Are Leaders Born or Made?

There are different approaches when it comes to studying leadership.  Some people say that leaders are born while others will say leadership can be learned.  I have always thought that leadership is something that is learned, but there are certain traits a person may possess that will make them a more natural leader than those without the traits.  The trait approach concentrates on certain traits that good leaders possess and the skills approach concentrates on particular skills good leaders need to have that can be learned (Northouse, 2016)  Growing up playing sports the leaders of the team were the kids that were the biggest, fastest, most talented, most likable, or a combination of those qualities.  A person with those kinds of qualities will naturally attract followers, but they will not reach their leadership potential based on those qualities alone.

The quote above speaks to what I am talking about.  A person that is born with the traits that will make others follow them does not make them a good leader.  Traits must be combined with the ability to use those traits to lead others.  The two approaches to leadership I am going to touch on in this blog post are the trait approach and the skills approach.  I find these two approaches to need to coexist in order to maximize a person's leadership ability.  Someone with the right traits will not be able to get the best out of their followers without the right skills and someone with the skills may not possess the traits that make a large number of people want to follow them.

The trait approach's aim was to find a certain set of traits present in all of the great leaders (Northouse, 2016).  There have been many studies to discover the traits that seem to be present in those that are considered to be great leaders, but the many studies have found many different traits that people consider to be important.  I am going to highlight two sets of traits that I find the be relatively inclusive of the things I tend to see as ones that a good leader will possess.

Stogdill (1948) conducted a survey in which he found a list of important leadership traits that includes intelligence, alertness, insight, responsibility, initiative, persistence, self-confidence, and sociability.  This list of traits is one that I have found to be a fairly accurate portrayal of the people I have met in leadership positions that were successful.  The other list was comprised by Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991) and included drive, motivation, integrity, confidence, cognitive ability, and task knowledge.  Some of the traits on the second list are similar to those on the first list, but they both highlight traits that most good leaders will possess.  Kirkpatrick and Locke went a step further and said that a person can be born with these traits or they can be learned (1991).

Judging by the quote from Vince Lombardi above he was not one that took the trait approach to leadership.  Lombardi seems like someone that leaned more toward the skills approach.  As a reminder the skills approach focused on discovering a set of skills good leaders should possess (Northouse, 2016).  There are many books that a person can find on how to become a better leader.  Katz (1955) developed a three skill approach to leadership that included technical, human, and conceptual skills.  Technical skills are the knowledge of the task you are doing, human skill is the ability to work with people, and conceptual skill is the ability to work with ideas and concepts (Northouse, 2016).  

When comparing the three skills approach to the traits that I listed earlier it becomes clear how the two approaches are related.  Technical skill can come from having intelligence, initiative to learn the skills, persistence, cognitive ability, and task knowledge.  A person with those traits will have a much easier time developing the technical skills needed of a good leader.  Human skills can be developed, but a person with sociability and confidence will likely do better than someone who does not possess those traits.  There are also many traits that a person can possess that would help them to develop the skill of working with concepts.  The traits are similar to that of technical skill and include intelligence, drive, motivation, and cognitive ability.  A person can be a good leader by simply developing certain skills or possessing certain traits, but their leadership skills will not be maximized without improving on their traits by developing skills. 

References:

Katz, R. L. (1955). Skills of an effective administrator. Harvard Business Review, 33(1), 33-42.

Kirkpatrick, S. A., & Locke, E. A. (1991). Leadership: Do traits matter? The Executive, 5, 48-60.

Northouse, Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.

Stodgill, R. M. (1948). Personal factors associated with leadership: A survey of the literature. Journal of Psychology, 25, 35-71.

Introduction to Leadership in Public Administration

The main reason for this blog is to discuss the different aspects of leadership and how they pertain to the study of public administration.  My many experiences in the military, private sector, and now as a civil servant have given me many experiences with leaders with different backgrounds, personalities, methods, and many other differences.  Some of the leaders I have experienced are remembered in a positive way and others are remembered in a negative way.  Different leadership methods and how power relates to leadership is a subject that has interested me since my time in the military.  This blog will focus on those methods with weekly posts that will discuss different topics and issues in the study of leadership in public administration.  This first post will concentrate on the interface between power and leadership and talk about the different experiences I have had with how leaders have used their power. 

