Great Man Theory and Trait Theory

Leaders are born. Everyday, many new leaders are brought into this world by different families, cultures or backgrounds. Martin Luther King Jr. was born into a highly religious family, Rosa Parks lived in a segregated community, and George Washington had a highly decorated military background. However, the great man theory is not based off of what you did to become a leader it is if you were born into a family of royalty or wealth.

Traditional Great Man theory suggests that leaders are preserved through their offspring. Powerful men are to marry the daughters of other powerful men because women were not traditionally leaders. This concept is based off of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Traditionally powerful men were born into the right families, white, wealthy, educated, and privileged. By marrying the right women, these families thought that they were creating future leaders. Their sons were expected to be models of their fathers during this time. This theory expanded over time, it was too narrow as society changed. It slowly changed into a new phase called Modern Great Man Theory.

Great leaders become heroic. They were known to stand up for what they believed in. Their family backgrounds no longer mattered as much as their actions. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was noted specifically for his actions of April 28^th, 1967 when he gave his “I Have A Dream” speech. Nobody cared who his father was or who he had married, but people did care about his words, which inspired unity. Martin Luther King Jr., is an example of modern great man theory because of his influence on America. People today pick up aspects of his leadership and use it in a new theory known as trait theory.

Trait Theory focuses on the leader and not the followers or situations. The difference between this theory and the modern form of Great Man Theory is that leaders are formed primarily around their physical makeup, such as height or strength. Though their parents matter from a hereditary point of view, they do not play a key part in the leader’s assumption as leader. Current President Barack Obama, for example, has a Kenyan father. Though he gets his height and darkened skin from this man, the father does not play any real role in how people perceive of President Obama’s leadership. President Obama is the first black president of the United States and that is how future generations will remember him.

No matter what kind of theory a leader subscribes to, they all overlap in terms of being strong and heroic. In America, leaders are admired most when they stand up for their principles in a cause. What other factors might have influenced that leader’s ascent to power (family connection, social recognition, or appealing features) do not matter as much as what that leader does with his position. Whenever the nation is thrust into a period of national mourning (most recently being the Tucson shootings) President Obama has always stepped up to offer words of comfort and strength through his position, and that is what I admire most about him as a leader.