Defining what best describes leaders, followed by the debate based on the assumption that some authors agree that leaders are born, some that leaders are mixture of inborn and taught qualities and others try to prove that leaders are made. Finally, it will summarise the findings and consider each view to draw a conclusion and answer the question if there is such a thing as natural ability to lead which some people are born with and others not, or if not could this be taught?
Most authors will agree that leader’s whether born or made possess certain attributes such as commitment, passion, motivation and ability to develop and pass the vision (Cacioppe 1998, Ackhoff 2005, Brungardt 2013).
Furthermore they own capability to inspire and influence the followers, like an orchestra conductors (Popper 2005, Lloyd 1994).
Nevertheless, despite the common characteristic of a leader, due to a complex nature of leadership researchers and authors continue the on-going debate whether leaders are born to be leaders or made to become a leader.
Based on the theory that leaders require talent to articulate vision that inspires, which is not a transmittable skill but innate quality, Ackoff (2005) reassures that leaders are born. Leaders are born with the ability to reinforce values, initiate change, hence those behaviours require charisma, compassion and intelligence, skills which are inherit not acquired and those distinguish leaders from their followers (Shane, 2010).
The Term Paper on Great Leaders Are Born And Not Made
... Leadership-Central.com, (2014). Are Leaders Born or Made. [online] Available at: http://www.leadership-central.com/are-leaders-born-ormade.html#axzz39ggiRr7Y [Accessed 9 Aug. ... mental ability for leadership is inherent, that great leaders are born, not made. These theories have portrayed leaders as ... the passing of leadership ability down through generations,” said lead author Dr. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve ...
Nevertheless Rowley (1997) makes the point that innate traits are very important for a successful leader, however it cannot be viewed solely as a determinant of a good leader, as inborn qualities still need development and encouragement; therefore successful leaders are a combination of genetic and acquired factors (Elmuti et al. 2005, Mullins 2007).
Arguably Smith (2000, cited by Elmuti et al. 2005) disagrees with the myth about natural ability to lead.
He proposes that leaders are made through the dedication, education, training and skills they absorb during the lifetime. Blake and Mouton (1986) followed, that those skills can be learnt, developed, modified and perfected. Furthermore, according to Popper (2005) leaders go through journey on-going process of learning and development, based on both experience and observation of role models. Cacioppe (1998) confirm that successful large organisations like Pepsi, Shell, General Electric invested in-house programmes, where leaders are developing leaders through skills
acquired by practical, shared experience and observation (Kaagan 1998, Brungardt 2013).
Interestingly, Allio (2005) highlight the paradox, that while leadership cannot be taught, but it can be learned. People can be taught about leading, however not how to lead, hence leaders need the necessary knowledge, but most importantly learn themselves through experimental process based on trial and error.
To conclude, while there is a long established thinking that leaders are born with natural talents and innate qualities, others agree to some extent, that certain natural talents are beneficial to become a successful leader, but a significant part of leadership skills are teachable, hence is in favour that leaders are made and developed over the lifetime experiences. Perhaps there is no right answer, as much as some leaders are born with talents which help them to be a successful leader, others however can be made through lifetime leadership learning and development, hence everyone has the potential to be a leader.
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Bibliography:
Ackhoff, R. L. (2005) What constitutes leadership and why it can’t be taught. Handbook of Business Strategy, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 193-195. Allio, R. J. (2005) Leadership development: teaching versus learning. Management Decision, Vol. 43 No. 7/8, pp. 1071-1077. Brungardt, C. (2013) The Making of Leaders: A Review of the Research in leadership development and Education. The Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 80-95. Cacioppe, R.
The Term Paper on Personal Leadership Development Plan 2
Introduction Anyone can be an effective leader – given the right tools, skills, followers and situation (context). The purpose of the following assignment is to guide you through a leadership development process. You will be asked to analyze your current situation, your leadership skills, and your personal career goals to produce positive change and improvement in your leadership and influence ...
(1998) Leaders developing leaders: an effective way to enhance leadership development programs. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 194-198. Elmuti,D. , Minnis,W. and Abbey,M. (2005) Does Education have a role in developing leadership skills? Management Decision, Vol. 43 No. 7/8, pp. 1018-1031. Kagan,S. S. (1998) Leadership development: the heart of the matter. International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 74-81. Lloyd,B. (1994) Leadership and Learning.
Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 19-25 Mullins, J. L. (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour. Harlow : Pearson Education Limited. Poper, M. (2005) Main principles and practices in leader development. Leadership and Organisation Development Journal, Vol. 26 No. 1, pp. 62-75. Rowley,J. (1997) Academic leaders: born or made? Industrial and commercial training, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 78-84. Shane, S. (2010) Born Entrepreneurs, Born Leaders: How Your Genes Affect Your Work Life. New York: Oxford University Press.