Power and leadership are related because a leader must be able to influence the people they lead and power allows for that influence (Northouse, 2016).  Of course that most of us know leaders have power over the people they lead, but what are the different kinds of power that leaders can use to achieve their goals?  The different bases of power according to French and Raven are referent power, expert power, legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, and information power (1962).  We all have experienced at least some of these types of power being used by our parents, teachers, coaches and bosses at one point or another in our lives.  Below are the definitions of each of the six bases of power.

Table 1.1    Six Bases of Power

SOURCE: Adapted from “The Bases of Social Power,” by J. R. French Jr. and B. Raven, 1962, in D. Cartwright (Ed.), Group Dynamics: Research and Theory (pp. 259–269), New York: Harper & Row; and “Social Influence and Power,” by B. H. Raven, 1965, in I. D. Steiner & M. Fishbein (Eds.), Current Studies in Social Psychology(pp. 371–382), New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. 

One of my Captains in the Navy is an excellent example of what it means to have referent power.  Of course being the Captain of a submarine in the U.S. Navy means that you have many different kinds of power that could be used to achieve the mission.  The Captain can use all of the other bases of power mentioned above to achieve the mission.  My first Captain would use coercive and legitimate power in order to achieve the mission by handing down harsh punishments to those who disobeyed and for not getting personal with the crew in order to maintain his status.  My last Captain was someone who did not like to punish the crew very harshly, would always try to get the crew home as much as possible, and took a genuine interest in the personal lives of all the sailor onboard.  The Captain took care of the crew and because of that the crew liked him and tried even harder to achieve the mission.  My experiences found that referent power was much more effective than coercive or legitimate power. 

Since I have been out of the military I have come to realize how much more relevant coercive power is in the military than it is in private sector employment or even a civilian working for the government.  In the private sector and public sector leaders are far less likely to threaten with punishment and more likely to use expert, reward, or legitimate power.  In the military the leaders did not have to threaten punishment, but we knew the option was always on the table and more likely to be used than reward power.  We may do things very well numerous times before we would get an award or other recognition, but one mess up would likely result in a fairly harsh punishment.  The private and public sectors have to worry more about retention and employee turnover more than the military does since the members of the military must complete their enlistment contract.  

Another basis of power that I have found to be very effective both in the military and out of the military is expert power.  People will usually always listen to a person that is considered an expert on the topic being discussed.  I served with a guy in the military that was not very well liked personally, did not work that hard, and did not hold any legitimate power, but when he spoke about the system he worked on everyone would stop and listen to him.  His knowledge of the system gave him power and people would follow him due to this.  In my current job there are one or two of my co-workers that also have expert power.  Their knowledge and experience garners the respect of other field economists and even those in management.  People with expert power will likely have some power over those that are their superiors when it comes to topics where they are considered experts.  

As you can see there are many different ways in which power and help a person with leadership.  I look forward to discussing the different types of power and how they relate to leadership in depth along with leadership in general.  The topic of leadership is one that is changing all the time and will continue to change with new technology and a more technologically advanced generation obtaining positions of power.  

Reference:

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand oaks: Sage Publications.

About Me

My name is Clint Poston and I am a student at Troy University.  I am almost done with my Masters in Public Administration.  The majority of my adult life has been spent working in the public sector either in the military or as a civil servant.  I spent six years in the Navy as a Missile Technician on submarines.  After the Navy I attended Middle Tennessee State University where I received my Bachelor's of Science in Economics with a minor in Psychology.  Since then I have worked in both the private sector for a manufacturing company and as a real estate agent and the public sector for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Labor.  My current position in the DOL Bureau of Labor Statistics is a field economist.  I currently collect data for the Employment Cost Index and the Occupational Requirements Survey.  I hope to obtain my PhD in Public Administration after I am done with the MPA program so I may become a professor and conduct research.