Foundational Skills for Academic Research

This article discusses the traits and behavioral principles in leadership and the integration and meta-analysis test of their relative validity. It examines the lack of integrity in developing traits behavioral frameworks in leadership effectiveness theory.

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Foundational skills for academic research
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Introduction
The article by Derue, Nahrgang, Wellman, and Humphrey published was published in the
year 2011. The article is about the traits and behavioral principles in leadership. It is focused on
the integration and Meta-analysis test of the relative validation of the authors. The main theme of
the article is lack of integrity in developing the traits behavioral frameworks in leadership
effectiveness theory. In addition this, the article examines the relative validity of the leaders’
trait. Some of the traits examined in the article include; intelligence level of the leaders, gender,
and leaders personalities. Moreover, the article examines the behavioral traits of leaders such as
transformation-transactional behavioral traits (Karam, 2010). The authors in this article suggest
that the combination of the leaders’ traits and their behaviors contribute to about 31% in
development of leadership effectiveness theory.
Discussion
The article suggests that the behaviors of the leaders determine how effective the
leadership effectiveness theory will be. The leaders’ traits have no significant contribution in
determination of the theory effectiveness. Leadership is one of the major topics discussed
especially in the field of social sciences (Langford 2013). The research on leadership began in
the early 90s. It started with the search for factors that differentiate leaders. Nowadays, research
on leadership effectiveness is based on the traits paradigm. The studies have shown that the
characteristics of the individual leaders determine their leadership effectiveness (Stilwell, 2013).
Some of these characteristics of the individual leaders include; their abilities, skills,
demographics, and personalities. The article evaluates the critics in the leadership traits
paradigm. One of the critics states that the researchers focus on issues related to the

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characteristics of the leaders (Mann, 2019). Instead, they should focus on behaviors of the
leaders in prediction of their effectiveness. The authors in this article argue that the
determination of the leaders’ behaviors is the best way to know whether they are effective or not.
Some leaders may show good traits but their behaviors and actions are different from their traits.
Therefore, it is good to focus on the behaviors of a particular leader to know how effective
he/she is in the leadership program.
Derue (2011) suggests that evaluation of the leadership behaviors initiates a paradigm
research-based program on leadership effectiveness. In this program, the behaviors of the leaders
are keenly monitored and evaluated. In addition, he suggested that leadership behaviors bring
about an influence in paradigm affecting the leadership theories. Some of the theories affected by
the influence of the behaviors on paradigm are contingency theories. According to Nahrgang and
Wellman (2011), both the leaders’ behaviors and traits can be investigated in the research studies
differently. The theoretical framework in leadership theories helps in determination of the
leaders’ integrity. The authors in this article show some critics on various researchers on
researchers on leadership topics. In these critics, the researchers are blamed to have been
focusing on new theories without even attempting to understand the existing leadership
effectiveness theories. The authors blame today’s researchers because they are busy coming up
with new theories without comparing and contrasting the existing ones (Macaulay, 2013). The
lack of leadership integrity in research is evidenced in both behaviors and traits paradigm. In this
case, each of the mentioned paradigms focuses on a single behavior and trait of the individual
leaders. For instance, in the paradigm, the authors have provided the meta-analysis for the
estimation of leadership effectiveness. They have also analyzed the intelligence and personality
of different leaders (Mischel, 2015). The contrast in this Meta-analysis is that none of the authors

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have compared the different traits effectively. This determines the lack of integrity in many of
the researches carried today on leadership and personality effectiveness. According to Wellman
(2011), many of the researches on leadership behavioral based paradigm programs focus on one
type of behavioral aspect which is transformation-transactional leadership. This is not an
effective way in establishment of leadership effectiveness theory. Instead of focusing on one type
of leadership, they should evaluate different types and determine how effective they are based on
their paradigm. Moreover, the article reviews on the behaviors and traits of the leaders.
According to authors in the article, a review on leadership characteristics is the basic step taken
in the formulation of the integrative theory.
The theory is used to determine how the behaviors and traits of a particular leader
influence leadership effectiveness. There are three steps followed by the authors to accomplish a
better literature review on leadership effectiveness. The first step is narrating the background
information about leadership. In this step, the conceptual model is developed to help in
organizing current behaviors and traits of leaders. The second step involves an empirical test of
the validity of the selected behaviors and traits of the leaders identified in the first step. The
empirical test is done through a combination of the new and published Meta-analysis
frameworks (Melcher, 2009). The third step is an investigation of the exemplary frameworks of
relationships from already developed conceptual models.
The article reflects on the conceptualization of leadership effectiveness. In this case, it
evaluates leadership effectiveness based on three dimensions (Derue, Nahrgang, Wellman &
Humphrey, 2011). These dimensions include; content, the target of evaluation and level of
analysis. The authors show that leadership effectiveness can be determined by being satisfied
with the leaders. The analysis of the leadership effectiveness is conceptualized at various levels

