Leadership For Engineering

•Trait theories argue that effective leaders share a number of common personality characteristics, or "traits."

•Early trait theories said that leadership is an innate, instinctive quality that you do or don't have. Thankfully, we've moved on from this idea, and we're learning more about what we can do to develop leadership qualities within ourselves and others.

•Trait theories help us identify traits and qualities (for example, integrity, empathy, assertiveness, good decision-making skills, and likability) that are helpful when leading others.

•However, none of these traits, nor any specific combination of them, will guarantee success as a leader.

•Traits are external behaviors that emerge from the things going on within our minds – and it's these internal beliefs and processes that are important for effective leadership.