ABSTRACT
When leaders reveal their weaknesses, they show that who they are—warts and all. Exposing a weakness establishes trust and thus helps get folks on board. Beyond creating trust and a collaborative atmosphere, communicating a weakness also builds solidarity between followers and leaders. Inspirational leaders rely heavily on their instincts to know when to reveal a weakness or a difference and they are called as situation sensors. The first leadership theory—trait theory— identified the common characteristics of effective leaders. To that end, leaders were weighed and measured and subjected to a battery of psychological tests. Gender differences can be used to either positive or negative effect. Women, in particular, are prone to being stereotyped according to differences—albeit usually not the ones that they would choose. Partly this is because there are fewer women than men in management positions. Another quality of inspirational leaders is that they capitalize on what's unique about them.
