Bobcat's Buzz

Certain personality traits are positively related to leader effectiveness and team performance. These personality traits include surgency, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Even though there are no universal personality traits that are predictors of leader effectiveness in all situations, some situations and organization cultures require specific personality traits and leadership styles relative to the follower’s…

There seems to be considerable attention focused on the moral attributes of leaders such as honesty, integrity, compassion, and courage.  O’Toole (1996) describes this phenomenon as “values-based leadership” and posits that good ethics and morality directly influence a person’s leadership quality.  He points out that leadership based solely on contingency theory typically relies on a…

  Although all managers perform the traditional management functions of planning, organizing, staffing, controlling and directing, it seems that the higher the management level within an organization the more important it is for the manager to practice a greater degree of leadership skills.  At high management levels the manager’s duties are concerned less with the…

 From ancient time to the postmodern period, theorists have produced a wide array of personal characteristics and skills in their effort to define an ideal leader. Early period attributes related to a leader being a singular source of authority and being endowed with unique qualities that allowed them to capture their follower’s imagination. Many of…

There are a myriad of leadership definitions and they vary in complexity. For instance, Dwight Eisenhower made a simple, pragmatic definition when he stated, “Leadership is the ability to decide what is to be done, and then getting others to do it” (Larson, 1968).  A more complex definition, however, was presented by Cleeton and Mason…

In an ambitious, global environment it is important for businesses to achieve competitive advantages that can enable their organization to earn better than average returns. Competitive advantage can be achieved by possession of important assets, control of natural resources, or economies of scale.  The pattern, however, is increasingly coming to favor those organizations that can…

I recently read the IMF article, “Macroeconomic Activity and Poverty Reduction,” and found it quite revealing regarding the sources of poverty. I frequently thought of the countries of North Korea, Somalia, and Ethiopia while reading the article especially relative to the comment, “In most cases, sustained high rates of growth also depend upon key structural…

Today I discovered the creed of Auburn University and was stirred by its lucid, sensible message.  In my opinion, words such as these can help guide us to lead  more fruitful, productive lives and should be shared with friends and family.  Herewith, the Auburn creed:  I believe that this is a practical world and that…