6 Main Traits of a Leader

Skills, abilities and traits

The 6 main traits of a leader are drive, leadership motivation, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability and knowledge of the business. Rae does not have ‘drive’ because she is not motivated to achieve the target. In our meeting, she said that she doesn’t think her performance is all that bad even though the targets have not been met. Rae has no ‘leadership motivation’ because leaders strive a lot to influence people whereas Rae is not doing anything to influence Jason, even though Jason needs motivation. Rae does not have ‘honesty and integrity’ because her accountant Emily Epperson is manipulating the accounts. Rae does not exhibit ‘self-confidence’ as she does not use her powers and judgment to improve the performance of the team. She has some ‘cognitive ability’ of sales (knowledge of the business) because she was a top sales rep before she took over as a sales manager. However she does not have leadership knowledge.

One of the sub traits of a leader is flexibility and I don’t think Rae is flexible because flexible leaders make decisions and solve problems quickly. Rae does not make decisions to improve sales and even though she says she is doing her best, the problems are not being solved. Rae should develop the above mentioned traits by taking classes and learn by observing her peers how to be a successful leader.

As Rae is the INTJ personality type, she prefers individual contribution and is less social; she has a rational approach and is not the feeling type. This is probably why Rae sometimes has cold reactions for Jason, does not attempt to understand Minnie's feelings, etc. She is private as being an INTJ, which may be one of the reasons her subordinates are not able to communicate with her. Being an ESFP, I am the complete opposite. I can appreciate the perfectionist solutions to complex problems Rae will come up with. I will help Rae with her current issues at work and will work towards building a good relationship with Rae, which will be beneficial to our department's success.

Role Perception

As a leader, the way Rae conducts herself is an indication of her beliefs, the organization’s values and goals, and the management ethics. Being a leader, she has to set a good example for her subordinates. But she is taking part in office partying and drinking and being a bad role model for her subordinates.

Leaders influence their team members, provide them feedback, listen to their problems and motivate them to perform better. As a leader, Rae does not take steps to motivate her employees; she neither understands nor communicates with the subordinates about their problems. She also does not provide them feedback. Jason mentioned that he is not motivated about performing his job, Minnie has issues about not receiving feedback and having to work