Born and Made Leaders
Are Leaders Born or Made?
(Course Name)
(School Name)
(Name)
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(a) ABSTRACT.
Leadership sets the tone for team development, and this implies its necessity in an organization. Possessing appropriate leadership skills drive a team in meeting its objectives. The means of acquiring such skills may be through nature or developmental programs. The debate on whether leaders are made or born continues to trigger many thoughts, but none has come conclusively. This paper goes through the skills required for effective leadership, and how such skills can be acquired, in an attempt to solve the puzzle of the debate.
(b) Leaders are born and made.
The question as to whether leadership is genetically acquired or developed remains a debate for decades evoking many opinions. Some scholars are of the idea that leaders are born naturally intelligent, charismatic, visionary, strategic and able to rally and plan for teams around them. Some believe that leadership is an ongoing experience that requires training, development, mentoring and coaching. Some are of the opinion that leaders are both born and made whereby they possess natural intelligence, which is enhanced with education, training, and mentorship.
Developing a conclusive statement on this debate requires an understanding of leadership; a leader is an individual who establishes directions for a team of individuals, one who gains commitments from the team towards the established direction, and one who motivates the team to achieve the direction’s expected outcomes (Manktelow and Brodbeck, 2006). A leader needs not to exercise the three elements in a leader’s definition, in the eyes of other teams or fellow leaders. This is so because every team has its objectives and the means to attain the objectives differ amongst teams.
The implication is that to fit in different scenarios or teams an effective leader needs some intelligence, which cannot be attained by learning, but that which is a talent or
(Course Name)
(School Name)
(Name)
(Date)
(a) ABSTRACT.
Leadership sets the tone for team development, and this implies its necessity in an organization. Possessing appropriate leadership skills drive a team in meeting its objectives. The means of acquiring such skills may be through nature or developmental programs. The debate on whether leaders are made or born continues to trigger many thoughts, but none has come conclusively. This paper goes through the skills required for effective leadership, and how such skills can be acquired, in an attempt to solve the puzzle of the debate.
(b) Leaders are born and made.
The question as to whether leadership is genetically acquired or developed remains a debate for decades evoking many opinions. Some scholars are of the idea that leaders are born naturally intelligent, charismatic, visionary, strategic and able to rally and plan for teams around them. Some believe that leadership is an ongoing experience that requires training, development, mentoring and coaching. Some are of the opinion that leaders are both born and made whereby they possess natural intelligence, which is enhanced with education, training, and mentorship.
Developing a conclusive statement on this debate requires an understanding of leadership; a leader is an individual who establishes directions for a team of individuals, one who gains commitments from the team towards the established direction, and one who motivates the team to achieve the direction’s expected outcomes (Manktelow and Brodbeck, 2006). A leader needs not to exercise the three elements in a leader’s definition, in the eyes of other teams or fellow leaders. This is so because every team has its objectives and the means to attain the objectives differ amongst teams.
The implication is that to fit in different scenarios or teams an effective leader needs some intelligence, which cannot be attained by learning, but that which is a talent or
References: Kets, V. M. F. R. (2004). Are leaders born or are they made?: The case of Alexander the Great. London: Karnac. Bottom of Form Manktelow, J., & Brodbeck, F. C. (2006). How to lead: Discover the leader within you. London: MindTools. Bottom of Form