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We asked the question: Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both
Many think that "Leaders" are simply born with the DNA to lead. Many others think that "Leadership" can be learned and grown with proper education and experience. Some others think that it is a combination of the two that breeds the greatest leaders... What is your take?
Found at Answers on LinkedIn
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Quotations may be attributed incorrectly. This is an unedited edition of Let the People Speak. All quotations have been previously made available to the general public. This free resource may be re-quoted with the following attribution: LinkedIn is a trademark of LinkedIn Corporation Mountain View, CA USA 2008. Linked 2 Leadership is a group on LinkedIn. No other affiliation exists. These quotations do not necessarily reflect the opinion of anyone other than the person quoted.
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? G. Clarke wrote: We are, for the most part born the same. Carbon based organisms. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Excluding birth defects and trauma, we have the same faculties to exploit. So, I am a believer that it has to do in large part with environmental factors that affect the individual. M. Wierzgac wrote:
Leaders are made. Leaders become leaders in 1 of 3 ways: 1 - a crisis or event pushes them into leadership 2 - their personality leads them into it 3 - they choose to be a leader. If they choose to become a leader, they also choose the depth of their training (some deep, some shallow).
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? G. Krstulovic wrote: They are born to be made. Let me clarify it this way Leadership is a set of skills that can be learned by practice over time. This is true of literally any skill. However, you need some in-born talent or pre-determination to master the skill. There is a significant difference between learning the skill and mastering one. I love basketball, but no matter how hard I practice, I wont be able to play it like Michael Jordan. I hope you see where I am coming from.
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? O. Ballesta wrote: Leadership is a quality that can be improved by training and experience. In short, passion, communicational abilities, innovative mindset, abilities to negotiate, humility, courage, self-determination and empowerment are a mix of personality traits with learned skills that being most of them innate and inherent to the emotional profile and personality of an individual can be perfectly enhanced, expanded and improved by proper training, successive and diverse experience in the workplace, mentoring and behavioural coaching.
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? S. Chapple wrote: The old 'nature' versus 'nurture' question! I am an advocate that leadership can be developed over time. It is essentially about understanding other people and, more importantly, understanding yourself. Of course, there will always be those individuals who have a natural talent for leadership far above the majority!
www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? D. Prasad wrote: To me it's neither; they are self made with will and vision S. Hazra wrote:
Everyone comes into this world by virtue of birth and so do the Leaders!! Leadership is a skill and like any other skill can be acquired over a period of time by practicing it. Some people are talented and are born with good leadership qualities. But like any other 'skill,' one has to hone it over a period of periods and has to remain dynamic. Not all of the leaders are born with the same, it is through your upbringing and training of your mind, perseverance, ability & aptitude to learn can only make a good leader. There are certain traits but as a Leadership has Application dimension, hence, simply knowing the traits will not make a good leader. www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? J.M. Koenig wrote: I was born. J.M. Koenig later wrote: I'm curious about something. How do coaches and trainers actually make money. I'm mean in real life. Money to pay bills etc. Do people actually pay you money to tell them how to live and is that money enough to survive on? I just find the whole profession puzzling and it seems that almost everyone on this site is either a coach or a recruiter.
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? K. LaVine wrote: In order to answer this question an even more basic one must be asked first (I believe); What is a Leader? By my definition a true leader is one who encourages and ALLOWS those they lead to be the best they can be and in doing so facilitates advancement in a positive direction. By this definition leaders may be found in all areas of our lives (not just in the board rooms of high powered companies, in the military, or in the political arena). We are all capable of leading (Born) to the degree that we are willing to learn (Made) to bring people together and allow each individuals strengths to contribute to a common goal.
