 characteristics positively identified with leadership Lord, DeVader, & Alliger (1986) meta-analysis - Personality traits can be used to differentiate leaders/nonleaders Kirkpatrick & Locke (1991) - 6 traits make up the “Right Stuff” for leaders Intelligence Self-Confidence Determination Integrity Sociability Innate Qualities Situations Personality / Behaviors

Leadership Traits Studies of Leadership Traits and Characteristics Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Stogdill identified the following characteristics in his second survey 1. Drive for responsibility and task completion; 2. Strong and persistence in pursuit of goals; 3. Risk taking and originality in problem solving; 4. Drive to exercise initiative in social situations; 5. Self-confidence and sense of personal identity; 6. Willingness to accept consequences of decision and action; 7. Readiness to absorb interpersonal stress; 8. Willingness to tolerate frustration and delay; 9. Ability to influence other people’s behavior; and 10. Capacity to structure social interaction systems to the purpose at hand. Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Major Leadership Traits Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be perceived by others as a leader: Intelligence – Intellectual ability including verbal, perceptual, and reasoning capabilities Self-Confidence – Ability to be certain about one’s competencies and skills Determination – The desire to get the job done (i.e., initiative, persistence, dominance, drive) Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Major Leadership Traits Traits to possess or cultivate if one seeks to be perceived by others as a leader: Integrity – The quality of honesty and trustworthiness Sociability – Leader’s inclination to seek out pleasant social relationships Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership Big Five Personality Factors Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

5-Factor Personality Model & Leadership Big Five & Leadership Study (Judge et al, 2002) Results – a strong relationship between personality traits and leadership Extraversion – factor most strongly associated with leadership Most important trait of effective leaders Conscientiousness – 2nd most related factor Neuroticism & Openness – next most related Neuroticism negatively associated to leadership Agreeableness – only weakly related to leadership Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Emotional Intelligence & Leadership Definition Underlying Premise Ability to perceive and: apply emotions to life’s tasks reason/understand emotions express emotions use emotions to facilitate thinking manage emotions within oneself & relationships people who are more sensitive to their emotions & their impact on others will be more effective leaders Shankman and Allen (2008) suggest that leaders must be conscious of three fundamental aspects of leadership: context, self, and others. Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

How Does the Trait Approach Work? Focus of Trait Approach Strengths Criticisms Application Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Focus of Trait Approach Personality Assessments Leader Focuses exclusively on leader What traits leaders exhibit Who has these traits Organizations use personality assessments to find “Right” people Assumption - will increase organizational effectiveness Specify characteristics/traits for specific positions Personality assessment measures for “fit” Instruments: LTQ, Myers Briggs Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Strengths Intuitively appealing Perception that leaders are different in that they possess special traits People “need” to view leaders as gifted Credibility due to a century of research support Highlights leadership component in the leadership process Deeper level understanding of how leader/personality related to leadership process Provides benchmarks for what to look for in a leader Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Criticisms Fails to delimit a definitive list of leadership traits Endless lists have emerged Doesn’t take into account situational effects Leaders in one situation may not be leaders in another situation List of most important leadership traits is highly subjective Much subjective experience & observations serve as basis for identified leadership traits Research fails to look at traits in relationship to leadership outcomes Not useful for training & development Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar

Application Provides direction as to which traits are good to have if one aspires to a leadership position Through various tests and questionnaires, individuals can determine whether they have the selected leadership traits and can pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses Can be used by managers to assess where they stand within their organization and what is needed to strengthen their position Leadership Traits Intelligence Self-Confidence Determination Integrity Sociability Mansoor Ullah Baig/IMSciences Peshawar