There is an ongoing debate as to whether leaders are made or born. I believe it is both.
Some people believe that leadership like any other skill can be learned. While there is some truth to this, to assume that leadership is mutually exclusive of talent, acquired skills, and knowledge is like saying you can learn to sing like Mariah Carey or paint like Leonardo da Vinci if you attend the right school. Skills and knowledge without talent can take you only so far; at best, you become a good leader but not a great leader. I believe in order to become a great leader, you must possess some innate qualities.
Imagine someone with tremendous sales talent. In order for him to maintain high productivity, he must believe in what he is selling and have a good knowledge of the product. These two factors coupled with his natural talent for persuasion are what make him successful. But remove one of the factors, and you will see a negative impact on his performance.
If you teach someone the product information and try to infuse some passion into him without him having natural sales talent, he will probably be a mediocre salesperson as opposed to someone who has all three factors. Likewise, you can teach people leadership skills, but if they do not have passion for leading others, they will fail in comparison to someone who does.
I agree. You can provide skills and education, but whether the individual possesses the traits and qualities of a leader may not be so.
ReplyDeleteI would like to expand on the basic have and have not's and bring attention to the fact that there are many types of "intelligence" and that many of us are one way or another. A leader must have mixed intelligence and understand all variables in an equation to assess and compose information to which their followers will understand.
A person with the ability to be a leader is born, but they do not become a leader without the proper mentors guiding them; helping to balance each type of intelligence so that one day that person can be the greatest leader.
The potential to be a leader is inherent to the person. Becoming a leader requires discipline and balance which is taught by predecessors.