Mitzi Gail P.

Peñaflor BSN-4C August 31, 2023

I. What are the different characteristics of a Leader? Which Leadership do you have? Do you
believe you were born with leadership skills or have you consciously developed them during
your lifetime? If so, how did you develop them?
II. What is behavioral Theories? discuss briefly.

[Link]

Leadership without a positive attitude is rather difficult to achieve. Who would like to follow a
leader who seems pessimistic or angry at all times? A great leader knows leadership is about
leading with example. If you are able to stay positive in the face of difficulties and you can
approach challenges with a smile on your face, you set an example for subordinates.

Great leaders have done their homework in terms of the science of positive thinking. Positive
attitude is not just about keeping the mood upbeat within the team – it can provide better results
for the team in terms of productivity and innovation. A popular example of this comes in the
form of a candle test, which researchers have used to study positive emotions.

Positive attitude doesn’t mean the leader is blind to problems or suffering. It simply calls for the
approach to solving problems and finishing tasks to be a positive rather than a negative one.
Instead of thinking about the downside of the job ahead, the leader wants to focus on the good
aspects.

THE QUALITIES AND TRAITS OF LEADERS

A number of leadership traits almost come directly from within. These are the qualities that
might be harder to train, but which make leading other people smoother.

Committed

A good leader has to show commitment. Fulfilling your vision won’t happen overnight and you
need to be able to convince everyone else that you won’t disappear when things get tough. If you
make a promise, you need to keep it. You can’t just preach about achieving A, B and C, but you
need to show that you are actually going to do it. Commitment matters for two reasons. First,
when you show commitment you help build trust. The team and anyone involved with the project
will be able to trust your word. Trust will keep work morale up and help you achieve objectives
faster since people don’t need to second-guess what your objectives are.

But furthermore, the second aspect of commitment is about setting an example. As mentioned
throughout the article, leadership is about setting an example and if you show commitment to
your word, your subordinates will be inspired to stick to their promises. Using your own example
of hard work, you will ensure the people around you feel motivated to do the same thing.
Passionate

Passion should be at the heart of everything you do. It doesn’t matter whether you are a leader of
a multibillion company or a lumberjack, without passion, you won’t achieve success. You can
understand its importance when you view it as the fuel for your truck. If you don’t have enough
fuel, i.e. passion, you will eventually run out of steam and your journey will be cut short. But if
you make sure your tank is full, you can continue driving.

Furthermore, passion helps in leadership because it can motivate other people. Consider a person
is doing a job simply for the sake of doing it. They might show up every morning and finish the
tasks as told, but there is no burn within them. On the other hand, you have someone who is
always excited to start a project, who talks about the tasks and comes up with new ideas and
suggestions.

Honest

In the previous section, we discussed about the importance of empathy. Another similar trait,
which leaders need to have, is honesty. A strong leader is able to treat people with respect and
care, while staying honest. Leadership is not about wiping things under the carpet. If there is a
problem, a great leader is able to identify it, talk about it and find solutions to it. A leader doesn’t
add a sugar coating on things, but they use their communication skills to ensure people are aware
of the issues.

Honesty also means openness about the processes and the implementation of the vision. The
leader should always be as informative and open about the tasks ahead as possible with the
subordinates. The more information the subordinates have, the better they are able to conduct
their work as well. If the vision and the objectives are shrouded in mystery, it can be difficult for
the subordinates to fully commit to the job.

Confident

A great leader is confident. He or she doesn’t second-guess whether they are up to the job; but
the person knows his or her strengths and how to use them in order to implement the vision. If
they are hesitant or seem to have a lack of trust in their own abilities, subordinates wouldn’t feel
comfortable following their lead.

When things are going wrong, people often start looking around them for comfort and support. A
leader is the person who stands out in these times because they show composure that relaxes
other people. If a ship is sinking, you look at the captain and you want him to give you orders
calmly on what to do, not run around yelling, “we’ll all die”.
The key to understand and excel in confidence is the realization that it doesn’t mean self-
satisfaction or arrogance. The ability to know you are able to achieve your goals doesn’t mean
the same as thinking you are the only one who can finish the job.

You also need to continue learning more about the world around you. The ability to learn new
things, as well as the courage to try things you’ve never done before are important for improving
and growing your confidence.

Accountable

Trust requires accountability. You can’t start trusting a leader or feel comfortable with the
process, if you don’t think everyone is playing by the same rules. When it comes to creating a
team, most guides point accountability as the cornerstone of getting things to work. In terms of
leadership, accountability is often not just in terms of the leader’s own mistakes, but a good
leader takes responsibility for everyone’s performance.

It can seem brutal, but a great leader understands that ultimately the buck stops with them. While
individuals always need to take responsibility within a team, it is the leader’s role to ensure
things won’t go wrong. One of the major reasons behind the lack of trust in today’s CEOs often
comes precisely from the fact that leader’s aren’t showing enough accountability.

