Leadership Traits and Personality

The initial argument put forth is that whether or not there are traits and/or a personality that a leader must have in order to be affective. Taking one issue at a time I would argue that there are definitely traits that a leader must contain in order to be successful. Leaders must have the ability to be empowering of others. A leader cannot complete all tasks at hand alone but by empowering others they can achieve goals faster and more effectively. A leader must also have experience, be compassionate, humble, honest, and a visionary. Leaders must see things unfold before they do in order to drive people in the right direction. The most important character trait about a leader is that an effective leader has to be confident. A leader that is not confident in their decisions is not a leader at all. People do not follow people that they lack faith in.
Does personality matter when it comes to leadership? I would argue that personality matters to a point. When looking at the five variables of personality, a leader should rank high on conscientiousness because a leader needs to be well organized, reliable, and careful. They would also need to rank high in extraversion because leaders need to be well spoken and liked in order to get things accomplished. The leader would also need to achieve a high score on agreeableness and a low score on neuroticism. The last factor that is important in the personality model would be whether or not the leader would be open to experiences or intellect. An effective leader would score high in this category. Although a leaders personality would be expected to meet all these variables that does not mean that someone who does not meet these standards, cannot be a leader. Everyone can be a leader if they try but the best leaders show a certain set of traits important to leader a large majority of people.

The Great Leaders: Barrack and Warren

Leadership is not a quality that can be taught. People are born leaders and two important leaders in history and in present day are President Barrack Obama and the savvy investor Warren Buffet. These two leaders, although classified under the same category, were very different indeed. The one trait that they had in common is the fact that they inspired people in a way that could not be easily duplicated and this is one important necessity of a leader. President Obama was a symbol of change and a brighter future. His young age and achievements as well as his ability to communicate gave him a special spot in many American hearts. Obama inspired people to regain faith in politics because to be perfectly honest it had been lost. He became a modern icon and made a good deal of head way by being the tech savvy President that could reach a younger generation of individuals. His words have inspired many and in the position that he currently holds, it is very important to inspire because the reality of the modern day presidency is that "the most powerful man in the world" does not seem to have as much power as portrayed. Warren Buffet on the other hand is also a great leader that symbolizing capitalism at its finest. Buffet was known to be calm and collected in the most serious of circumstances and people idolized his power and wealth. His way of live inspired people to live the American dream to live a prosperous life. Warren Buffet is an icon for any modern day entrepreneur and although these young entrepreneurs have not met him personally, that does not mean that they are not scalping their decision making in site of what he has shown them in example. The important thing about both of these leaders is that they can make people react without telling them to react. This is a skill that no person can buy or teach. Leaders are born not created and without leaders we lose our sense of direction.