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3. Are Leaders Born or Made?

As a coach and leader for over twenty years, I have met many leaders who find themselves leading teams, having never really envisaged that would be what they would end up doing at the outset. As my son is about to leave his school after nine years there, I look across his class and wonder: who will be the leaders from his class? Who will succeed? Whom could I imagine leading and why?

Are they born?

Research (Bennis, Nanus, Kotter) would suggest that there are characteristics that determine whether someone is cut out to be a leader. Usually, they would be evident by the time we are in our mid to late teens. The grit, the determination, the quickness of intellect are often visible by that point. There are other characteristics associated with great leadership that may not yet be apparent – the ability to inspire others; the ability to enjoying playing and collaborating with people; the maturity to appreciate the differences between yourself and other people. For each potential leader, there are particular challenges to overcome and indeed there are individual lessons to be learned if the art of leadership is to be honed.

Are they made?

Like any great epic movie such as Lord of the Rings or War and Peace, every one of us has our demons to face - our fears and our foibles. Facing them makes us the character that we become. Many illustrious leaders such as Jack Welch, Nelson Mandela and Anita Roddick would argue that it was in the face of adversity that strengthened their character. However, I believe the finest leaders are made. They are often made as a result of their particular experiences and the opportunities that life passes their way. But that isn’t quite the full story. The finest leaders also take a conscious decision to step into those leadership positions.

Sometimes, leaders have to learn the hard lesson that they need other people to help them achieve what is needed to get the job done. Often the more introverted leader finds this difficult. They want to be able to do it all themselves. The leaders prone to perfectionism want to do it all themselves because they believe that they can do it better than anyone else. However, their challenge is often about seeing what only the leader can do, as opposed to what the specialists under them can do, on their behalf.

The leader who is very socially gregarious has to suffer the slings of rejection and to learn to accept the loneliness of being the one at the top. They often have to understand how necessary it is to not always be seen as Mr. Nice Guy when tough decisions have to be taken or poor performance has to be addressed.

One thing is sure from the body of evidence available, no matter how talented or how natural leaders are, there will always be areas where that they can hone their leadership skills if they are to continue to excel in their capacity as leaders.

Like true apprentices, leaders learn about 80 percent of their craft on the job. They learn by watching other leaders and integrating some of what they have observed into their own behaviour. They watch for highly effective role models and they seek out mentors. They are open enough to ask other leaders about how they handle situations.

Leaders learn by inviting feedback and learning from it. They modify their behaviour so that they get better results. They are not afraid to try things out and examine their own performance. Effective leaders keep themselves accountable for their own development. Effective leaders look for training programs that will help them develop specific skills that they can use on the job. Then, when they return to their work, they devote specific and deliberate effort to mastering in real life what they learned in the training room.

Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan studied the progress of 88,000 managers who had attended leadership development training. The people who returned from the training talked about it, and deliberately applied their learning to their work and were judged to be more effective leaders by their stakeholders and peers. The ones who didn't showed little or no improvement.

So, what leadership talents were you blessed with?
What leadership capabilities have you cultivated as a leader over the last year?
Do you know what leadership competencies you are assessed on?
Which ones are you valued for?
What leadership skill or behaviour are you actively working on right now?
What difference will it make to your ultimate success?

Pure Potential help develop leadership skills for individuals as wella s leadership within teams and organisations. If you would like to try a leadership skills assessment on your leadership capability or need support in honing your leadership skillset, why not give Olwyn a call on 01428 713 399 or email