Common Traits of Uncommon Leaders

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses four attributes that are necessary to acquire to become a successful leader, namely, surgency, dependability, openness to experience and agreeableness. The paper focuses on three world leaders that exude these qualities; Colin Powell, Peter Jackson and Aung San Suu Kyi. The paper discusses how Powell, Jackson and Suu Kyi also follow good models of leadership, such as the normative decision model and the path-goal theory. The paper emphasizes that leaders are not born and positive behaviors can be learned.

From the Paper:

"Leaders come in all shapes and sizes with various backgrounds of experience and culture. Stodgill's (1948) research proved that it is not qualitative differences such as height and weight that separate leaders from followers (as cited in Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2006). Yet, it is not intelligence alone that separates the two either. There are other qualities that have been found to make a difference as well. None are absolute, but some show more positive correlations for leaders than followers. Surgency, dependability, and openness to experience are all personality traits that can create distinctions. Also, agreeableness as a feature can not stand alone, but few successful leaders are made without it. Those who possess these characteristics and follow good models of leadership are more apt to be successful leaders."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Academy of Achievement (2008). America's Premier Soldier-Statesman. Retrieved May 12, 2008, http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/pow0bio-1
• Bordoni, A., & Marino, M. (2002). Peter Jackson [Electronic Version]. Milan, Il Castoro. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jackson
• Botes, C., (2002). About PJ. The Home of the Official Peter Jackson Fan Club. Retrieved May 12, 2008, http://tbhl.theonering.net/peter/about.html
• BrainyMedia.com, 2008. Aung San Suu Kyi Quotes. Retrieved May 12, 2008, from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aung_san_suu_kyi.html
• Clawson, J. (2007). Level Three Leadership. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

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