Leadership: Theory and Practice

Smith and Foti (1998) found that certain personality traits were related to leadership emergence in a sample of 160 male college students. The individuals who were more dominant, more intelligent, and more confident about their own performance (general self-efficacy) were more likely to be identified as leaders by other members of their task group.

Teams often fail because they let something else replace their goal, such as personal agendas or power issues (Larson & LaFasto, 1989).

Leadership also motivates when it makes the path to the goal clear and easy to travel through coaching and direction, removing obstacles and roadblocks to attaining the goal, and making the work itself more personally satisfying

Directive leadership

Level 2. Conventional Morality Those who are at this level judge the morality of actions by comparing them to society’s views and expectations.

Definitions of leadership appearing in the first three decades of the 20th century emphasized control and centralization of power with a common theme of domination.

Furthermore, their results showed that servant leadership contributed positively to team potency by enhancing group process and clarity.

Shared leadership is even more important for virtual teams.

Altruism is an approach that suggests that actions are moral if their primary purpose is to promote the best interests of others.