Are leaders BORN or MADE?

This question has stumped management ideology and dogma for centuries. Will I have the answer for you today? Maybe… I’ll let you be the “Judge”. Let’s get perspective first.

From the dawn of time to the days of the big industrialists, leadership was all about totalitarian rule and unilateral control. One could argue that, up until the “management enlightenment” era (post WWII), work was essentially the benign equivalent of involuntary servitude. That is not to say, however, that the great industrialists of the 20th century did not contribute to our great heritage of capitalism and to our overall quality of life. Quite the opposite. It was more a matter of focus than achievement. His legacy will live forever in the history and social fabric of our culture.

But what about the original hypothesis? Were they born leaders or were they made successful by their external circumstances or environments?

Let’s digress, one more time, for a bit more perspective, before tackling that quintessential question. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes (metaphorically speaking). They also span the spectrum, i.e. political, military, religious, business, philanthropic, etc. You get the idea. So can we lump them all, as diverse as they are, into one hypothetical category? Probably not, but I’ll try.

The common denominator, I postulate, is that they all have common characteristics. Whether they were military leaders, public servants, clergy/secular or successful businessmen, they all possessed a “Value System” (not necessarily with the same “Values”) that propelled them to the forefront, as paradigmatic leaders, shaping the future. of our world.

Many of the best-selling business books have been written in recent decades on this subject… By famous authors such as Mr. Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People), Mr. Steven Covey (7 Habits of successful people) and Mr. Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager), to name just a few of the notable personalities. I encourage you to gravitate towards these gurus for their wisdom. Parenthetically speaking, Mr. Tom Peters is also a very informative and entertaining “aggregator” of paradigm shifts. And please, let’s not forget about the iconic Mr. Peter Drucker, the “godfather” of modern management.

So, Leaders are BORN, or MADE… I think it is a combination of BOTH (sorry for the “touch” of sophistry). The controversy might more appropriately relate to the ideal “mix” of innate ability and learned competencies.

By analogy, in the world of sports, an Olympian has a natural ability that is honed and refined at a very young age. And besides, they never stop practicing and improving their skill. Training, training and more Training… Setting and breaking your own world records! So, by inductive reasoning, shouldn’t the same be true of leaders and the body of leadership scholarship itself?

I think so…

Some people may be born leaders, but most develop over time. Admittedly not unlike our own personal DNA it has a lot to do with our health, just like “leadership DNA”. But, as we also know, we can influence our health by changing and improving our daily environmental factors, that is, diet and exercise. Therefore, we can also influence our ability to become leaders, or better leaders…even GREAT leaders by improving the environmental factors of our daily “business” and embracing the notion of being trained and mentored by successful leaders.

If you agree, great… If not, let me know your Leadership Theory, as I am always willing to learn and grow. In fact, that’s one of the most endearing and humble traits of great leaders.