Leadership: Born into It or Trained

Are leaders born leaders or are they trained to be leaders? Well I think I would answer facetiously by saying, “Yes.” But let me explain by first of all speaking about born leaders and then trained leaders. There are examples of both types of leaders throughout history. So we must consider both when we want to determine if we or another person is a leader.

Are there any inborn qualities of leadership in a person? Probably we should consider them personality characteristics. Yes, I believe there are some characteristics that enhance or promote a person to leadership.

Ronald E Riggio Ph.D. in an article in Psychology today says, “Research suggests that extraversion is consistently associated with obtaining leadership positions and leader effectiveness. There is also some evidence that being bold, assertive, or risk-taking can be advantageous for leaders. Leaders also need to be smart to analyze situations and figure out courses of action. So, intelligence is associated with leadership, but perhaps not general IQ, but social intelligence – understanding of social situations and processes – is the component of intelligence that is important for leadership. Finally, some sort of empathy, or ability to know followers, is also advantageous for leaders (although much of this is learned). As noted leadership scholar, Bernard Bass, noted, “The leader must be able to know what followers want, when they want it, and what prevents them from getting what they want.”

All of us can think of examples of leadership traits within children. I remember watching my son as he related to his sisters when they were at the early childhood ages. My son would direct the play of each of his sisters and even neighbor children. He told them what the game was, what their roles were and how they game would be played out. My wife and I saw the leadership ability and characteristics in him at a very young age. However, we also directed him to include them a bit more in the decision making process.

So then we come to the point of training and development of leaders. Leaders who are born with a tendency toward leadership character need training just as much those who are not. Leadership development is a need and must be a decision of every aspiring leader to look for and attain.

To quote Riggio again, “Does this mean that introverts, persons of average social intelligence, or those of us who are not particularly empathic will not make good leaders? Certainly not. Though we can see certain traits in a child who is an extravert that are leadership leaning this does not negate the fact that the introvert can develop into a great leader.
Returning to my comments about my sons signs of leadership let me add the further developments of our daughters. As they grew older and especially into their early teens I noticed that each of our daughters showed leadership in their own rite. One of them displayed leadership by gaining knowledge. She was an avid reader. Knowledge was then used to counter her brother’s ideas or proposals that she did not agree with. Our other daughter used her skill with language and verbal debate. So our daughter grew to be leaders and brought themselves up to a peer level with their brother by the time they all had graduated from school. Personality led leadership is not the only style it seems.

You might not expect the founder of the social network, Facebook, to be reserved, but Zuckerberg is a classic introvert. “He is shy and introverted and he often does not seem very warm to people who don’t know him, but he is warm,” Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told the New York Times. She has offered social and political guidance to balance to Zuck’s less-charismatic personality. “He really cares about the people who work here.”

It’s collaborative, genuine connections that make him a persuasive CEO, rather than keeping a wide swath of people under his thumb, are examples of how introverts are valuable employees–and great leaders. From Fast Company’s July/August cover story we read, “The fact that Zuckerberg can more often than not persuade startup founders to join the company and work with him is a vote for the glass-half-full perspective. “What I found compelling was Mark’s commitment to spending a lot of time with us,” says Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe.

A non-leader child can certainly be trained to be a leader to the same competency of the “born” leader. Notice I use the word “born” hesitantly because even the person born with a personality bent toward leadership may fail to become a good leader. Leadership is first a choice and then a calculated risk to accept. Leadership defines who you are and the world around you. Whether you have the personality at the present that shows you as a leader or not you can become a strong and healthy leader and change history in your lifetime.

Born or trained? I think leaders can be made of either. The world needs more great leaders. There is no sense in sorting through the crowds looking for only the “born to be” leaders. Leaders look for anyone who shows some potential and willingness to be developed into a leader. Then they make leaders all around them.

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