Understanding the Personal Attribute Perspective of Leadership: How It Indicates Strong Leadership
As society continues to evolve, the concept of leadership has also undergone a transformation. Many people now believe that leadership isn’t just about authority or position, but also personal attributes. These personal attributes are qualities that demonstrate the ability to lead, like empathy, integrity, and vision. Understanding the Personal Attribute Perspective of Leadership is crucial because it shows how these attributes can manifest in leadership and what positive outcomes they yield.
What is the Personal Attribute Perspective of Leadership?
Personality traits and behavior reflect the Personal Attribute Perspective of Leadership. It argues that effective leaders possess qualities that are synonymous with positive human characteristics that help individuals shape their roles in the business world. According to research, people refer to a particular set of personality traits and social skills when they evaluate a leadership process. If a leader has strong personal attributes, it reflects in their leadership qualities.
How Do Personal Attributes Indicate Strong Leadership?
A leader’s personal attributes are critically important in promoting more effective leadership within an organization. Understanding what personal attributes are is crucial in identifying strong leadership qualities. Organizations with successful leadership teams have leaders that exhibit attributes such as empathy, compassion, communication and problem-solving skills that manifest in what is referred to as transformational leadership.
Empathy, for example, is an essential attribute to have in today’s workplace environment. Leaders with empathy understand and relate to their team on a personal level. They make sure to listen to their employees and create a working culture that allows for open and honest communication. Compassion is also critical because it helps individuals appreciate the struggles and hardships that their team may face and enables them to provide support in stressful situations. These qualities directly lead to overall success in the workplace.
In addition to empathy and compassion, strong leadership also requires problem-solving and communication skills. Good leaders are people who can follow through with problem-solving and effectively communicate with different departments and stakeholders in their organization. This is crucial in achieving the goals and targets set for the team.
Examples of Strong Leadership Through Personal Attributes
In 2016, Mark Zuckerberg demonstrated the personal attribute traits of empathy, compassion, and visionary thinking in leading his team towards developing Facebook Live. His team was tasked with creating a new form of video content that users could broadcast to their followers in real-time. Zuckerberg empathized with his team’s desire to create a more connected community, which he believed could be achieved with this innovation. Through his strong communication skills, Zuckerberg transformed Facebook by providing a platform that gave users a newfound sense of empowerment.
Another example of strong leadership through personal attributes is Ruth Porat’s reign as CFO of Google. Porat demonstrated effective problem-solving and diplomacy during one of the most significant challenges that Google faced in terms of gender discrimination allegations. Porat solved this problem by working to achieve gender equality across the board, as well as working to achieve a more equitable work-life balance.
Conclusion
To be an effective leader, one must possess personal attributes that reflect positive human characteristics such as empathy, compassion, problem-solving skills, and visionary thinking. These qualities allow leaders to understand their employees better, communicate effectively with stakeholders and implement effective leadership practices that can lead to positive outcomes in their workplace. The Personal Attribute Perspective of Leadership has been a game-changer in identifying strong leadership and is essential in the increasingly diverse business world we find ourselves in today.
