| Course | LDR 711A Leadership Theory and Practice (LDR/711A) |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Doctoral trait and skills analysis |
| Length | about 1,162 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | DBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for LDR 711A Week 2
Who Clears the Runway First: Trait and Skills Approaches to Leadership Tested Against an Airport Operations Team
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
LDR/711A: Leadership Theory and Practice
Week 2 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Cascade Valley Regional Airport, its managers and their assessments are composites written for a model paper.
Week 1 introduced Cascade Valley Regional Airport, a composite commercial airport in central Washington, and the ice storm that closed it for 14 hours last February. Director of operations Marisol Vega supervises five managers: airfield operations, maintenance, terminal operations, the communications center and aircraft rescue and firefighting. All five have long aviation careers and similar training. Yet during the storm, they performed very differently. The airfield and maintenance managers coordinated snow and ice crews so well that runways reopened ahead of forecast. The terminal operations manager struggled to coordinate airlines, security screeners and concessionaires as passengers waited without information. This paper examines whether trait or skills approaches explain these differences.
From Traits to Attribute Patterns
Zaccaro (2007) traced the history of trait-based perspectives on leadership. Early research looked for single traits that distinguished leaders and produced inconsistent results, leading many scholars to abandon the approach. Newer research, however, showed that attributes such as cognitive ability, personality, motives and social skills do relate to leadership, especially when considered as integrated patterns. He proposed a model in which distal attributes, such as personality and cognitive ability, influence proximal attributes, such as problem-solving skills, social appraisal skills and expertise, which in turn shape leader processes and outcomes.
A Skills Model
Mumford et al. (2000) proposed a skills-based model of leadership, arguing that leadership in organizations involves solving complex, ill-defined social problems. Effective leaders draw on problem-solving skills, such as defining problems and generating solutions; social judgment skills, such as perspective taking, understanding others and adjusting behavior; and knowledge. These skills develop through career experiences and are influenced by individual attributes such as general cognitive ability, crystallized intelligence, motivation and personality.
Skills Across Levels
Mumford et al. (2007) studied managers at several organizational levels and found that leadership skill requirements form a strataplex: cognitive, interpersonal, business and strategic skills. Cognitive and interpersonal skills were required at all levels, while business and especially strategic skills became more important at higher levels. Skill requirements were not simply additive; their mix changed with level.
Gathering Evidence
Evidence came from a personality inventory and a cognitive reasoning test the managers took during a leadership program two years earlier, 360-degree feedback from staff and peers, Marisol's ratings of storm performance and an after-action review of the storm.
Experience as a Source of Skill
The skills model gives career experience a central place, and the managers' histories support it. The airfield and maintenance managers had each handled more than a dozen winter closures, accumulating knowledge of how ice forms on different surfaces, how long crews need and when to call for more equipment. The terminal manager, in his first winter in the role, had never led a terminal through an overnight closure. His sociable personality could not substitute for knowledge he had not yet had the chance to build. This suggests that the airport's practice of rotating managers into new areas without simulation training leaves them to learn during real crises.
Social Judgment in More Detail
Social judgment, as Mumford et al. (2000) describe it, includes perspective taking, social perceptiveness and behavioral flexibility. During the storm, the communications center manager displayed it well: she recognized that one airline's station manager was overwhelmed and offered to draft a joint passenger message, which the station manager gratefully accepted. Her intervention prevented conflicting messages for that airline. The terminal manager did not take similar steps with other airlines, though he was friendly with all of them.
What Traits Showed
The five managers had broadly similar cognitive test scores. Personality differed: the airfield manager scored high on conscientiousness and emotional stability; the terminal manager scored high on extraversion and agreeableness. On a trait view, the terminal manager's sociability should have helped in a crowded terminal, yet he struggled. Traits alone did not explain the pattern.
What Skills Showed
Skills explained more. The airfield and maintenance managers excelled at problem-solving skills in their technical domains: they defined priorities, sequenced crews and adjusted as conditions changed. The terminal manager had strong interpersonal warmth but weaker social judgment skills in the sense Mumford et al. (2000) describe: he did not anticipate how airline station managers would act or adjust his approach when one airline issued its own reopening time. He lacked knowledge of airline operations, having come from a facilities background.
The terminal manager was the friendliest person in the building and the least able to predict what the airlines would do next.
Levels and the Storm
The levels research by Mumford et al. (2007) suggests that Marisol's role as director required more strategic and business skills, such as anticipating cross-organizational problems, than her managers' roles did. The after-action review suggests she spent too much of the storm on airfield coordination, a lower-level problem her managers were handling well, and too little on the cross-organizational terminal problem that required her level of skill.
What the Approaches Explain
The skills approach explains why technical managers succeeded at technical problems and why the terminal manager, despite favorable traits, struggled with a complex social problem. The levels research explains a mismatch between Marisol's attention and her role's requirements.
What the Approaches Miss
Neither approach fully explains the importance of relationships, such as the weak link with one airline station manager, or the absence of shared leadership across organizations. These are relational and collective questions for later weeks. Trait and skills approaches also say little about the situation's demands beyond level.
