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Elements of Individual Difference Characteristics.

What makes every person unique is a combination of many factors, including demographic, physical, psychological and behavioral differences. They are at the core of who we are. The figure shows a framework for understanding individual differences and their complex components. Heredity and environment are the two determinants of individual characteristics. The interactionist view suggests that these two determinants interact to influence the development of those characteristics.

To understand individual differences, we must consider the interaction between heredity and the environment. Environmental and social conditions can reinforce genetic patterns to influence a leader’s personality, as can cultural factors, the educational system and parental upbringing.

As shown in the figure, four major individual difference characteristics can affect leadership style: demographic factors, values, abilities and skills, and personality.

Demographic factors such as age and ethnic background are individual difference characteristics that may affect individual behavior and to some extent leadership style.

Values are stable, long-lasting beliefs and preferences about what is worthwhile and desirable and are closely related to personality. Personality refers to a person’s character and temperament, whereas values are principles that a person believes. Like personality traits, values guide a leader’s behavior and are influenced by a combination of biological and environmental factors. For example, leaders who hold the value “honesty is the best policy” will attempt to behave fairly and honorably and show integrity in their words and actions. Like personality, values are shaped early in life and are resistant to change. Values are also influenced heavily by one’s culture.

Abilities and skills are also related and play a role in leadership. Ability, or aptitude, is a natural talent for doing something mental or physical. This category includes things such as intelligence. A skill is an acquired talent that a person develops related to a specific task. Whereas ability is somewhat stable over time, skills change with training and experience and from one task to another. You cannot train leaders to develop an ability or aptitude but you can train them in new leadership skills. Organizations, therefore, recruit and hire leaders with certain abilities and aptitudes and then train them to acquire needed skills.

Multiple Perspectives and the Impact of the Situation

Although individual characteristics tend to be stable, that stability does not mean that people cannot behave in ways that are inconsistent with their personality, values and attitudes. Instead, each characteristic provides a behavioral zone of comfort as presented in the figure below. The zone of comfort includes a range of behaviors that come naturally and feel comfortable to perform because they reflect individual characteristics. Behaving outside that zone is difficult, takes practice and in some cases might not be possible. Although we are at ease in our behavioral comfort zone, we learn and grow by moving to our zones of discomfort. The behavior in these zones challenge and push us to our limits. Therefore, although it is difficult to do so, an effective learning tool is to move outside the comfort zone.

Traits Revisited: A Fresh Look at Leader’s IndividualCharacteristics and Behaviors

Although strong evidence of a consistent relationship between specific traits and leadership effectiveness is lacking, interest in understanding the personal characteristics of leaders continues.

Kirkpatrick and Locke have proposed a modern a approach to understanding the role of traits in leadership: several key traits alone are not enough to make a leader, but they are a precondition for effective leadership.