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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Qualities of leadership

Harbour Pharma's board believes leadership ability is largely inborn. A director argues, 'We should therefore spend little on leadership development and concentrate on recruiting people who already have the right traits.' Which statement best describes the implication of the trait view for the company's HR policy?

The trait view implies concentrating on selection and recruitment. If leadership qualities are largely inborn, the organisation should identify people who already have them rather than invest heavily in development. Situational and contingency models instead imply training for style flexibility or matching leaders to situations.

  1. AEmphasis on selection and recruitment, with limited scope for developmentCorrect
  2. BEmphasis on training leaders to adapt their style to each subordinate's maturity
  3. CEmphasis on rotating leaders so that the situation fits their style
  4. DEmphasis on rewarding leaders for transactional exchanges with followers

Explanation

If leadership qualities are innate, the practical implication is to identify and select people with them rather than develop them. Training for style adaptation and rotation to fit situations are implications of situational and contingency approaches. Rewarding exchanges relates to transactional leadership.

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