ABSTRACT
There are still some who believe that leadership ability is something you have or don’t have, the consequences of traits that you are born with. A trait is a feature or quality of a person; it is the combination of traits that make each of us unique. Some of these are physical (eye colour or height); some are behavioural (a tendency to get angry quickly or to be shy of other people); and some are medical (a tendency to develop heart disease or cystic fibrosis). Although many traits are the result of genetic coding, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t affected by environmental conditions as well – healthy eating can reduce the risk of an inherited propensity for heart disease, for example, and learnt behaviours can help someone control their anger or overcome shyness.
