The Great Man and Trait Theories

This week in HED we learned about two different theories. The Great Man theory and The Trait Theory. Both of these theories were created a long time ago, but are still used today. Some people agree with these theories and some people don’t.

First is the Great Man Theory. This is the belief that you are born as a leader, based on hereditary traits. People who believe in the Great Man Theory usually believe that the leaders come from royal, wealthy or political leaders.  And that in a time of great need, they will succeed in leading.  Great Man believers find that if two powerful people have children, they will follow under the Great Man theory and be great leaders. An example of this is Chelsea Clinton. Both of her parents Hilary and Bill Clinton are well-known and effective leaders in politics. The pressure that the Great Man theory puts on her is absurd. Image living Chelsea Clinton’s life and having all those expectations only because of who her parents are.

The second theory is the Trait Theory. The trait theory focuses on the traits that a leader has predisposed.  The Trait Theory believes that there are certain qualities that you have to have to be a great leader.  The five traits that they believe are the most important for a leader to have are; intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability. The trait theory was studied by McClelland and his associates, and they found that a good leader revolves around three motivators; achievement, power, and affiliation. If a person has the right amount of each of these things then they will be a perfect leader. In class we took a little quiz to see who had these exact traits. Only one girl in our class passed the test. Does that mean she’s the only good leader in the class? No. But according to the trait theory she would be the best and most effective leader.

I personally do not believe in the Great Man Theory or the Trait Theory. I believe that leadership can be learned and just because of who your parents are, or what traits people think are good, doesn’t mean that you are going to be a good or bad leader. I believe that everyone has leadership in them and that their leadership skills come out when it is most in need.  Some people, who don’t seem like leaders at first, don’t because they have never gotten their chance to shine. Yes, there are some better leaders then others. But with training and learning about leadership like we are doing in HED, anyone can grow and become an amazing leader.