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What Do Early Leadership theories
tell Us about Leadership?

12-2 Compare and contrast early leadership theories.

Leaders. Groups. Long History!

• Actual studies of leadership began in the twentieth century.

• Early leadership theories focused on:
— The person (leader trait theories)

— The behaviors—how the leader interacted with his or her group members (behavioral
theories)

1 thE LEaDER What Traits Do Leaders Have?

• What DO YOU KNOW aBOUt LEaDERShIP? When asked that question, most
people cite a list of qualities they admire

in leaders—intelligence, charisma, deci-
siveness, enthusiasm, strength, bravery,
integrity, self-confidence, and so forth.

• That’s the trait theories of leadership
in a nutshell—the search for traits or

characteristics that differentiate leaders Sergiu Ungureanu/Shutterstock
from nonleaders.

• If this concept was valid, all leaders
would have to possess those unique and consistent characteristics, making it easy to
find leaders in organizations.

• But that’s not going to happen: Despite the best efforts of researchers, they have yet to
find a set of traits that would always differentiate a leader (the person) from a nonleader.

• Attempts to identify traits consistently associated with
leadership (the process, not the person) have been more trait theories of leadership
Theories that isolate characteristics (traits) that differentiate
successful. See Exhibit 12–1 for those eight traits. 3 leaders from nonleaders

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