Most theories view leadership as grounded in one or more of the following three perspectives: leadership as a process or relationship, leadership as a combination of traits or personality characteristics, or leadership as certain behaviors or, as they are more commonly referred to, leadership skills. In virtually all of the more dominant theories there exist the notions that, at least to some degree, leadership is a process that involves influence with a group of people toward the realization of goals.  I will say on the front end that, in my opinion, leadership is a dynamic and complex process, and that much of what is written these days tends to over-simplify this process.  My goal here is to provide an overview that keeps things simple, without crossing into over-simplification, and for the most part refraining from any critiquing of the various theories.  I will leave that to my fellow bloggers for now.

Trait Theory

This theory postulates that people are either born or not born with the qualities that predispose them to success in leadership roles.  That is, that certain inherited qualities, such as personality and cognitive ability, are what underlie effective leadership.  There have been hundreds of studies to determine the most important leadership traits, and while there is always going to be some disagreement, intelligence, sociability, and drive (aka determination) are consistently cited as key qualities.

Skills Theory

This theory states that learned knowledge and acquired skills/abilities are significant factors in the practice of effective leadership.  Skills theory by no means disavows the connection between inherited traits and the capacity to be an effective leader – it simply argues that learned