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such as; the organizational, individual, group and dyadic levels (Hedlund, 2016). The article
shows that most of the studies are based on all these levels mentioned above. In this
conceptualization framework, the satisfaction with the leaders is the main area of concern. The
group performance is the outcome of the leadership effectiveness although not specific to a
particular leader. The article suggests that the selection of a better leadership effectiveness
framework depends on the values and objectives evaluated. This is because people have different
values and objectives and therefore evaluation will determine the outcome of the research based
on those individual leaders’ values and objectives. There are some specific criteria that should be
considered for an effective leadership framework. These include; follower job satisfaction,
specific leader effectiveness, satisfaction with the leader by followers and group performance.
These criteria are chosen because they cover a range of analyses levels, target evaluation, and
content dimensions. The identified criteria above help in the examination of personal traits
validation using the Meta-analysis technique.
The behavior of the leaders can be classified based on whether they are oriented towards
the change, relational dynamics or task process. Through drawing the above-mentioned
classification, the article develops conceptual criteria that organize for the current models on
traits and behavior of leaders. The article discusses the wide range of models about the behaviors
and traits of the leaders. The empirical test is based on the subset of the leaders’ behavior and
traits. The article mainly focused on specific leaders’ behaviors and traits in establishment of the
empirical research. With respect to the traits of the leaders, the authors in the article discuss the
gender personality traits and intelligence of the leaders. In the case of leaders’ behavior, the
article focuses on transformational and transactional leadership traits. The behaviors of the
leaders are related to passive leadership frameworks. They have independent effects on

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leadership effectiveness theory. In reflection of the trait theory given in the article, there are two
things that need to be considered for a better understanding. The first thing is the traits that
differentiate leaders. The second thing is the magnitude of the identified differences among the
leaders’ traits. It is very important to understand the validity of the leader’s traits because it helps
to understand better the effectiveness of that leader in leadership. Women and men have different
personalities and intelligence levels. This is determined by their different biological and social-
cultural factors. The Meta-analysis relationship between personality and intelligence determine
the effectiveness of the leader (Lewis 2012).
The article has well reflected on the demographic factors in leadership effectiveness
criteria. In Meta-analysis relationship between the leadership and gender among men and
women, equality is key factor required. The article states that there should be no differences
between the genders in leadership effectiveness. If there are differences noted, they are due to
confounding factors such as leader traits. Leaders’ traits can be categorized on the basis of task
competence. This is related to how an individual leader performs some tasks. The tasks are
related to the specific traits of the leaders. The leaders’ competency in a particular task depends
on various factors such as the level of intelligence, skills, and experience. Some leaders are able
to perform better than others depending on the level of competence they possess to do that task.
The intelligence of leaders is determined by how they relate with other people either through
communications or reasoning (Lim, 2014). Some leaders have good communication skills than
others and this is what determines their level of intelligence in communication. On the other
hand, some leaders may have good communication capacity but not competent in their tasks. It
depends on the personalities of the leaders to measure their level of intelligence. In line with this,
the authors suggest that the leader should be allocated the task which relates to his or her

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capacity, interest and personalities for better performance (Soeters, 2012). This is very true
because if a leader is allocated task beyond his or her capacity, definitely the task will be poorly
done. Therefore, measuring the capacity of a leader before allocating him or her any task should
be the first priority.
In conclusion, according to the Meta-analysis framework, the effectiveness of a leader
can only be tested through how best he or she performs a certain task as compared to other
leaders. The article has stated it clearly that leaders will do a certain task differently. Some will
do it so perfectly while others badly (Lippa, 2015). This is determined by the personalities and
behaviors of such leaders. The article suggests that some leaders are biologically harsh. Others
may look harsh by the face but so humble in actions. Some will have good qualities to interact
with other people while others will be so aggressive. It is the role of the Meta-analysis
framework to measure the behaviors of the leaders. In addition, depending on how the leader
interacts and socialize with other people, his or her effectiveness in leadership can be measured.
With respect to MBEP passive behaviors theory in a leader, it is established that there is a close
relationship between the behaviors of the leader and how he or she is effective in leadership.

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References
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Hedlund J. (2016). Effects of individual differences on the performance of hierarchical decision-
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