Implications for Selection
For roles like terminal operations, which require coordinating independent organizations, selection should emphasize social judgment and knowledge of partners' operations, assessed through realistic scenarios rather than personality scores alone.
Implications for Development
Skills can be developed. The terminal manager will spend time shadowing airline station operations and lead a tabletop exercise with airlines on irregular operations. Marisol will practice stepping back from technical problems during crises to focus on cross-organizational coordination.
Implications for Marisol's Own Development
Marisol's 360-degree feedback rated her technical problem solving very high and her strategic anticipation lower, matching the storm review. Her development plan will include joining the airport's strategic planning committee and leading a regional irregular operations working group with the other airports in the state, experiences that build the strategic skills her level requires.
Cautions
Personality inventories add some predictive value, but relying on them in selection can screen out capable people and raise fairness concerns. They are best used for development and combined with evidence of skills.
Conclusion
Trait research has moved from single traits to integrated attribute patterns, and skills models treat leadership as complex problem solving shaped by experience, with requirements that change across levels. At Cascade Valley, skills, especially social judgment and partner knowledge, explained storm performance better than traits, and the levels research revealed a mismatch in the director's own attention. Both approaches inform selection and development, but relational and shared approaches are needed to explain the rest of the story.
References
Mumford, M. D., Zaccaro, S. J., Harding, F. D., Jacobs, T. O., & Fleishman, E. A. (2000). Leadership skills for a changing world: Solving complex social problems. The Leadership Quarterly, 11(1), 11-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(99)00041-7
Mumford, T. V., Campion, M. A., & Morgeson, F. P. (2007). The leadership skills strataplex: Leadership skill requirements across organizational levels. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(2), 154-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.01.005
Zaccaro, S. J. (2007). Trait-based perspectives of leadership. American Psychologist, 62(1), 6-16. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.6
What the LDR 711A Week 2 instructions ask
The second LDR 711A assignment commonly asks doctoral students to critically examine trait and skills approaches to leadership. Expect to trace the history of trait research, explain why it declined and how it returned, describe skills models, such as problem-solving, social judgment and knowledge, and evaluate the approaches' strengths, limits and implications for selecting and developing leaders. Many prompts ask students to apply the approaches to leaders they know. A strong paper uses current and seminal research, distinguishes stable traits from developable skills, considers how requirements vary by level and situation and avoids simple lists of desirable qualities. Cite peer-reviewed sources in APA format.
How this LDR 711A Week 2 example is built
Cascade Valley's five operations managers share similar training yet differed sharply in how they handled the February ice storm. The paper examines whether traits or skills explain the differences. A trait perspective argues that leadership reflects integrated patterns of attributes, including cognitive abilities, personality, motives and social skills, rather than single traits. A skills model proposes that leaders solve complex social problems through problem-solving skills, social judgment and knowledge, shaped by experience. Research on skill requirements by level shows that strategic and business skills matter more at higher levels, while cognitive and interpersonal skills matter throughout. Assessments, 360-degree feedback and storm performance show that skills, especially social judgment, explained more than traits. The paper concludes with implications for selection and development.
LDR 711A Week 2 grading rubric: where the points go
Doctoral papers on trait and skills approaches are graded on critical evaluation and evidence. Strong work explains the evolution of trait research, distinguishes traits from skills, uses current models and research and evaluates what the approaches explain and what they miss. Applying them to real leaders with evidence such as assessments and performance shows depth. Graders also look for attention to levels and situations and for practical implications for selecting and developing leaders, with appropriate caution about overreliance on personality testing. A conclusion that names the approach's limits honestly reflects doctoral judgment, and drawing on both test scores and observed crisis performance makes the comparison credible. Instructors also reward attention to how experience builds skill over time.
LDR 711A Week 2 help: mistakes to avoid
A frequent mistake is treating the trait approach as a list of qualities, such as integrity and vision, drawn from popular books. Use research and explain the shift from single traits to patterns of attributes. Another common gap is confusing traits, which are relatively stable, with skills, which develop with experience and training. Keep them distinct. Some papers ignore the situation, as if the same attributes suit every role. Address levels and context. Others apply the approaches only to famous leaders. Use leaders you can observe and evidence you can gather. Finally, discuss practical implications carefully, including the limits of personality tests in hiring.
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LDR 711A Week 2 questions, answered
What does LDR 711A Week 2 usually cover?
It usually covers trait and skills approaches to leadership, their history, current models such as integrated attribute patterns and leadership skills, and their implications for selecting and developing leaders.
Where can I find a free LDR 711A Week 2 sample paper?
The Week 2 doctoral analysis of trait and skills approaches applied to airport operations managers is free to read above.
Why did trait research decline and return?
Early studies found inconsistent single traits, which led researchers toward behavior, but newer methods showed that patterns of attributes, such as personality and intelligence, do relate to leadership.
What is the skills model of leadership?
It proposes that leaders solve complex organizational problems through problem-solving skills, social judgment skills and knowledge, shaped by individual attributes and career experiences.
Do leadership skill requirements change with level?
Research suggests cognitive and interpersonal skills matter at all levels, while business and strategic skills become more important as leaders move higher in the organization.
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