The Traits Model of Leadership

The Traits Model of Leadership Hashtag: #labourleadership Mark of a Good Leader The Traits Model of Leadership There is a popular impression that being an intellectual is one thing and being an effective leader is another. Intellectuals, according to the literature, are often seen as eccentric, iconoclast, awkward, irresponsible, self-absorbed, and individualistic thus incapable of leading collective activities.   For instance, in relation to #labourleadership or UK’s Labour Party leadership where alleged anti-austerity Jeremy Corbyn was recently elected, several politicians who led this political party in the past were not effective leaders. The late Michael Foot according to author Bruce Macfarlane had very strong academic and intellectual credentials but was not prepared to compromise his beliefs for the sake of political expediency. In fact, he is always remembered as the leader who endorsed the dispatched of the task force in the Falklands War in 1982 and led the Labor Party to its greatest election defeat in 1983. The traits model of leadership suggests that the characteristics of a person are a predictor of both successful and unsuccessful leaders.   For instance, although an intelligent, self-confident, determined, honorable, and sociable person has the capacity to be a leader, he or she according to study needs to possess the five personality factors – neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. These personality factors suggest that the most effective leaders have tendencies to be depressed, anxious, insecure, and hostile. They are not only sociable and assertive, and have positive energy, but informed, creative, insightful, and curious. They are people that have the tendency to accept, confirm, trust, and nurture. Finally, they are systematic, prepared controlled, dependable, and decisive individuals. A leader, according to the literature needs to be effective in guiding the conduct of others, thus must be effective in conveying meanings and intentions, and in receiving them. A leader for that matter does not necessarily need to be an intellectual, a quality of a person that according to organization and management expert and author Chester Bernard does not work well with leadership.   The reason is that people with superior intellect and greater intellectual accomplishments are often absent-minded, non-punctual, non-decisive, and not interested in people.   Although intellectual abilities are sometimes a critical element in leadership, it is not a substitute for the other essential qualities of leadership such as those mentioned earlier. You may like these articles: Combining Academic Knowledge and Practicality Bright Sides of Academic Intellectuals We Call Nerds The Value of Academic Debate Practice What You Preach Who and What Deserve Respect? None Creature Can Fly with Just One Wing Successful leadership occurs where heart and mind meet, the two powerful wings that allow a leader to excel.   According to the study, leaders need to have enough intellect in order to understand and perform the tasks at hand, a quality that gets people in the leadership door. However, although intellect is considered a fundamental leadership trait, it is not enough to make a leader. For instance, aside from intellect, a leader need to motivate, guide, inspire, listen, persuade, and create resonance in order to execute a vision. Intellect, according to Albert Einstein, has â€Å"powerful muscles, but no personality†¦it can serve but cannot lead†.   Moreover, Swami Vivekananda, a key figure in Indian philosophy noted in one of his London lectures that â€Å"intellect is blind and cannot move by itselfInactive secondary help, the real help is feeling†.   Moreover, intellect without feelings cannot generate â€Å"authentic power†, the sustainable type of power over individual and organizations that according to the literature is the result of mastery of authenticity and emotional intelligence – unconditional trust, respect, honesty, truth, fairness, openness, care, and forgiveness.   Authentic power is generated by a leader’s capacity to do things with others while the quality of interactions and relationships is determined by the level of his or her emotional and social intelligence.

5 Great Careers That Wont Ruin Your Social Life

5 Great Careers That Wont Ruin Your Social Life everyone wants a bit of work-life balance, right? studies show that employees who are able to disconnect from their job and maintain time for themselves are typically more satisfied and productive when they’re at work. so if you’re currently in a job where you feel like things are unbalanced, what are your options? glassdoor has compiled a list of the most work-life-balance-friendly jobs.the top five:1. data scientistdata scientists are very 21st century creatures: they take data from a variety of raw sources and look for patterns, trends, conclusions, etc. it’s a pretty specialized field, with a strong background in analytics, statistics, math, and computer science usually required. once you have the training, though, the pay is high ($114,808) and the number of openings is growing all the time as companies want real-time analytics. data scientists already in the field rated their job as â€Å"very satisfying† in glassdoor’s survey.2. seo managerif you’ve ever noticed the ranking of search results when you google something, you’ve seen the handiwork of an seo manager. these professionals analyze web traffic data and try to architect new ways to push their content to the forefront of people’s web searches. the median salary is $45,720, and this is another tech career that will be growing and evolving for the foreseeable future. current seo managers were in the satisfied to very satisfied range with their work-life balance.3. talent acquisition specialista company is only as good as the people it hires, and that makes talent acquisition a top priority. finding and recruiting top candidates falls to the talent acquisition specialist, who can go out and meet a company’s staffing needs using expertise and extensive outreach to find just the right people. with a median salary of $63,504 and a â€Å"satisfied† rating on the survey, who better to help others find work-life balance than a professiona l who’s found it in their own work?4. social media managerbeing a company’s brand ambassador seems like it would be a round-the-clock job. (am i the only one who imagines someone huddled over twitter in the wee hours of the morning?) however, this is not the case- social media managers fall into the range of satisfied to very satisfied with work-life balance, possibly due to the portability of their work (social media can go wherever you go, after all). the median salary for social media managers is $40,000.5. substitute teacherif you’re interested in a career in education but don’t think that a full-time teaching schedule is for you, becoming a substitute teacher might give you the balanced schedule you need. the salary isn’t as high as some others at the top of the list ($24,380), but the job received high marks on the â€Å"satisfied† spectrum for the flexibility involved.