Scale Ratings of the Traits of a Leader
Respondents were asked to rate the importance of 23 traits leaders might or might not possess, using a 1 (least importance) to 5 (greatest importance) scale. Table 5 shows the mean ratings for the entire sample of 1,200.
| Table 5. Importance of Specified Traits of Superior Leaders to Business Men and Women and Alma College Alumni, Mean Rating, 1 (Lowest) to 5 (Highest) Scale | |
| Trait | Mean Rating, 1-5 Scale |
| Honesty/integrity | 3.88 |
| Work ethic | 3.68 |
| Communication skill | 3.63 |
| Commitment | 3.61 |
| Vision | 3.57 |
| Self-discipline | 3.56 |
| Optimism | 3.52 |
| People skills | 3.50 |
| Intelligence | 3.48 |
| Open-mindedness | 3.46 |
| Judgment | 3.44 |
| Team orientation | 3.38 |
| Results orientation | 3.31 |
| Ability to inspire/motivate | 3.28 |
| Empathy | 3.27 |
| Selflessness | 3.18 |
| Action orientation | 3.14 |
| Passion | 3.13 |
| Generosity | 3.13 |
| Ability to take risks | 3.09 |
| Creativity | 3.06 |
| Charisma | 2.79 |
| Physical attractiveness | 1.49 |
| Source: EPIC _ MRA. | |
A glance at Table 5 shows that the mean ratings of nearly all of these attributes lie in a very compressed range between 3.06 and 3.68. The exceptions are at the top and the bottom. At the top is integrity and honesty (the two words were used to describe a single attribute), which is clearly valued more highly than the other traits. At the bottom are charisma and physical attractiveness, two traits which are clearly perceived to be of less importance than the others. Where the middle 20 traits are concerned, however, one shouldn’t make too much of the order in which they are listed; we would not expect it to be repeated exactly if the survey were repeated.
