LEADERS ARE BORN OR MADE

There are a number of scenarios which confirms the assertion that leaders are actually born and not made. One of the evidences is that leaders are noticed when they are still very young. They are first recognized during childhood in schoolyards. There are kids who are always ready to assume command while still in school and leadership skills to them appears to be so effortless (Waldman, Bernard & Walter 2009). These child-leaders are characterized by a great desire for adventure and thinks very quickly whenever they are on the field. They are always ready to take positions of responsibility such as becoming class monitors. This is clear evidence that leaders are born with leadership traits in them (Wagner 2009).

This belief is also supported by the Great Man’s theory which asserts that great leaders are born with all the required internal features such as intelligence, confidence, social skills and charisma and these features make them leaders who are naturally born (Waldman 2009). Apart from the leadership traits exhibited by children while they are still young, we have leaders whose leadership skills were not learnt but they were born with these skills (Waldman 2009). Two examples of these leaders are Margaret Thatcher and Sir Winston Churchill. Margaret Thatcher and Sir Winston Churchill are credited for being the most outstanding British Prime ministers since World War II. These two leaders who did not attend any school to learn leadership skills confirm the assertion that leaders are actually born and not made (Seltzer & Bernard 2008).

Made leaders

There is a belief that leaders are made because it is not possible to have a leader born with all the required leadership qualities. I believe that effective leadership is a product of being born with the right leadership attributes. This is due to the fact that leadership is a complex undertaking due to processes and groups involved (Dalglish & Miller 2010; Dao 2008). Therefore, leading a military unit, an organization or a nation is a very complex task. Leaders can therefore be developed, but there should inborn characteristics that make people to be more suited for leadership positions. Extraversion, assertiveness, boldness and risk taking are all characteristics which increase the effectiveness of a leader and which cannot be learnt (Conger 2009). Additionally, intelligence is another factor that makes confirms the assertion that leaders are actually born when compared to learnt leadership. In the absence of intelligence, it is not possible to train effective leaders. Therefore, it is only possible to train somebody to become an effective leader if he or she is intelligent. Intelligence is a characteristic that is not attained through learning, but born in a person. This intelligence is what makes a person to know what the followers want and want they don’t want (Waldman 2009).

Therefore, from this discussion, it is evident that the most crucial aspects of leadership originate from inborn traits as compared to learnt leadership strategies. Despite the fact that both inborn and learnt aspects of leadership are important, inborn traits are more important because they form a foundation for learning advanced leadership strategies. This is the reason why I strongly believe that leaders are born and not made.

References

Conger, J 2009, ‘Developing leadership capability: What’s inside the black box?’,  Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp136-139.

Dalglish, C, & Miller, P 2010, Leadership: Understanding its Global Impact, 1^st  Edition, Tilde University Press, Prahran.

Dao, F 2008, Without Confidence, There is No Leadership – Self Confidence –     Leadership. [Online] Available at:  <http://www.inc.com/resources/leadership/articles/20080301/dao.html> [Accessed 10^th September, 2019]

Seltzer, J, & Bernard, B 2008, ‘Transformational Leadership Beyond Initiation and Consideration’, Journal of Management, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp 693-703.

Wagner, T 2009, ‘Leadership for learning: An action theory of school change’, Phi Delta, pp4-11

Waldman, A 2009, Management by Example: Developing Transformational Leaders,      Business, pp 23-28.

Waldman, A, Bernard, M, & Walter, E 2009, “Leadership and Outcomes of   Performance Appraisal Processes”, Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 60, no 3, pp177-86.