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? J.S. Webster wrote: I think that anyone can learn leadership skills, but the ability to inspire is what separates a person with 'leadership training' and a person who is a 'leader.' B. Sanders wrote: There are those who are born and those who are taken out by there own troops.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? S.M. Diamond wrote: Perhaps you should specify if you want a serious answer, or a humorous one - both can apply - equally . . . :-) I. Babelli wrote:
Leaders are made, by someone who gives them a chance. Almost every leader has had a person who entrusted him/her with an opportunity that was bigger than his/her ability/skill set/knowledge/etc at the time of the opportunity, so s/he took it upon him/her-self to learn and advance and become a leader. I cannot, for the life of me, come up with an example to counter the above argument except in the jungle (or similar sittings) where the dominant male fights his way up to leadership.
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R. Evans wrote:
Both. I absolutely believe that leadership can be taught/learned. This case has been made in many ways, including various research over the years. This has been addressed by people who have answered your question in one of the three postings. I also absolutely believe that some people are "born leaders." My father, a career military man, used to say this: "If you think there's no such thing as a born leader, leave a group of kids on a playground and come back in 20 minutes. Without fail, when you come back, there will be one kid leading that group. In many cases, it won't be the most popular kid and it often won't be the kid you expected. Furthermore, it frequently isn't the kid that wanted to lead the group. It will be the kid that has 'that something' that enables him/her to say, 'let's do (whatever)' and the others will follow. Interestingly, that same kid will quite likely become a leader throughout his/her life." I am certain that some people, particularly those who cite traditional research will disagree with this scenario. The most likely argument is that "leading" kids on a playground is not really leadership. I submit that one key aspect of leadership is evoking in others the desire to follow. After all, without followers, leaders are just people out for a walk. I believe one reason that many people argue against born leaders is that it would seem to doom others to being permanent followers. Many people insist that it must be one or the other, born leaders vs. developed leaders, and since there are clearly many developed leaders, then there can be no such thing as born leaders. In my opinion, accepting both pathways to leadership is more logical, and less narrow minded. It is also easily observable. Leadership is often attributable to charisma, something that cannot be taught. Yes, there are leaders who are not charismatic. But there are leaders -- very successful leaders -- who derive much of their leadership success from charisma alone. I believe the most dynamic and effective leaders are those who posses the natural instincts for leadership and then work to develop leadership skills through refinement and training.
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? R. Iyer wrote: I presume you are asking in the context of a business organisation. Some take to leadership naturally, by learning and observing. Others can learn / or be taught this skill, if they wish to! In either case, the will to lead must come from within.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
R. Betts wrote:
The short answer is yes. There are certain traits that have to be organic to you nature. In other words, some things you just can't fake. "Soft skills" can be explained, but not engrained. The "Hard skills" can be learned until conscious competence is achieved. Until the become second nature, if you will. But the ability to share your vision for your company in a way that is not only understood completely, but generates the sort of rabid support you find a English football matches isn't learnable. It takes more than a polished PowerPoint deck and some pithy words on a bunch of 3x5 cards. You must be able show your passion without looking like you are a straight jacket a way from the funny farm. You have to be able to generate a rare sort of commitment and loyalty. Your employees have to be ready to take it to the wall for you, because they know that you'll do the same for them. You have to hurt when they hurt and laugh when they laugh. You have to be ready to admit you are wrong and not rub it in when you are right. You have to know how to build and grow meaningful relationships. Even if you don't have a title or corner office, a leader, a truly great leader, will shine with the blinding intensity of a supernova. It's not nature vs. nurture, but nature and nurture. Combine them and it's magic. www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? O. Lawrence wrote: The truly gifted leaders are born with certain supporting traits like patience, perseverance, creative thoughtfulness and ability to change. They have the required traits more than the ordinary or average. They become honed through adversity which everyone encounters and rather than simply surviving, they are thriving. Most leaders are born without those qualities and are simply trained to behave as leaders and receive respect from the leadership appointed status. One can easily spot them since they are the gatekeepers surrounded by mediocrity who prevent the talent to rise.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
T. Modeste wrote:
