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Leadership and Supermen

    I had a really good class in MGMT 101 this morning, they were animated and talkative (in a good way). I wonder how much that was a consequence of having them all sit together at the front of the class.

    Marie Wilson once reminded me of the difference that occurs in class dynamics as a result of how spread out the students are.

    Anyway, one of the things that I don't think I made clear today, was the relationship between the Trait Approach to leadership and the music I was playing (O Superman–see below for the details).

    In a glib way, the trait approach presupposes that one either has, or doesn't have, the necessary characteristics to be a great (or heroic) leader. Alas, there are so many organisations and so few 'heroic' leaders–that is to say, from the trait approach, perhaps the world doesn't have enough supermen/superwomen.

    Actually, it is interesting to compare and contrast the Trait Approach to leadership with Jim Collins' ideas of Level 5 leadership. Although the traits are different between the two, one is still left wondering where these 'heroes' are going to come from.

    References

    Collins, J. C. (2001). Good to great: Why some companies make the leap–and others don't). New York: HarperBusiness.


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    Word count: 300 (about 1 minutes)

    Published:

    Updated: 22 Sep '04 13:47

    Author: Peter Smith

    Permalink: https://petersmith.org/blog/2004/09/22/leadership-and-supermen/

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    Source: blog/2004/09/22/leadership-and-supermen/index.org