Leadership is an influential process that enhances performance and allows an individual to execute fundamental processes within organizations. Leadership provides groups with incentives and guidelines that empower groups to attain set goals. Trait and skills approaches are crucial in the quest for improved leadership.
Comparison
Trait and skills approach proffer essential elements that allow leaders to attain efficiency within institutions. These approaches empower leaders with pertinent attributes that boost their capacity to influence groups to achieve common goals. The approaches also enable leaders to make realistic, technical, fair, and effective decisions concerning performance issues (Northouse, 2010). The approaches also require that leaders exude high levels of competency and possess the requisite expertise. This leads to proper relations with stakeholders and allows leaders to set sustainable and innovative working guidelines.
Skills and trait approach are principles that improve an individual’s technical know-how, human understanding, fairness, decisiveness and the ability to work with ideas and varied concepts (Northouse, 2010). These approaches allow leaders to issue fair judgments and show improved decisiveness.
Contrast
The skills approach corresponds to the knowledge and ability that individuals need to attain effectiveness. Influencing groups to pursue common interests requires a tactical approach. However, leadership traits are inherent or acquired through training. This explains the outright contrast linking the two elements (Lumby & Coleman, 2007). Leadership skills are critical attributes such as technical capability while the Trait approach streamlines stakeholder relations.
Skills define the acquired knowledge and capacity of individuals based on technical and professional dimensions (Martin, 2006). The skills approach focuses on procedural, human and theoretical proficiency. These allow leaders to understand and formulate performance policies in a systematic manner.
The trait approach affirms that leaders are born with distinguished or unique character traits that allow them to direct others. The character traits that emanate intrinsically are integral in driving social coherence and appropriate decision-making (Eisenhower, 2011).
Conclusion
Leaders play critical roles that set new directions and visionary performance ideals within institutions. Leaders improve effectiveness and competence during service delivery. This makes it fundamental for leaders to equip themselves with noble skills and uphold excellent character traits.
References
Eisenhower, D. (2011). The 14 Leadership Traits & Top Leadership Principles. Web.
Lumby, J., & Coleman, M. (2007). Leadership and diversity: Challenging theory and practice in education. Los Angeles, Calif: SAGE.
Martin, B. (2006). Outdoor leadership: Theory and practice. Champaign, Ill: Human Kinetics.
Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.