Question

The Trait Theory of leadership contends that leaders are both born and made. What does this mean and what does the research suggest regarding how many of our leadership skills are innate and how many are learned

Answer 1

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

The Trait Theory of leadership contends that leaders are both born and made. What this means is those good leaders have a series of qualities or characteristics needed to lead their teams successfully.

The Trait Theory was developed by researcher Thomas Carlyle in the mid of the 19th century. He considered that some traits create some patterns of behavior. The research suggests that many of our leadership skills are innate, which means people born with those skills. However, Carlyle thought that leadership abilities also could be learned. We are talking about traits such as courage, creativity, flexibility, decisiveness, adaptability, self-confidence, and perseverance.