The problem with great leaders is that they are too few and far between. So waiting around or searching for a great leader can soon run afoul of the law of diminishing returns. Because, in the meantime, weve got an organization to run and simply cannot afford to wait around until the next great leader deigns to walk through the door. Besides, we probably couldnt afford him/her and he/she would probably have better things in mind than fooling around with our organization. Luckily for us, in our everyday work, we can get along very well without great leadership. And we'd be highly inefficient if we waited around for a great leader every time we needed to fill a leadership slot. Therefore, what we do is that we take the people we have and work with them to make them into the kind of leaders we need to get the job done. Experience shows that as a rule, such leaders do a good enough job at the level needed. In fact, some of them even turn out to be superb leaders. www.Linked2Leadership.com
A. Bose wrote: Leaders are born. Not everyone can be a Leader. I would rather say Leaders are synonymous to "Great Communicators who have an aggressive attitude to win". Whether you motivate people, lead a team, or possess great negotiation skills, you should be a good communicator first. A leader should command and vision for their team, or organisation, and most importantly, the people in his team. They give a strategic direction to the people of his team and set goals with an objective to achieve with optimum utilization of resources. The best part about the leaders are they are able to motivate their team and they take the team along with them. They just don't lead a team but also teach them how to lead and make them responsible.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? K. Rao wrote: I think i depends on your perspective - Leadership as a science or as an art.. Leadership is like, say... Painting. You can go to a painting school and learn the techniques; though one in a million is da Vinci or Michelangelo. One in a million is a Jack Welch or a Lee Iacocca! In my opinion, leadership is an inherent birth trait that, at most, can be influenced by training in situations faced, but not created by them.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? N. Vassudhev wrote: That leaders are born is Maya believed to be true by Politicians. It's the circumstances that affect the individual, upbringing, education and the developed attitude that makes a Leader. C. Braverman wrote: Leaders have found their place. Whether it is a physical place or an idea, they bring their passion and motivation to that place. Many have just not found their passion yet.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
R.T. Greene wrote: Leadership is neither learned not born into us. It is entirely contingent. That is, the person or group that does what another group needs now in order to thrive/survive, becomes "leader" regardless of who has positional power. That is what makes monkey hierarchies in business so funny--all those pompous little male egos looking managerial daily while an entirely different set of people flicker in and out as actual leaders daily--two parallel universes, and the pompous little monkey one often gets uppity and snuffs out the flickering contingent leadership when it gets in the way of their tiny strutting little egos. Fools who "try to be leader-ly" all the time just blind themselves from spotting what leading is actually now needed somewhere by their strenuous efforts to apply to future situations a handbag of tools they got away with using in some past cases. A sort of Harvard Business School child's play at leading, not the real thing.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? D. Burns wrote: Born and Made...but most importantly, leaders need to give birth to themselves at some point in their journey. Parents give you life, but you have to make a decision to give meaning and life to your life.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? K. Kelley wrote: I'm studying leadership right now for my master's thesis as it relates to the MyersBriggs. What is so fascinating is that there are many, many theories on leadership styles and nothing has been quantified. However, our personal styles, such as with the Myers-Briggs, have been studied and quantified for many years now. I think that there are so many different forms of leadership. One could take the form of learned behavior, such as with servant leadership, and another could be inherited, as with transactional leadership. There is no denying, however, that an individual cannot possibly be a leader without followers. Perhaps we should seek to quantify leadership rather than qualify.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? A. Lockhart wrote: I believe that Leaders are born of the situations that they are thrust in. Those that step up and do the things that are necessary to be done because it is the right thing to do. They do this, not because they have to, but because no one else can or will. I am not talking about in an everyday situation, I am talking about when adversity comes and people who should be leading you are off hiding some where under a desk. 'Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.' -Shakespeare
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? M. Mitra wrote: Twins growing in the same environment among same friends have different personalities. Are Leaders born that way? Well, I believe that there are traits that some people possess, by birth, which may help them become very good leaders, but their actions and implementation of them ultimately decides if they grow up to become good leaders. Having leadership trait and being a leader are two different things, I think.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? A. Mittal wrote: I would say a men is made of circumstances. It all depends what kind of circumstances a men has lived in his life. I think leadership is a skill and like many other skills in some people it is by birth and they refine it further but some are not born with this skill but they are brought up in such environment where they learn these skills and refine it with the time & practice. Hope it helps. Please let me know.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? R. Miller wrote: I think in most cases the spark for leadership resides in many of us. In most cases the circumstances do not inspire people to act on it. Under trying circumstances the opportunity arises for people to rise to the challenge.
