A Leadership Junkie (Scenario)
Selma is a leadership "junkie." She has read all of the latest popular management texts on leadership and strongly feels that it has improved her ability to manage and perform her job. She is always eager to share her knowledge with her peers, especially emerging issues in leadership and the differences between the ways men and women lead.
-At home, Salma was fixing dinner and thinking about the new CEO her firm had hired. In her speech the previous day, the new CEO had discussed her experience in the industry and her education. Salma thought that the new CEO would do a great job given these characteristics, coupled with how well-spoken she was and the fact that she just looked like a CEO. Laughing, Salma realized that she had been judging the new CEO in a manner consistent with the ________ theories of leadership that were popular in the 1920s and 1930s.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Selma's judgment of the new CEO based on characteristics like experience, education, and appearance aligns with trait theories of leadership, which focus on identifying specific qualities and traits that are associated with effective leaders.