Inspirational

If you put all of the above together, an image of an inspirational leader will emerge. After all,
one of the key qualities that separate the leader from the rest is the ability to inspire. A leader is a
person who can outline his or her vision and immediately capture the imagination of other
people. You won’t follow a person that doesn’t spark an emotion in you, who doesn’t make you
feel better, and who doesn’t convince you of the direction they are heading. You follow a person
who will make you feel excited about the journey ahead.

An inspirational leader is not just able to talk the talk; they can also support the people around
them to achieve the vision. Therefore, inspirational isn’t a quality simply about the ability to
‘sweet talk’. True inspiration is about showing others how something can be achieved and
providing people with the tools to change things into something different. As a leader, you need
to be able to inspire people to dream, but to also act according to those dreams.

The above traits and characteristics are at the heart of great leaders. The qualities are often
innate, but it doesn’t mean they cannot or shouldn’t be trained and developed further. A good
leader recognizes the importance of these traits and knows that anyone is able to use them in
their quest to becoming a great leader.
Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard
work.

There is truth to both sides of the coin. However, great leaders are well-rounded in many areas—
most of which are learned over time. Whether managing a growing business or leading a major
corporation, leaders emerge by developing their natural talents and the beneficial qualities of a
person.

While some may still argue that natural-born leaders exist, effective leadership still requires
work. This indicates that leadership development is something you must do to gain the skills
needed for your position. Thinking that true leadership comes from those born with it means only
a select few would technically be ready to lead. As Warren G. Bennis notes, “The most
dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born—that there is a genetic factor to leadership.
This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s
nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.”

1. Accepting Responsibility

When he was President of the United States, Harry S. Truman famously had a sign on his desk
stating, “The Buck Stops Here.” That meant that he was ultimately responsible for whatever
happened during his administration. Leaders take responsibility and never “pass the buck.” As
Jocko Willink teaches in Extreme Ownership, true leaders take full ownership of everything their
team does, including accepting the blame when things fall apart. It’s not always easy to do, but
leaders know everyone is counting on them. Team members who see this will want to mimic this
behavior as well. As Willink writes, “leadership is contagious.”

2. Constant Learning

The best leaders have an unyielding appetite for learning. They’re constantly looking for new
information. This isn’t just out of necessity for their jobs—it’s also due to their curiosity. They
keep up with the news, seek new ways to solve problems, and read about topics outside their
expertise. As Bill Gates said in an interview with The Guardian, “I try to make time for reading
each night. In addition to the usual newspapers and magazines, I make it a priority to read at least
one newsweekly from cover to cover. If I were to read only what intrigues me—say, the science
and business sections—then I would finish the magazine the same person I was when I started.
So I read it all.”

4. Adapting to Changes

No matter the industry, change always happens. Effective leaders can adapt to those changes.
They see change as an opportunity to grow and learn. They never take the more pessimistic route
and think of change as bad. If anything, they view it all as a challenge to overcome and help
other people see it that way, as well.
The ability to adapt goes hand in hand with the constant learning trait discussed above. If a
leader always looks for new things to learn, they’ll be in a much better position to adapt to
whatever changes occur. They remain focused on their goals but are flexible enough to react to
the changing world around them.

The good news is leadership skills can be improved if one is willing to be self-reflective and
make efforts to do so. Indeed, studies indicate leadership tends to be only 30 percent genetic.
Therefore, all newly minted managers would be wise to consider it necessary to hone and
sharpen their leadership skills.

Understanding leadership, is like looking at collage artwork. From afar it looks like a simple
definition, but when you take a closer look you can see all the tiny parts that are combined to
make the image. There are many ways that leadership can be successful, as there are many ways
leadership can fail. In any instance leadership in needed in all aspects of life, and just because
you don’t believe that you were born to be a leader, doesn’t disqualify a person from obtaining
leadership.

What is the definition of behavioral theory?

The behavioral trait theory is the idea that leadership skills can be learned by observing those
skills in the behavior of others.

In contrast, the behavioral theory of leadership is the idea that leadership skills can be learned by
observing those skills in the behavior of others. Individuals can then study these skills and
practice them to try and become fluid in their leadership abilities. This type of leadership is
unique in that individuals can choose what kind of leader they prefer to be and study those
desired skills. Individuals can also combine several types to broaden their scope of leadership. In
fact, most leaders choose to use a combination of leadership styles.

Some common characteristics of the behavior leadership theory are flexibility and action- and
task-orientation. Behavioral leaders can learn chosen skills to customize the type of leader they
want to be. This theory is very important because it allows for the idea that anyone can become a
leader; not just those who inherently have the skills to do so. Under this theory, there are many
types of leaders, such as: