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ACCA Strategic Professional · Strategic Business Leader · Qualities of leadership

Meridian Logistics is choosing a new regional director. The chair says, 'We should look for people who are tall, confident, decisive and articulate, because the best leaders we have had all shared these characteristics.' Which leadership approach is the chair applying?

The chair is applying trait theory. It holds that effective leaders can be identified by personal characteristics such as confidence, decisiveness and articulacy, and so selection should target those attributes. Contingency and situational models instead stress fit with circumstances or followers, and transformational leadership stresses vision.

  1. ATrait theory, which assumes effective leaders are distinguished by personal characteristicsCorrect
  2. BContingency theory, which matches leader style to the situation
  3. CTransformational leadership, which focuses on inspiring followers towards a vision
  4. DSituational leadership, which adapts style to follower readiness

Explanation

The chair is selecting on the basis of inherent personal characteristics such as confidence and decisiveness, which is the core of trait theory. The other approaches focus on the situation, follower readiness or the leader's vision rather than on innate personal attributes.

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