Locus of Control, initially conceptualized by Julian Rotter (1966), has proven essential to many studies. In psychology, it is a generalized expectation about the forces that determine reinforcement. Individuals with an internal orientation perceive rewards as contingent and based on their personal behavior, while those with an external orientation attribute the reinforcement received to external factors such as chance and powerful others (Levenson 1981). This essay examines the nature and importance of this psychological construct, particularly in the areas of academic achievement and health. Furthermore, it has been argued that high internality is positively associated with leadership, while high powerful others score has detrimental impacts. Finally comes the argument that higher internality is beneficial for career and leadership. The Nature and Importance of the “Locus of Control” Construct Theoretically derived from Rotter's EI scale, the Levenson scale is widely used due to its sufficient reliability and validity. Compared to the overly simplistic EI scale, this multidimensional approach is more convincing because it reduces ambiguous wording and almost deters social desirability biases that might elicit a loss of reality (Krampen 1981). On the other hand, it can be said that the EI scale is more widely applied. As central as it is, the EI scale is surrounded by other developments of the Locus of Control construct and may be more dominant in certain areas. Riordan (1981) administered these two scales to South African students. Indeed, the Rotter scale was found to be very reliable, as well as the finding that black participants scored significantly lower on internality than white respondents...... middle of article ......pp. 159-168, accessed April 4, 2014, Tandfonline, doi: 10.1080/00224545.1981.9711654. Rotter, J. 1966, “Generalized expectations of internal versus external control of reinforcement”, Psychological Monographs, vol. 80, pp. 1-28, accessed April 1, 2014, PsycARTICLES, doi: 10.1037/h0092976. Selart, M. 2005, “Understanding the role of locus of control in consultative decision making: a case study”. Management Decision, Vol. 43, pp. 397-412. Spector, PE 1988, 'Workplace Development of the Control Scale'. Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 61, pp. 335-340, accessed April 10, 2014, Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8325.1988.tb00470.x. Wallston, BS and Wallston, KA 1978, “Locus of Control and Health: A Review of the literature” , Health Education and Behavior, Vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 107-117, accessed April 5, 2014, Sage Journals, doi: 10.1177/109019817800600102.