Pros and Cons of Trait Based Leadership

Trait based leadership theory argues that there are certain traits that people inherit that influence their performance as leaders.  Those traits or characteristics, which are innate to a person, cannot be taught, meaning that leaders are born as “natural leaders.” Below you will find some of the pros and cons of this theory:

 Pros:

-Traits help a leader acquire necessary skills in order to bring their visions to life such as drive and motivation.                                                                                          

-When traits are classified, it makes it easier to distinguish leaders between ordinary people.            

-If leadership is based on traits, then children who posses those traits may be trained since they are little to become better leaders than what they can originally be.

 Against:

-People who don’t have those certain inheritable traits that make a leader may believe that they cannot be good leaders because those traits may not be learned.      

-Traits or characteristics are not the only things that make good leaders; learned skills and experiences also influence leadership behavior.    

-There are certain characteristics of a leader that can be learned and developed.