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S. Balakrishnan wrote: From my personal view, it is 80:20 (The Pareto principle.) 80% is made and 20% is born.
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? R. Bhan wrote: Nice question - great answers. Reminds me of something my father wrote to me when I was entering high school. "Be Deaf to people who say you can't do it. A school teacher scolded a boy for not paying attention to his mathematics and for not being able to solve simple problems. She told him that you would not become anybody in life. The boy was Albert Einstein" Does that answer?
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? F. Hayashi, PMP wrote: Each leader isborn with his own signature but....... He MUST also learn how to be a efficient leader. R. Torres wrote: They are neither born or made, but rather "fabricated."
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? L.T. de Carvalho wrote: I think that leaders that think they're leaders because of some skill, an experience, a connection, or whatever, will show weaknesses in the future. Weakness that will surely put at risk one or more objectives of the team. True leaders aren't born; but rather they're forged on the heat of a situation where initiative, inspired views, and experience converge and set the new born leader in motion.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? S. Otterson wrote: Both. Some of the qualities of a leader are learned, others are part of one's personality. For example, a good leader can't be an introvert. Most likely those people who choose to a be leader already possess some of the character traits that they will need: courage, strength, flexibility, ambition, etc. Did they learn these, or were they "born" with them? Who is to say?
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? M. Ingle wrote: It can be said leaders are born and will always be successful but there is also an aspect of being in the right place in the right time. Leading some businesses is also a matter of being in the business within which one excels not just leading. If you get a gifted individual he or she may never lead given the circumstances. So I firmly believe it is not as simple as being a "born leader" but also a matter of whether or not you are in the position within which your natural talents as a leader can come to fruition
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? J.H. Brondum wrote:
We are all born. So guess the answer is yes. However, leadership is mainly based on personality - and of course the knowledge, skills and attitude can be improved. But as with so many other things in life you will only excel at what you are good at. You can struggle your whole life to improve areas where you lack - but most likely you will best case arrive at good. Excellent leaders are already potential leaders when they are born. The rest are trying to catch up - and mostly for the wrong reason and with mediocre results. That being said I believe that most people can learn to manage well, since good management is based on rules - rules that can be learned and mastered - leadership has no common rules. It is a gift. www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? D. Grossu wrote: Leaders are born but they also learn how to become successful; each leader has its own challenges but they know how to bring success regardless of how different people are, and that is an art that not everybody has it in its genetic print. C. Braverman wrote: Leader....Desire...... M. Krasnyansky wrote: Let's go to the basic: Encyclopedia Britannica "Leadership: Exercising of influence over others on behalf of the leader's purposes, aims or goals. I think 80/20 rule works here as well: 80% born with individual, and 20% by training.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
M. Herbert wrote:
Leadership is earned, it is a gift from those who are willing to trust you and follow your direction. I am a believer in the Marcus Buckingham school of leadership in that the most important task of a leader is to create clarity of purpose. I have seen any people with attributes that we mistakenly label as leadership- they were charismatic, or visionary, or very smart. Perhaps it is overly simplistic, but to me the most important element of leadership is trust. Do I believe you have my interests and the interests of the organization in mind when you make decisions? The time to measure an effective leader is at the end of the journey. We can all be effective at leading a project or a task- true leadership endures the test of time. If you want to be a true leader then you have to be willing to put the interests of the organization above your own interests and demonstrate that consistently. www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? A. Tupan wrote: A good discussion with some very interesting points being made. For the statistics of this question my take is that leaders are born and then made. Leadership thus is 40% innate and the rest is a matter of developing the talent.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? S. Subramanian wrote: "DNA to lead"? - I don't think so. I think what makes good leaders is that 'fire in the belly' to reach there, never die attitude and the continuous process of being in good company and the positive environment (it is a choice, again!) All of this, coupled with good education (not to be confused with schooling,) teachers & mentors can make a person a 'leader stuff' - To be a leader or not, it is a choice of that individual again! In simple words, the mold in which the individual chose to be molded in!
