Chapter 7 Summary and Question

Chapter 7 is about the different traits that leaders have. There are two approaches to Carlyle's "great man theory" which are the trait approach and the behavior approach. The trait approach are the traits a leader has and the behavior approach is explaining how a leader acts in different situations, and also if leaders are people oriented or task oriented.

There is also explanation about how people act in different situations. Some research said it was not the characteristics or behavior of the individual, but his or her position in the flow of information that led to emergence as a leader. Another study said the main rationale for this finding appears to be that the more eye contact a person has with others and the more controls he or she has of the situation, the more likely it is that he or she will be identified as a leader.

There is also the contingency model, which shows different traits of how people are leaders and how they go about doing this. Most of the theories and models in this approach consider the situation the leader is and describes his or her characteristics as a leader.

Seeing that these contingencies have to do with the situation and how you use your leadership skills, do you agree with this statement and if so explain why, and maybe provide an example. I do believe this is a true statement because if you know what you are doing in a situation, then you will have better leadership skills and will express them better than someone who is not familiarized with this situation. An example of this is if you are starting a new job you will not be a good leader because you will just be learning the technique of doing this job well. When I was younger, I used to be in Boy Scouts, and when I first joined, I was just learning what I had to do. When I became older in the group, I would help out and teach the younger scouts at becoming better scouts and show them what to do. That is why the situation depends on your leadership skills.