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Leadership: Nature vs. Nurture

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Leadership: Nature vs. Nurture
Kathleen Jessee
BUS318: Organizational Behavior
Professor Thomas Tonkin
May 25, 2015

Leadership: Nature vs. Nurture Even though leadership can be learned, science has found that most leaders have a genetic commonality. Interestingly, leadership means the most within an organizational context. Leader follower relationships are one of the ways leadership behavior evolves and is defined. The two most common leadership roles are the charismatic role and the instrumental role. The charismatic role empasises vision, inspires a sense of pride, and encourages respect between the leader and follower. The charismatic role is a transformational leadership model. Envolving the expanding the followers interests and facilitating followers to perform for the overall good of everyone. (Schermerhorn, 2012). Instrumental leaders show a propensity to develop strategy and set procuedures in motion. In addition, the instrumental leader uses all means available to the achievement of organizational goals. While science has shown that most successful leaders have both charisma and instrumental tendencies, these traits alone are not enough to become an effective leader. Reasearch literature has been full of information regarding the qualities of different leadership traits and how they influence change within an organization. It is important to note that, it would be irresponsible not to address how leaders develop mastery of the leadership skill set (Sahgal, 2007).
Personality Traits and Genetics Some leadership traits are innate. According to the University College London, there are genetic differnces associated with people who are successful leaders. The article discussed a study published online in Leadership Quarterly, claiming that a specific DNA sequence was found in people who held leadership positions. The genotype, rs4950 is passed

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