Personality Traits and Leadership Styles of Great Leaders

Personality Traits and Leadership Styles of Great Leaders
By
Rachelle Reamer

History has seen many successful leaders. In the last 50 years businesses have seen many remarkable persons of diverse backgrounds excelling in their endeavors by motivating people to help accomplish shared goals for themselves and their businesses. Not only do leaders come in all shapes and sizes but they practice different leadership styles to attain their objectives. Many leaders possess a distinct and constant style of leadership that they use in any given situation. Autocratic leaders tend to have their followers “do as they are told” while Participative or Bureaucratic leaders ask opinions from their groups to help make a decision on the best action. The best and most successful leaders will alter their usual style leadership to a style that best fits the situation they face in order to accomplish the desired results. A usually autocratic leader should employ a participative style if he/she is not an expert on the subject that requires the decision. A participative style leader may have to make a decision alone because of a conflicting consensus from the group members. Choosing the correct style to use is at a distinct moment in time is the key to being a successful leader.

Great leaders are found to usually possess several of the following personality traits:   self-confidence, an outgoing nature, trustworthiness, integrity, optimism, assertiveness, drive, imaginative, visionary, authenticity, humility, sense of humor, enthusiasm, warmth. Some leaders may even possess all of these traits! As you read the list of traits they may conjure up images of historical figures. When you think of traits like humility and integrity you may think of such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa. Self-confidence and assertiveness may invoke Donald Trump, imaginative can bring Walt Disney to mind. But Gandhi possessed self-confidence and was a great visionary. Mother Teresa was reputed to...