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Traits Of A Political Leader Research Paper

¶ … Political Leader: Politicians and politics are terms that usually elicit fascination in nearly every conversation and discussion. Actually, it seems like people have some fascination with evaluation of political leaders resulting in the fact that biographies of current political figures become best sellers. In addition, the tragedies and triumphs of political leaders attract huge public attention as they become newspaper headlines. One of the major reasons for the increased fascination is because of curiosity about the personal characteristics, individual preferences, decision making processes, and the beliefs and work of these leaders. However, most of the analysis and learning about the personalities and leadership styles of these leaders is always carried out in a cursory manner. People have been forced to rely on analysis of what political leaders say as a means of learning their individual characteristics and leadership styles (Hermann, 2002). Nonetheless, it's still important to examine and understand the good and bad traits of political leaders as the basis for evaluating their leadership styles.

A Political Leader:

A political leader is described as an individual who wields the most influence in the government's pursuit of specific goals desired by people or in his or her political party. These individuals need to be good leaders who demonstrate self-actualization, which is the highest form of human growth. A political leader plays an important role in the governance of a country because of his/her function in policymaking. In light of the growing fascination with politics and politicians by the general public, it has become increasingly vital for political leaders to develop good personal characteristics that enable them to be effective in their respective role and functions. The need for such characteristics is also fueled by the recent incidents where some politicians have demonstrated poor leadership skills and ineffective decision-making abilities.

An understanding of the good characteristics of a political leader is crucial since it helps voters to make the right choice when deciding the candidate to put into a particular office. This would also help voters to avoid electing individuals with bad qualities and those unsuitable to hold any public service office or role. In essence, the need for politicians...

Some of the good individual traits or characteristics of a political leader include & #8230;
Fairness and Objectivity:

One of the major characteristics of a good political leader is fairness and objectivity, which contributes to effectiveness in individual roles and responsibilities. In this case, a good political leader does not use his views and facts as the basis for his/her decisions (Rad, 2011). On the contrary, he uses unfiltered and reliable information to make judgments and decisions as well as develop resolutions. This implies that a good political leader stands above his/her believes to view events objectively even though the general public may fail to do so. As a result, the political leader does not suffer from a self-serving bias and make effective decisions.

Honesty:

Despite of the difficulties in being honest, a good political leader develops character and builds credibility and trust by being honest. Honesty is an important trait of a good political leader because it enables him/her to evoke confidence and respect from those around him as well as the general public. This characteristic involves saying it as it is even if it feels uncomfortable to hear i.e. not hiding the truth in attempts to look good. In addition, the leader does not seek to be a people pleaser even if it means misguiding or manipulating the general public.

Demonstrates Personal Responsibility:

A good political leader demonstrates personal responsibility by having an internal locus of control while being aware of external forces. This means that he/she does not seek to be politically correct at the expense being unethical. he/she remains focused toward the achievement of specific and measurable goals, demands, and outcomes. In this case, he/she does not look for temporary and ineffective solutions but seeks for long-term and beneficial solutions and goals. The other major way to demonstrate personal responsibility is through being accountable for personal actions while encouraging others to be accountable for…

Sources used in this document:
References:

Hermann, M.G. (2002, November 13). Assessing Leadership Style: A Trait Analysis. Retrieved November 28, 2013, from http://socialscience.net/docs/lta.pdf

Mascuilli, J., Molchanov, M.A. & Knight, W.A. (n.d.). Political Leadership in Context.

Retrieved November 28, 2013, from http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Ashgate_Research_Companion_to_Political_Leadership_Intro.pdf

McKeown, L. (2012, October 23). 3 Lousy Leadership Traits from the Campaign Trail.
Retrieved November 28, 2013, from http://www.inc.com/les-mckeown/politicians-are-bad-leadership-role-models.html
Post. Retrieved November 28, 2013, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roya-r-rad-ma-psyd/characteristics-of-trustw_b_927982.html
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