1 List 5 Important Leadership Traits Essay

Submitted By lancrew
Words: 582
Pages: 3

1.) List 5 important leadership traits. Explain each trait and provide reasons for the trait.

Optimism: Most common trait among leaders. It’s critical for leaders to always see the positive side of things as well as a positive outcome. This trait suggests leaders can see opportunities when others may not.
Self-confidence: Assurance in a leader’s own judgements, decision making, idea, and capabilities. The confidence that a leader displays creates mutual respect, motivation, and commitment among his or her peers.
Honesty: Truthfulness and nondeception trait to followers, customers, shareholders, and the public. Common denominator with a leader and his or her followers.
Integrity: Refers to a leaders character, which is whole and that he or she “lives and breathes” by high ethical moral. Also, a common denominator with a leader and his or her followers. Both deviations in honesty and integrity in the corporate world have ended with many executives in trouble (i.e. Bernard Madoff) and the creation of laws like Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX 2002).
Drive: Refers to high motivation, which also yields a high level of effort among his or her followers.

2. Why are optimism and self-confidence important? How does one's outlook (optimistic/pessimistic) affect attitudes, decisions, behaviors? Can you think of examples from your own work life?
Leaders without optimism or self-confidence are not trusted among the people that they are lead. Not many of us are willing to follow a leader who is shaky, or unsure them self, or even worse, being the opposite of a leader – a pessimistic.
3. Explain the "Individualized Leadership Model". In particular, discuss the Vertical Dyad Linkage Model (VDL) and the "Leader Member Exchange". What are the potential benefits to using this leadership model?
Individualized Leadership is a more recent leadership approach that is theory based in which the leader develops a special (fair) relationship with a member or group. This theory explores how one-on-one leader/member relationships develop via dyads (two person interactions) over time and quality of the relationship as well.
Vertical Dyad Linkage (VDL) model is the framework of the individual leadership that argues for the importantance of the dyad formed by a leader with each member of the group.
Leader Member Exchange (LMX) is an individualized leadership model that explores how leader-member relationships develop over time and how the quality of exchange relationships affects outcomes. Potential benefits include, motivation, greater job satisfaction