Every four years we reach a cross roads in our country it is time for a presidential election. This year as I contemplate my decision, putting all of the political mudslinging aside I am thinking about what leadership traits I need to look for in our future president and what leadership means to me.
Some past leaders such as President Abraham Lincoln have been identified as having traits as described in the “Great Man Theory” (Northouse, 2010). It was believed that certain people were born with the ability to be great (Northouse, 2010). What leadership qualities make someone such as Abraham Lincoln so different from the common man? In the mid-20th century this topic was researched. Some researchers felt that leaders were brought about by the situations they were in while other researchers felt that personal factors people exhibit in leadership were important (Northouse, 2010).
Researchers have been working on the trait approach theory which lists individual leadership traits an individual leader may possess (Northouse, 2010). How can a list of personality traits help with my decision? The trait theory could help us profile what presidential candidate we think is best for the office based on his personality traits. Using this theory could help us get an idea of what the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate are (Northouse, 2010). The trait approach could also help us compare the two candidates and figure out what we see to be their strengths and weaknesses if they were to become President (Northouse, 2010).
One risk that we take with using the trait approach in our decision is that it doesn’t take into account how a president will react under a specific situation. We can’t predict the future and how a certain situation will affect the decisions a president may make when leading the country. The downfall of using the trait approach is that it provides us guidance in what traits we are looking for in a leader; it can’t predict the outcome of what will take during the four years after a president has been elected.
So with all of this being said what traits do I think are important for the next leader of our country to possess? To narrow down my list of traits I executed the LTQ Leadership Trait Questionnaire (Northouse, 2010). I feel to lead our country you have to rate high on all traits listed. I rated all of the following traits with a score of 5 Articulate, Perceptive, Self-Confident, Self-Assured, Persistent, Determined, Trustworthy, Dependable, Friendly, Outgoing, Conscientious, Diligent, Sensitive, and Empathetic (Northouse, 2010). What do I do with this information? From now until Election Day, I will be watching how the events of the election unfold. I will be evaluating each candidate based on these traits and how I feel they align with my opinion of what our country needs.
I know the LTQ is recommended to be used as a self-evaluation for ourselves or an evaluation of an immediate supervisor. My approach is slightly different since I don’t know either of the Presidential Candidates on a personal level, but then again how many of us do. I feel the LTQ can be a useful tool to help us make an educated decision about what we think our country needs for a leader when we hit the polls on Election Day.
REFERENCE:
Northouse (2010) Trait Approach, Leadership Theory and Practice (pp.15-38).
I appreciated your comments on trustworthy. When I was rating what I thought were important characteristic traits for the president, I did not consider the publics perception. Most politicians based on scandals that we have seen in the news have given anyone involved in politics the “untrustworthy” trait.
In stating that I think it is important to use a tool like the LTQ when evaluating a candidate. If I kept these traits in my mind as I evaluate the candidates. I am sure that sooner before later based on the way elections unfold, this would have been one of the key traits I focused on. Based on how honestly I percieve candidates respond to questions I could base whether or not I feel they are trustworthy.
REFERENCE:
Northouse (2010) Trait Approach, Leadership Theory and Practice (pp.15-38).
Using traits to evaluate a potential presidential candidate is a very valid approach. The presidency is the highest level of leadership anyone can reach. If traits are the true key to a successful leader, then we all need to perform an LTQ in our own minds.
I do believe that most people are looking for these traits in these two candidates, unfortunately the lack of honesty, hampers ones ability to see clearly and objectively.
I think you look at the whoel package and pick who you think wil do a better job, based upon what we know now, and hope for the best.
I found your blog to be of interest, as we explored similar subject matter. I liked your idea of utilizing the Leadership Trait Questionnaire (LTQ) to try to conclude which traits are important to you. While you mentioned that the LTQ is recommended for self-evaluation, it is also entirely appropriate in this situation because you are not actually rating each candidate, but rather the personal characteristics of an ideal candidate. Had you tried to rate each candidate instead of your approach, I would have disagreed because of the premise that you must be personally familiar with the person being analyzed (Northouse, P. 2012).
I found it interesting that trustworthy scored a five, as it would for most people. However, when it comes to stereotypes of politicians, integrity and honesty are rarely, if ever used. “Politicians who keep their promises are hard to find. Such politicians don’t win elections” (Bapat, 2000). This is an interesting conundrum because while the public wants and their elected officials to be trustworthy, they totally expect them to be dishonest. Because we live in a twenty-four hour news cycle, every action that a politician makes it scrutinized and because the media loves a scandal, they sensationalize every minor detail that would have been discreetly ignored thirty years ago. This is not to say that dishonesty is okay for politicians and dismissed as a way of doing business.
References:
Bapat, S. (2000). A non-traditional politician. The Arizona Wildcat. Retrieved from http://wc.arizona.edu/papers/93/127/03_2_m.html.
Northouse, P.G., (2013). Leadership: theory and practice sixth ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.