Differences Between Trait and Behavioral Theories of Leadership

This article discusses the differences between trait and behavioral theories of leadership, how organizations can select and develop effective leaders, and innovations that have affected organizational behavior.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 1
Organizational Behavior
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Introduction.
Teamwork is a group of people combine efforts, and solve problems together, it is the most
efficient way to carry out tasks. However, it does not always give the expected results due to
some reasons. This paper will discuss some of the differences between behavior and trait theories
of leadership, how an organization can choose and develop a successful leader. The article will
also give examples of innovations that have affected organizational behavior and disrupt changes
as well.
Reasons why teamwork don’t give the expected outcomes
Some of the reasons successful businessmen like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet give are:
1. Unknown purpose: Where the members of the group don't understand the meaning of
doing the work, they could never succeed. It is therefore essential for team members to
know the aims or objectives of the group, procedure to carry on activities and how to
determine their success in meeting the goals (Driskell, Salas & Driskell, 2018).
2. Poor leadership Every team needs a leader to facilitate its running, leaders are responsible
for assigning a task, following up of work procedures, planning for meetings, and many
other duties. A team that does not have a capable leader may lack direction and morale
hence member becoming reluctant of doing their work, which may lead to failure of the
whole group.
3. Too many members in one group: teams with a large number of participants may be
difficult to control because every person has a different idea, and they all think their
opinions are right. Some people are also tough to work with because they lack
interpersonal skills when such people are put together in the same group; it becomes a

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 3
hard task to control them for the leader. Again, when a team has many members, some
may be reluctant, leaving all the tasks to be performed by some active members.
4. Erratic membership. There should be a consistent membership where all members
understand each other and are used for working together. This helps the leaders to invite
only the right people in a meeting, although new members can join the group, people
work better with people they are already used to (Grover, Porter, & Morphet, 2017).
5. Fear of failure: sometimes people fear to share their idea because they fear that they
might fail the entire group. It is not healthy for the team because every team needs to be
challenged to develop creativity and innovation among the group members.
Difference between traits and behavioral theories of leadership.
Trait leadership theory uses a leader's characteristics to determine their leadership success. It
emphasizes that a leader is born and cannot be made (De Ridder & Lensvelt-Mulders, 2018).
This theory uses some traits to evaluate the success of a leader in future, some of this traits are
emotional stability, competence, honesty, self-motivation, desire to achieve among other
characteristics a successful leader should have (FleTroy, Justin, Jitendra, & Bharat, 2017). As for
behavioral-leadership theory, it emphasizes on leaders being made and that everybody could be
trained and become a very successful leader. This theory focuses on the behaviors of a leader
instead of the characteristics of leaders. Both approaches could be right because there are both
born and made leaders; some leaders don't need to be trained because leadership is already in
them. However, there are also several very successful leaders who have been trained to become
leaders at different points of life.

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 4
How an organization can select and develop an effective leader.
Organizations can identify potential leaders through observing and assessing the behavior of
workers; this will help the Management categorize their employees in terms of their leadership
potential. Can be classified as workers with leadership traits, workers that need the training to
become leaders, and those who cannot be leaders at all. This could help the human resource to
select the most effective leaders for the organization. After selection, the appointed leaders
should be taken through training to empower them with skills of being a successful leader (Troy,
Justin, Jitendra & Bharat, (2017).
Sustaining Innovations that have affected organizations in the past years in organizational
behavior.
Technology has brought about better organizational behaviors that have made it easier to manage
workers more effectively. Some of these technologies include:
1. Time & attendance software- this is a software that all employees use to clock-in, and out
of work, it has the biometric of all employees. It keeps records of the time each employee
reported to work and the time each employee leaves the premise. The innovation has
affected the punctuality of employees because if the T&A software records that you are
consistently coming late, then you have to explain to the Management.
2. Cloud storage- this innovation enabled employees to easily access information even when
there are not at the office and with no delays. Information store here is also safe since it
cannot be lost due to technical problems. This innovation has helped to timely complete
tasks (Lin, Su, & Higgins, 2016).

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 5
3. Organization's portal- using the portal, all employees can know all the updates of the
organization. Important information and announcements are posted on the portal where
everyone can access it easily. This has helped to communicate with all employees easily
as you don't have to print memos which may not reach all employees in time. Consumers
are also able to see available products
4. Video conferencing- this is where the people can hold meetings when they are in
different locations and exchange conversations. They use computers to connect with the
help of internet. It saves on money and time that could be used to travel all the way to
attend meetings on the given venues.
In the past years, there have many and highly disruptive technologies that have affected
everyone either directly or indirectly. Most of these innovations have a positive impact they
include:
1. Chat boat- this is a software where you type any question, and it automatically answers. It
has affected me positively because I can easily research on anything concerning
academics or anything else for general knowledge.
2. Digital transformation- with digital transformation, it has become easier to access most
services without moving. For example bank services: it is possible to check balances,
withdraw, or deposit money with my mobile phone without going to the bank (Dean, Uhl,
& Ratwani, 2018).
3. Automation- with the automation of business processes, it has become easier for
manufacturing organizations because it can reduce the cost of production as well as
production time. Automation has affected me as I lost my part-time job in a

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 6
manufacturing company after they automate their processes (King & Baatartogtokh,
2015).
4. Artificial intelligence- this is where a computer can learn, think and act just like human
beings, it has made work more comfortable as robots can perform an action that could
consume too much energy and time (Guttentag, 2015).
Culture.
From the knowledge acquired from studying organizational behavior, it is evident that
interpersonal skills, leadership method, motivation, human resource practices, training, and team
behavior are all related. They affect each other directly or indirectly; excellent interpersonal
skills affects the model of solving conflict and the response of the team, which in turn determines
which leadership method will be used. The leadership method can motivate or demotivate
employees, and it is, therefore, natural for the human resource manager to carry out their
activities (Miner, 2015).
Conclusion.
In summary, working as a team is considered the most efficient method to perform a task.
However, it fails to meet the expectations due to several factors that affect the group. Trait theory
differs from behavior theory as trait focuses on characteristics of a leader its perception is that
leaders are born while behavior theory perceives that leaders can be made based on their
behaviors. Organizations can identify and develop an effective leader by observing and
evaluating the responses of the workers. Many innovations have affected organizational behavior
in the new path, some disruptive innovations that have influenced me are chat boat, digital

Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 7
transformation, among others. From the study, it is evident that most activities and behaviors in
an organization are related.
References.
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RESEARCH INST FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES FORT
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of Research in Personality, 56, 82-92.

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