It is well known fact that we genetically inherit certain physical and behavioral characteristics. You might resemble your parents or your siblings in appearance and you might even act and react the same way as your parents or siblings react to certain situations.
But What about Leadership – is it by nature or can it be nurtured? Are leaders born or made?
Before answering this question, we should first talk about what Leadership is and how you define it.
Every person has a different idea about who a Leader is and how one can be good at it; based on this idea each person defines leadership in a different way. Dr. Paul Hersey, best known for conceiving Situational Leadership defines leadership as “working with and through others to achieve objectives.”
Drew Dudley defines it as an Everyday aspect.
Click here to see how 30 other business owners define leadership in their own way.
In a study conducted by Center for Creative Leadership, more than 52% of people think that leaders are made and only 19% think that leaders are born.
In another study conducted by Dr. Kari Keating, Dr. David Rosch and Lisa Burgoon at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign supports the idea that leaders are made, not born, and that leadership development is a science and follows a specific progression.
Is this the right question to ask?
In this article, Connson Chou Locke says this is the wrong question. He says that the right question is to ask ourselves if we are looking at leadership emergence ( which could be a born trait) or leadership effectiveness (which is made). A born leader might stand out in a group due to his inherent characteristics but for him to be able to succeed he needs to nurture his skills. Several factors (type of job, context) determine if someone to be effective in a leadership position in addition to the person’s ability to develop leadership skills.
A colleague of mine once told me – “You cannot motivate me by having me read a book”. He seemed to be a born leader, we could also see the leadership emerging in him but he did not have the desire to nurture his inborn trait. On the contrary, I also had situations where people came to me asking to suggest them resources to learn, develop and nurture their skills and to help them grow.
I learnt that you can spend hours empowering people by giving them all the tools to help them grow; but if they do not have the desire to grow and take action, then you cannot do anything. As the proverb says “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink”; people will only do what they have a mind to do. Same thing is true with helping others reach their leadership potential.
Having said that, when you have the desire to learn and grow, you can grow into a great Leader. Leadership is an important aspect of our lives. We need to develop the right values, strength and courage to deal with the unknown.
Leaders are the ones who constantly strive to grow and help others grow.
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Marshall Goldsmith, based on an extensive study on leadership development programs involving over 86,000 participants in eight major corporations gives specific suggestions to increase your leadership effectiveness.
Some may have the Leadership potential by nature, while others develop it by nurture. Nevertheless, one still has to nurture their skills to become a great Leader.
What is your belief on building leaders? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.