www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? M. Krasnyansky wrote: Let's go to the basic Encyclopedia Britannica: "Leadership-exercising of influence over others on behalf of the leader's purposes, aims or goals". I think 80/20 rule works here as well, 80% born with individual, and 20% by training. M. Pohto wrote: Yes.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? J. Letton wrote: Leaders are the "Ones" that are prepared to make mistakes, and ultimately learn from them. The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and selfrestraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it. Theodore Roosevelt Y. Hanoulle wrote: I think it can be learned. Some people learned this in their childhood, or at the first companies they work for. I have created a leadership game together with my father. In this game people learn to look at different leadership styles. I see this as the beginning of how people learn to look at leaders.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? J. Munoz wrote: I think all great leaders are to some degree a combination of both born and made. Leadership is so much more and "art" than a "science" that there has to be some innate desire to take charge in a given situation already present in the person or they will not seek out or succeed at the training necessary to take this personal trait and shape it into a true ability to lead successfully.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? T. McDonald wrote: I think that they are made not born - I think with our backgrounds and the way that we are raised by our parents tends to lead to leadership in our lives. As a former athlete, I also think that plays a huge role in both our ability and our want to lead. I know that the days of participating in sports helped me a great deal both with my ability to want to lead and the ability to be able to lead. H. Cuevas wrote: This is a quintessential question. My answer: leaders are born although they might get better and polished with time. Also, leadership styles varies along time as you reach maturity
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? R.E.G. Smith wrote:
When I think of leadership, I look for qualities such as strength of character, honesty, honor, backbone, accountability and in the ability to inspire others. Can this be learned? Some things, yes -- from childhood as a matter of fact. I think people show leadership qualities early on - and then it is acquiring and fine-tuning the skills needed to support the 'leadership' personality. IMHO, I don't think it's a selective process ... that of possessing leadership qualities. I also do not think just because someone is a considered an effective team leader at work, or has a senior management position, is testimony to them being a good leader. It has to be in a fabric of the person and carry over into their personal life as well - outside of the protective, and sometimes insulated, confines of brick and mortar. Leaders emerge and while their skills may be sharpened, along with their wit, humor and other attractive attributes - the qualities that make a true leader is what makes them up as a whole person and that evolves over the course of a lifetime. www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? B. Simpson wrote: I like Gary's answer liking it to Athletics - you can be naturally great at Leadership - or not so great. But you can make yourself better. Winston Churchill was the greatest leader the UK has ever seen (in my humble opinion). I don't for one minute believe that anyone who had spent a lifetime studying leadership could carry off what he did. Having said that - everyone should try and improve their leadership ability. And I include in that anyone who is anyone - not just leaders.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? S. Das wrote: Made, made....simple made. There are lots of theories and ideas pointing towards the opposite, but leaders are made not only circumstances and the environment, but also by how they choose and shape their personalities according to the rigors and challenges of the business and professional environment. If all leaders were born, then there would be a dearth of these individuals everywhere. Organizations now exert more influence on the global environment than governments, and since they are run by individuals at all levels, I think the answer is very clear...
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Are Leaders Born? Or Are They Made? Or Both? J. Jeckmans wrote: Interesting question to start with. Is it so, that the question behind the question is maybe even more important Meaning, it only matters what you believe to be true. If you believe that true leaders are born, than no matter what, this will be true to you. If you believe the other belief, than this will be true to you.
www.Linked2Leadership.com
www.Linked2Leadership.com